yes indeed this is true, the smeared mud does show some of the underlying texture below, thats ok, the problem is the base colour, as in the skin texture is influencing all of the mud, in my tests i did a pink top and sadly i got pinkish brown mud, not just the smears but the lot.... wasnt nice.... so im still playing...lol

oh and i wouldnt be typing here if it wasnt for the fact that my Poser has just thrown a wobbler and frozen on me after a render test,,,,,grrrrr.... time for bed i think...lol

i will do a full test render for you tomorow....

Getting old and still making "art" without soiling myself, now that's success.