Recently Kokopelli had the problem, that she made a faux Lapis Lazuli, but that it was too matte and looked only half as beautiful as it could have done.
Here on the picture you see beads that I presented before as skewer beads and made following a ‘jade recipe’, but with orange.
Before I pulled the beads from the skewer I buffed them for hours with a soft cloth while watching tv – and you can see how very shiny they became.
I admit that it is much more difficult to buff smaller and/or round beads, but I think that you can get good ideas about this at glassattic.
Links:
Buffing Polymer Clay (BUFFING)
Here at unikatissima:
Faux Lapis Lazuli
Polymer Clay Skewer Beads