Help! Too Many Dust Options

I hate to say this, but I'm kind of glad to hear you're overwhelmed, because one of the next videos I'm working on is all about demystifying the differences and reducing the overwhelm (kind of like my Edible Papers 101 video that I just released).

Long story short (you will get the long one in that video), disco is coarser grained than either petal or luster and has punctuated pops of intense glitter. There are some FDA-approved "disco dusts" emerging on the market now, but none with quite the same flash (at least that I've seen). Most on the market are not FDA-approved, which would be one very good reason not to use it on edibles. Petal dust and luster (aka shimmer) dust have a similar fine texture, but the latter have iridescence and color, and the former just have color. Because of their finer nature, both can be extended into paints quite easily whereas disco dust fails miserably as a paint. Many luster and petal dusts are FDA-approved, but many are not too, so read labels Anyway, I could go on . . .

I most often work with petal dusts because I tend to prefer a matte finish; or gold luster or highlighter dust* when I want a really vibrant gold luster.

*highlighter dust = luster dust to the extreme; makes a very opaque paint; not FDA-approved as far as I've found

Thank you Julia! That helps. With a limited budget, i try to get the most bang for my buck and have hesitated to buy a lot of what I described, for fear that I wouldn't utilize it. But, now that I'm sure this hobby is permanent, I've been trying to be more open-minded about the possibilities of decorating and love the thought of using these products. I look forward to seeing what you produce that might shed even more light on it. I sometimes think the advertisers come up with crazy names just to be different! 

Yeah, a lot of the names are synonymous for the same thing. I've seen a ton of variations on "luster dust" mostly.

Hi! I love americolor gold paint and gold dust. 

Normally i use the paint let dry and finish with a layer of wilton's gold dust or Old Gold (i don't remember the brand name) i found out that the color looks deeper when i use the different mediums and because the americolor gold paint is kind of thick i don't have to use lots of gold dust to get and even color... i think this helps a lot with a short budget... Like mine jajajaja. 

Hope my input helps a little bit. 

I work with 8 colors and about less petal and luster dusts and found I really only use a few of them. I change the look of the the colors by my base - To get my dusty colors I use cream fondant not white. I learned from Sweet Amber tutorial how to pop my gold by using brown base- and loved the look in my last cookie. But what I love best is giving my pieces a once over with pearl or white luster at the end- for lack of not having a spray. 

So even with our limited budgets we can create effects and colors with a little imagination and the help of our teachers and mentors! 

Thanks for the great explanation Julia,I too was wondering the differences.

I believe "Old Gold" is a CK product. I love that particular luster dust too - it's the one I use most often.