Hi everyone. First, I'd like to say thank you ahead of time for the responsible advice I know I will recieve on this forum.

OK, I'm still pretty new at venetian plastering but after much, much, much practice, I'm getting the hang of it. But since plastering is a pretty big world, there is still so much for me to learn.

Well, at this stage of my journey, I began to explore other types of "plaster"...at least it can be knick named as "plaster". I'm talking about substances like "shimmerstone", "jewelstone", I tried them both (and they're nothing like venetian plaster), then there's "lusterstone", but I've never tried that, and I don't think I will, either.

Now here are my questions: Regarding those "shimmering stones":
1. what are they(made of)?They feel rough.
2. What advantage, if any, is it over using real venetian plaster?
3. What can you do with the "shimmering" ones you can't do with plaster?
4. The texture feels rough in contrast to venetian plaster.

I believe they're similar in price to venetian plaster.

Thank you,

Tom