Galaxy or Aurora Cocktail

"This cocktail isn't Photoshopped. With a blacklight and the right ingredients, you can actually make your own at home."

I'm honestly flabbergasted at the amount of times I have seen this pinned by people who honestly believe if they follow the drink recipe, it will come out looking like this. This is pure photoshop people. In fact, the original artist of the image is Melody, who was so sick of seeing her image stolen and used without permission she's covered the original on her page with about a dozen different watermarks. 

But is it a real drink? It sure is! I can't vouch for the flavor as I haven't tried it yet, but this is the recipe via Campus Companion : 

• 9 liters of tonic water
• 3-4 bottles of rose mojito passions OR 3-4 cans of pink lemonade concentrate
• Ice 

And the results? It looks something like this: 

As cool as that is, it's not a galaxy in a glass. It's because the tonic water contains quinine, which glows under a blacklight. You can make a lot of different cocktails and drinks that glow, as long as you use tonic water and have a black light handy. 

Glow In the Dark Walkway

"Line a pathway with rocks painted in glow in the dark paint. During the day they “charge” in the sun and in the evening they reflect the stored light. Rust-Oleum Glow in the Dark Brush-on Paint."

This is another example of a photo on pinterest with an idea that doesn't match up with the image. Those are not patio stones that are painted with glow in the dark paint. I've also seen the same image tagged with Glow Stones - a company that makes glow in the dark rocks. 

But how do I know this? Because that's not what glow in the dark paint would look like, first off. Glow in the dark paint often times comes in colors like yellow, green, or pink, and tend to be that of a neon nature. 

Here is an example of what the glow in the dark paint from Rust-Oleum looks like:

Glow in the dark bat : B-Movie Star

.

That is awfully green and neon compared to the original image. You'd also have to make sure the pavers you are painting aren't treated with waterproofing, and since this paint isn't designed for outside use, you have to realize that with wear and tear and normal weather condition it will peel and chip over time.

So what about the other product this often times get tagged as on Pinterest - Glow Stones? Again, nope. Glow stones look to have the same bright colors as other glow in the dark paints do. Not only that, Glow Stones only come in pebble size rocks - not large flat walkway paver stones. They come in ether a blue or green, not that warm soft yellow that the walk way is glowing in.

So what COULD be the cause behind this great image? Photoshop or good lighting, It's as simple as that. Lets take a look at the image again. If you look at it, you will notice that there is a soft light not only on the walkway  but also reflected back onto the fence door and the vases by the fence. Also notice how the light of the walkway extends OUT from the stones themselves, as if there were simply a light source that was lighting the walk way from above? 

So there you go - this isn't glow in the dark paint or Glow Stones, but just a pretty picture of your average walkway that ether had a perfectly time photo taken or has been altered in photoshop. I've tried to find the source of this image, but haven't been able to track it down. It seems it's just been pasted around the internet being tagged as what to do with glow in the dark paint. 

But that OTHER image making the rounds of pinterest being tagged as glow stones? That is legit. In fact you can even find over at their website. 

Glow Stones Driveway : Glowstones.com

Update 10/2013 - This post has quickly became one of our MOST popular posts, and with out a doubt one of the most debated and talked about posts we've done. Good news - we were able to track down the artist thanks to a fan, and have updated news on this over at Posts Revisited. So we can all put to the rest finally how the image was made. (hint: it's really not glow in the dark paint)