In another thread cc1 asked if one could brush the color changing/shifting pearls on hard bait rather than spray, so I gave it a whirl. all of the baits in the picture are done with the Didspade pearls, either sprayed in clear top coat over a black base as suggested or brushed on. Those with a "b" in front of the lip are brushed and those with an "s" in front of the lip are sprayed in the identical color as the brushed and the remaining baits are simply random sprayed on changeable pearl finishes. The bellies are all done in an identical changeable gold to red to green pearl with the exception of the one on the far left which was brushed on just to see how well a more grainy pearl would adhere to a hard bait's finish and as can be seen it does just fine, but the picture does a very poor job of showing the way the bellies light up. To really get an idea of how well things shift color a person has to have the bait in his hand so he can turn it in different lights and at different angles. A video would show this shift.
The brushed on colors are far more vibrant and intense and took far less of the pearl product to get to where they are. The color shift is apparent in all of the baits, sprayed or brushed, and really the sprayed ones are far more natural in how the colors shift. The brushed ones really jump as they are turned in the light. I have noticed that in brighter light, like sunlight, some of the shifting is almost muted while the best of the best transitions is found in shaded light or shadowed light much like what you'd expect to see in slightly stained water. This is an assumption though since I am basically bound in ice on any test waters right now.
The brushed bait on the far left is, like its brushed soft plastic color cousin, is my favorite color combination. In this picture you can see the grainy red transforming to the beautiful green/gold near the lip of the bait. I set this bait in the picture as such to show this while the other baits have a finer pearl texture and at the downward angle of the picture they simply look black since light isn't able to hit at an angle that shows much of the reflective nature of the pearl. Its there though and as each bait is handled in varying light and at differing angles each will bounce color all over. I may try a video or two to try and show this.
I'll also note that since the sprayed baits basically got a top seal coat when the pearl was applied I dipped them once to seal the eyes. The brushed baits got dipped once without eyes, then the eyes went on and then they were dipped a second time to seal the eyes. The eyes would not adhere to the brushed pearls on those two baits.
The pearling works both ways and I guess its up to the individual how much "pop" he wants on his bait. I'm partial to the brushed stuff myself. I like the bold change in color and I think that brushing allows the most complete and direct transfer of the essential pearl components to the base color. Spraying will be a handier way to add scale finishes. In the end its all up to the individual but certainly worth a bit of time and trial.