Ink Review #2630: Private Reserve Fast Dry Midnight Blue

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Today’s ink is Private Reserve Midnight Blue from the Fast Dry collection. You can find this ink for sale at JetPens.

The color:

Midnight Blue is just that-a midnight blue.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has coppery sheen.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 60 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low shading, low copper sheen, and no shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had feathering in all nib sizes and some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Midnight Blue is a little deeper than Private Reserve Infinity Blue. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a TWSBI Eco Transparent Blue, with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink has an average flow.

Overall, this ink is lovely, but it’s absolutely not a fast dry ink like the name implies. It took quite a long time to dry at 60 seconds, which is fine, but it’s not what it’s advertised as.

Thanks to all my Patrons! I couldn’t do these reviews without you! You can find my Patreon page here.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links and this post is not sponsored.

Ink Review #2629: Wearingeul Enki

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Today’s ink is Wearingeul Enki from the World Myth collection. My sample came from Vanness Pens.

The color:

Enki is a cotton candy blue that shades to pink.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has some gold shimmer.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 40 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low shading, no sheen, and gold shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had feathering in all nib sizes and some bleeding in the flex nib.

Comparison Swabs:

Enki is a little darker than Wearingeul Wendy Darling and Colorverse Han Bit. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a TWSBI Eco Cement with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink was so pale and dry! I did not enjoy the pen/ink/paper combo.

Overall, this ink is way too pale and dry for me to use again. It is darker than some of the other similar inks, but it’s still too pale for me.

Thanks to all my Patrons! I couldn’t do these reviews without you! You can find my Patreon page here.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links and this post is not sponsored.

Vinta Hello Rain Inks

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Today’s inks are from the Vinta Hello Rain collection. You can finds these inks for sale at a lot of retailers, including Vanness Pens.

Swabs:

Left to right: Arnibal, Tuwing Umuulan, Badya, Holen and Amihan.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry Time: 30-50 seconds

Water Resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: All have low shading, Arnibal has low green sheen. Arnibal, Badya and Amihan have gold shimmer. Tuwing Umuulan has silver shimmer and Holen has blue shimmer.

On Walmart Pen + Gear copy paper there was some feathering and bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Arnibal is darker than Diamine Yule Log and warmer than Robert Oster Terra Australis.

Tuwing Umuulan is lighter than Ferris Wheel Press Cabernet on the Lake.

Badya is closest to Birmingham Southshore Luster.

Holen is a little darker than Van Dieman’s Morning Frost but a little lighter than Kyo-no-oto Ginkaisuoku Silver.

Amihan is lighter than Robert Oster Faith, but darker than the rest.

Longer Writing:

I used a Taroko Enigma notebook. All four had average flows.

Overall, these are lovely shimmer inks. They are well behaved and nice colors. I would say these are average-lovely, but not must-have inks for me.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and is not sponsored in any way.

Ink Review #2623: Inkebara Water

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Today’s ink is Inkebara Water from the Special Edition collection. My sample came from Vanness Pens.

The color:

Water is a medium sky blue.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has some shading.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had feathering in all nib sizes and some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Water is a little lighter and brighter than Pilot Iroshizuku Ama-iro. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer Writing:

I can’t find the photo of the longer writing for the life of me. I’ve looked and looked and looked, and I can’t find the original writing either. Just pretend there’s a beautiful photo of longer writing here. I used a Brook’s Charleston, with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink has an average flow.

Overall, this ink is well behaved, but it’s similar to Pilot Iroshizuku Ama-iro, which I like better.

Thanks to all my Patrons! I couldn’t do these reviews without you! You can find my Patreon page here.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links and this post is not sponsored.

Ink Review #2622: Inkebara Petrol Dark

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Inkebara Petrol Dark is from the Standard collection. You can find this ink for sale at some retailers including Vanness Pens.

The color:

Petrol Dark is a deep petrol teal.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink looks much darker than it does on the Col-o-ring swab and has some dark pink sheen.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 60 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low shading, medium pink sheen, and no shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had some feathering and bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Petrol Dark is closest to Colorverse 84 SM1. Click here to see the teal inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a Lamy Safari Petrol with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink has an average flow.

Overall, I like this ink! It’s well behaved, is a nice color, has some shading and sheen, and is affordable.

Thanks to all my Patrons! I couldn’t do these reviews without you! You can find my Patreon page here.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links and this post is not sponsored.

