Please note I used the word appearance, very important because I was not writing an article about paint definitions. Typically candies are sprayed over heavier flake base coats which dominates the world of candy jobs usually encountered, like every one I've seen first hand. A pearl job when looked at by the novice will look much the same but with noticeably smaller particles. Having color matched some Schwinn paints I can tell you pearls are the best match going. Incidentally anyone looking to do this should try House of Kolor. Application of candies and pearls is almost identical, base, translucent color then clear. The difference being that the flake particles are suspended in the translucent color for pearl and in the base coat for candy. Not really completely different. The flake in original Schwinn paint is suspended in the translucent top color much like pearl, no clear coat was used over it being the biggest difference in the application. Hope this clears things up.