I don't have an answer, but I can say that I understand and I do know what you mean.

I have said on many a forum that the individual colorants that go into a can of paint do not mean a thing -- they do not give you one fat clue how the color will render in the space. It's confusing. Unless you know "the code" as I call it for each brand, quanitity and base, there's no secret or pattern or guidance to be found in looking at the formulas. Even the brands that offer hand-painted chips have some issues. EK started indentifying what base/sheen each of her samples were painted with - 'cuz it can matter.

The best way to sample a color is to buy a quart of it in the base, sheen and brand that you want to use. Even then!!! I have seen slight variances from quart to gallon.

However, it is fair to expect that the colors shouldn't change THAT much. Especially with Sherwin Williams with their Sher-Color gizmo and all that. But, stuff happens... and then there's light. You can take your color chip and a dried sample over to the paint store windows, even step outside to make sure you have a "match" before heading home, only to find when you get home that what's in your new gallons does not match your chips as well as you thought. Paingtuy speaks to this really well - constancy and metamerism.

It's a matter of expectations and the reality of color to a point. Color is gonna change, nothing absolute about it. Have to stay a bit flexible and build into your expectations that color, especially wall color in a 3D environment, will have dimension and within that dimension resides the natural and largely unpredictable phenomenon of color.

Then, there's the whole issue of black. Do you think that the Color to Go Jug B. Buff is *prettier* than the Cashmere Blonde? We could get off on the subject of how there is a huge advantage of built in flexibility that the uber brands of paint/color bring to the table, but we've probably already had plenty of that around here. :-)

Suffice it to say, this is yet another reason, example of why I am such a proponent of multi-pigmented, full spectrum, uber brands of color. Leaving black out can be a benefit. The more pigments in the can used to mix the color can be a benefit. How the *same color* can be mixed using blue, magenta, and deep gold OR just black and deep gold is probably the coolest and most fun thing ever!!!!

The diff is the complexly mixed color like the blue/magenta/deep gold version of B. Buff is apt to find a more robust selection of wavelengths of light to play with and comes with the firm expectation that it will shift and change. If there is a small expectation of constancy, then one tends to be more accepting of the general and varied appearance of the color. An expectation for a literal translation of an ink on paper chip to wall color, probably isn't all that realistic in the grand scheme of things and can make you crazy.

You've got what you've got now and hopefully SW mixed it so that the Color To Go and the Cashmere *appear* close enough to reasonably meet your expectations - once the color(s) is painted out on all the walls, hopefully it visually evens out and blends into the color(s) you thought you were getting.

The reason, the real reason, that your gallons of Cashmere B. Buff have just black and deep gold instead of a combo of blue/magenta/deep gold colorants may very well have to do with the Color to Go vs. Cashmere base -- truly could.

But, there is also the color conspiracy theory that suggests that the simpler, black/deep gold version of B. Buff is a heck of a lot cheaper, easier, and faster to mix in bulk (gallons and 5 gallons) as opposed to one lil ole Color To Go jug.

The truth may never be known.... :D

Thank you so much for your response.

I would have loved to do my home in EK but with the large spaces the cost would have been prohibitive. The closest I ever got to a paint like that was C2 and really liked it.

The Biltmore buff is up and pretty much looks like a plain yellow(whatever that means)not much nuance there. The Blonde has a little more personality. Hopefully, art, window treatments and the like will turn the new house into a home.

Thanks again for the scoop on the paint and look forward to enjoying more of your posts.

Michelle

Coming out of lurkdom here to say I had the same thing happen.

I tested umpteem sample pots of tans/beiges/taupes & SW Softer Tan was the winner.So, I bought a gal of SW Duration in Softer Tan, painted the walls in a BIG room & the color was VERY different than the sample pot color.

The SW folks told me that yes, the Duration had to mixed differently than the sample colors b/c of the base used & that it would look different when applied.

I sure wish they'd told me that before I spent $40 on a gal of paint. They should give a "heads up" to customers buying Duration paint, but I guess buy not telling them they can sell more paint. IMO, that's poor customer service.

I ended up repainting the room in a lower price line of their paint & the color was fine, just as the sample pot color was.

For future Duration buyers, let the buyer beware!