I was looking for decoden cream for two reasons. First, I wanted to make my Nintendo Switch 2 dock cute, and I knew I wanted to try a basket weave. Second, I hadn’t used deco whip in a while and, with my infinite wisdom, I had a hunch things had become a bit more affordable and generally better quality.

I’ve used a few different kinds of deco whip before. I did a review on a clay deco whip way back when, and I’ve also made silicone whip using glitter as pigment, and I’ve just piped straight up white silicone.

I decided to order from CloudDIY because I’d already bought hand-painted beads from them and was happy with that order. I was placing another order anyway and figured two birds, one stone. Let’s get the whip for the Switch 2 project.

I was really looking for a decoden simulation cream that would stay a consistent color when dried and wouldn’t shrink too much. It’s hard to know what “too much” even means because the concept of something shrinking a lot or a little is subjective. Plus, some people are more heavy-handed with their piping than others.

What I Bought

I bought two kinds of simulation cream from CloudDIY: pearlescent and solid color jelly with fine glitter iridescence.

The colors I picked were based on the ideas in my head. It’s hard to know exactly what creams will look like because computer screens can be deceiving, and you also don’t really know the final color of a cream until it dries in front of your face.

I unfortunately didn’t get pictures of them straight out of the box. I was still getting back into the swing of documenting things for this blog, and it was just a slip-up on my end. The pictures above are from their site.

For the pearlescent cream, I got #1 and #8. For the solid colors, I got #5, #7, and #22. For the purposes of this review, I won’t be talking about the purple or black because I did not complete a successful project with it. It wasn’t the cream. It was the operator, aka me.

When they arrived, I noticed the pearlescent bags were bigger, so my math when I was ordering was off. The pearlescent bags clocked in at 80g while the solid color bags were 70g. I had assumed they were the same size.

The creams themselves felt very gel-like. It was still pretty cold here in the Mitten when they arrived, and I was expecting to have to massage the bags a little to warm them up and mix everything together. Luckily, that wasn’t the case.

I did roll them around a bit just in case anything like the glitter had settled. I didn’t want to go crazy because I also didn’t want to introduce bubbles.

What Was It Like to Pipe With?

The creams were double-bagged, which was convenient for piping setup. I had my own bags on hand, but this was a welcome surprise.

Both creams were soft and jelly-like, although I found the pearlescent formula had a bit more weight to it, in a good way. Think buttercream frosting versus whipped topping.

Both were lovely to pipe and stayed pretty consistent. When I got close to the end of a bag, I’d take more breaks because the heat from my hand would warm up the cream and eventually it became almost too easy to pipe. I felt like I didn’t have as much control over it.

Or maybe I’m just too aggressive. Lol.

I wouldn’t call the cream runny when this happened. I’d call it melty.

Both kinds of decoden simulation cream held the shape of the piping tips very well, but I think this relies heavily on keeping your tips clean. I learned my lesson with the basket weave tip. The teeth on that thing need to be immaculate.

When I was piping with the pearl cream, it kept getting boogery, so I had to keep wiping the tip. Both formulas worked equally well with a classic star piping tip, but the pearlescent cream definitely had more substance to it.

They Did Not Dry the Same

This is where I noticed the biggest difference between the two formulas.

The colored jelly cream dried darker and definitely shrank. The good thing was that I could see the shrinkage by the next day, so it wasn’t something that suddenly appeared much later.

It also dried pretty hard. Parts of my test projects actually felt sharp.

The pearlescent whip shrank too, but more slowly. It took closer to two days to dry completely, but it didn’t shrink as much or dry as hard as the jelly cream. The color also became more vibrant as it dried. It developed like a skin around it with a squishy inside. 

I could really see the meaningful difference in color, size, and texture after about two days. I generally let my projects sit for a week before I move or handle them, though.

Of the two, I preferred the pearlescent cream once everything was dry. Being pearlescent does limit the scope of what I can use it for, but I’d probably pivot around that if the whip were a central part of a project.

I’d also pipe a little heavier now that I know how both dry.

Would I Buy CloudDIY Decoden Cream Again?

I would buy both kinds of simulation cream again.

They both shrink, but it’s really not that bad. Whatever project I work on next, if I’m able to order from CloudDIY again, I’ll just pipe a little heavier.

If you’re trying it for the first time and going straight into a project, I’d pipe a little onto some paper or cardboard first and let it dry so you can see what it does. I had every intention of doing this before my practice projects, but I was too impatient to wait for the first piping to dry.

I figured they were practice projects anyway, so I could just go from there. It ended up being a much more hands-on way to get the information I wanted.

Between the two formulas, I’d lean toward the pearlescent cream because it doesn’t dry as hard as the jelly cream.

The main reason I’m planning to try other creams isn’t because CloudDIY’s failed me. They’re based in Singapore, and shipping can get expensive if I’m not ordering a lot at once. The delivery time also isn’t exactly on an Amazon timeline, so I’d need to plan ahead.

The shop has also been very responsive. They answered the questions I had about shipping and the creams themselves. They told me they had one of the more stable simulation creams on the market, which, frankly, made me wonder how much some of the others shrink.

Final Thoughts

I actually ordered simulation cream from another company around the same time as my CloudDIY order. That company was very upfront about shrinkage, and it ended up being significant compared with what I experienced from CloudDIY.

The pearlescent formula and jelly formula definitely behave differently, but I think they’re both pretty great considering I’m just getting back into the whip game. I’m more likely to reorder the pearlescent creams for future projects, but I wouldn’t rule out the jelly formula.

I still have some CloudDIY cream left over that I’ve stored, and it’s still viable. So for the time being, I’m sticking with what I have.

Since I’m just getting back into using simulation whipped cream, I also want to explore other brands because TCE runs on curiosity.

There’s really no way to know exactly how any creams will dry on your project without experiencing them yourself. The concept of shrinkage is relative to the person using it. Some of us pipe heavy. Some don’t.

Of the simulation creams I’ve used so far, though, I can confidently say CloudDIY’s is pretty stable.