To me Souffle looks like they took the old Studio line, stiffened it up a bit, removed most of the phtalates (due to the tightening restrictions on phtalate content in polymer clays) and tweaked a bit of a color here and a bit there, decided
to not go with so many, and released Souffle.
It's a great looking clay, with a wonderful suede feeling when working with it. I love the soft earthy colors too (these are both qualities Studio had as well). Now, let's see:
Pros:
The same as Premo, readily available on the US market.
Super easy to condition – works almost out of the box, even if I wouldn't recommend it, you still need to condition it because even if it looks and feels ok, trust me, the plasticizers need to be well mixed and distributed to get proper gelation and a hardy resulting piece after baking.
Wonderful soft colors
Non-stickiness, makes it great for making canes
Cons:
Not a lot of colors to choose from- On that note, no pearlescents/metallics.
It sure can get soft quickly. Maybe not as soft as Studio used to get, but definitely you'll need some fridge time if you make canes. And lately it seems to get softer and softer, soon it will get the same as old Studio was.
May give you some issues in Skinner blends, requires double the amount of machine passes to achieve a gradient without a “grainy” look
Opacifies translucents if used to tint them
Doesn't buff to a good shine no matter how well you finish and sand it. The best is to mix a bit of Premo translucent if your desired result is a shiny buffed piece.
With all the cons, I wholeheartedly recommend Souffle too. The beautiful colors and the workability are wonderful. And of course, it depends what you're trying to achieve.
