Aqueous compositions for whitening and shading in coating applications

An aqueous coating composition for shading a substrate comprising:

• (a) at least one shading dye of formula (I)
• wherein
• R1 is H, methyl, or ethyl,
• R2 is paramethoxyphenyl, methyl or ethyl,
• M is a cation selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, an alkali metal cation, alkaline earth metal, ammonium, ammonium which is mono-, di-, tri- or tetrasubstituted by a C1-C4 linear or branched alkyl radical, ammonium which is mono-, di-, tri- or tetrasubstituted by a C1-C4 linear or branched hydroxyalkyl radical, ammonium which is, di-, tri- or tetrasubstituted by a mixture of C1-C4 linear or branched alkylradical and linear or branched hydroxyalkyl radical and mixtures thereof,
• (b) at least one white pigment,
• (c) at least one primary binder,
• (d) optionally one or more secondary binders, and
• (e) water,
• wherein the aqueous composition comprises from 0.00001 to 0.01% by weight the at least one shading dye of formula (I) based on the total dry weight of the at least one white pigment.