Ink Review #2621: Rohrer and Klingner Smaragdgrün

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Rohrer and Klingner Smaragdgrun Veridian is from the Standard collection. You can find this ink for sale at some retailers including Vanness Pens.

The color:

Smaragdgrun Veridian is a medium teal.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has some shading.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 60 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had some feathering and bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Smaragdgrun Veridian is darker than Pelikan Edelstein Jade but lighter than Pilot Iroshizuku Syi-gyoku. Click here to see the teal inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a Pilot Custom 743 Verdigris with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink has an average flow.

Overall, I love the color of this ink, and I loved the combo of the ink in the Pilot Custom 743 Verdigris. It’s super affordable too!

Thanks to all my Patrons! I couldn’t do these reviews without you! You can find my Patreon page here.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links and this post is not sponsored.

September Leaves Ink Palettes

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It’s the first full week of September, so it’s time for some new ink palettes! It’s still the tail end of summer here in Washington, but I’m already pulling out the fall decorations and buying kids fall clothes. I decided to focus on leaves this month, mainly because I can’t wait for fall to actually hit us. I have a full bottle of Diamine Green Black but don’t reach for it very often. I need to use it more.

I love Taccia Sharaku-kurocha so much! It’s a gorgeous deep brown.

I think Lamy Black is really underrated. It’s a nice deep black.

Diamine Ancient Copper was one of the first ten inks I tried-everyone was raving about it at the time, and I still use it every fall.

What inks are you using in September? Let me know in the comments below!

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. This post is not sponsored.

Ink Review #2620: Wearingeul Tinker Bell

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Wearingeul Tinker Bell is from the Peter and Wendy collection. You can find this ink for sale at some retailers including Vanness Pens.

The color:

Tinker Bell is an unsaturated, pale sage green.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink is darker than the Col-o-ring swab and has gold shimmer.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Low

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low shading, no sheen, and gold shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had some feathering in the larger nib sizes but no bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Tinker Bell isn’t super close to any of these other green shimmer inks. Click here to see the green inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a Pilot Custom 74 Forest with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink has a dry flow.

Overall, this ink is too pale and dry for me. I had a hard time reading it in a medium and broad nib, so it’s definitely too pale.

Thanks to all my Patrons! I couldn’t do these reviews without you! You can find my Patreon page here.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links and this post is not sponsored.

Ink Review #2619: Octopus Fluids Orange Bunny

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Octopus Fluids Orange Bunny is from the Write and Draw collection. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Orange Bunny is a deep red-orange.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink looks more red than orange.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: High

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had some feathering and a few dots of bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Orange Bunny is similar to Colorverse Electron and Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki. Click here to see the orange inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a TWSBI Eco Orange with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink has a slightly wet flow.

Overall, I really enjoyed this ink. I love the slightly wet flow and the high water resistance.

Thanks to all my Patrons! I couldn’t do these reviews without you! You can find my Patreon page here.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links and this post is not sponsored.

My 10 Favorite Blue Black Inks

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We’ve been slowly tackling my top ten inks in each color category and today it’s time to have a go at blue black inks! You can find my top ten by color posts in the favorites tab at the top of the blog. So let’s take a look!

Sailor Sei-boku has a lot of depth to the color, and has high water resistance.

Bungubox 4B is an interesting color, dries fast, and has some nice sheen.

Robert Oster Thunderstorm-I love this ink. I love the color. The shading is great and has an average dry time.

Rohrer and Klingner Verdigris leans toward teal on some papers, but is a nice color and affordable too!

Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-Kai is one of my absolute favorite blue black inks. I love the color, I love the smooth flow, and I love the quick dry time.

Sailor Souboku is an amazing ink. I love the smooth flow and high water resistance.

Nagasawa Kobe 07 Kaikyou Blue is a nice dark color and has some shading, sheen and a nice wet flow

Cross Blue Black is a classic in the fountain pen community. It’s a great everyday office appropriate blue black ink.

Nagasawa Kobe 51 Kanocho Midnight-I love this ink. It’s so pretty and I love the wet flow and green and silver sheen.

Diamine 1864 Blue Black is a good classic blue black. I love the smooth flow. I use it primarily on Tomoe River paper since it’s not great on cheaper paper.

What ink would you add to my favorite blue black inks? Let me know in the comments below!