two things make identification really easy:

- pictures of the parent snakes, knowledge about the genetics of the parent snakes

- pictures of the clutch, knowledge about the siblings, maybe other offspring from the same parents.

and if you buy from a reputable breeder, you should be able to request and get that information. this of course works for all genes. if you dont get that data, only buy at a discount price and only pay for what you can see, forget hets or possible hets or genes that are so subtle that you cannot clearly see them.

that being said, black pastel should make a lesser a lot darker, not just a little bit, also it seems to change/reduce the pattern.