Hi friends! I finally made my way through some of my art haul from Christmas. I have been testing Sennelier l’Aquarelle Iridescent Colours for about a week, and felt that I could give it a fair review.
I bought this tin set of 6 tubes at Magasin Sennelier, a short walk across from the Louvre back in December 2025. Several sets of 6 were on sale at the time, and I wanted to try colours I don’t already own. In hindsight, I wish I bought the regular colours because I rarely use these colours, as pretty as they are. However, I did purchase a set of Sennelier l’Aquarelle paints which I have reviewed here.
The tin feels substantial, which I appreciate. Let’s take a look inside!
Swatches of Sennelier l’Aquarelle Iridescent Colours
Included in this set are 028 Iridescent Gold, 036 Iridescent Copper, 090 Iridescent Light Purple, 037 Iridescent Light Blue, 081 Iridescent Yellow Green and 029 Iridescent Silver. Made in France. I swatched them on the third row from the top:
I must preface by saying that pictures don’t really do these paints justice. Even under natural light their iridescence is more obvious than shown.
With flash on, you can see these paints in their glory.
I also tested them on black paper. The iridescence is more prominent in real life than in photo, but you can get an idea how they look against dark paper.
By the way, out of the six, 036 Iridescent Copper is the most opaque; the purple being the second most opaque. When I used these paints on the black paper, it was more obvious to me that they are not too opaque, and their iridescent particles tend to collect rather than spread evenly. You can build it up to more opaque with a second layer, which I recommend if you want the vibrancy to show up more. It will also make it appear much more even. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most opaque, I would give the copper and purple shades a 3.5, and a 2 to the other four shades.
Sennelier l’Aquarelle Iridescent Paints In Action
I don’t usually paint with iridescent, metallic watercolour, so forgive me for not being more creative with these paints. I mostly used these as accents. They can also be mixed with a regular paint and lend iridescence to whatever shade you mix with.
Sennelier l’Aquarelle Iridescent Colours are vibrant, extremely shimmery paints that appear semi-opaque. Photos don’t quite do them justice; their effects are very pretty in person rather than in photos. There is no separation of binder and paint when squeezed out of the tube (I’m looking at you, Marie’s!). The consistency feels smooth and creamy, though the shimmer pigments can gather rather than spread evenly on the first layer.
Under natural lighting, these paints don’t pop as much in photos.
Comparison to Derwent Metallic Paints
The closest I own are the metallic paints from Derwent, which I reviewed here. I use Derwent from time to time, whenever I wanted to add accents to my paintings. The biggest difference is that I find the Derwent metallic paints to be a bit more opaque, and the shimmer/mica pigments don’t clump as much. They are less shimmery than Sennelier Iridescent colours for sure, as metallic isn’t the same as iridescent. I just want to throw this in if you want to compare the two.
Summary/Overall Review
These are beautiful paints if you love iridescent watercolour! I don’t use them often and wish that they came in 5ml tubes instead. It’d take me forever to finish these. If you love iridescent watercolour and use these shades often you will not be disappointed. At the sale price this set is more than worth it.
