My girls, ages 3 & 5, think these are the best ever! The paints are definitely more pigmented that the watercolors they usually use. Even with my younger one who likes to use a lot of water, they still had a nice color AND the shimmer! My girls were pretty blown away that the shimmer in the pot showed up on the paper, too. It's a good amount of shimmer - it definitely looks shimmery, but not glittery and there's no extra mess to have the shimmer since it's in the paint. These are a great buy and really encourage my kids to stay and paint longer and more often.