Diplomat vs Octopus Fluids

Diplomat recently released 15 new inks made by Octopus Fluids. As soon as I saw them I knew they looked very familiar. I immediately swabbed them up and compared them to the Octopus Fluids inks I reviewed previously. Each of the 15 inks is a re-branded ink by Octopus Fluids. Below you will find photos of the new Diplomat ink next to the original Octopus Fluids ink. You can find Diplomat inks for sale at Vanness Pens.

• Diplomat Black = Octopus Fluids Schwarz

• Diplomat Sepia Black = Octopus Fluids Sepia Schwarz

• Diplomat Pine Tree = Octopus Fluids Pinie

• Diplomat Caramel = Octopus Fluids Karamell

• Diplomat Burgundy = Octopus Fluids Burgunder

• Diplomat Red = Octopus Fluids Rot

• Diplomat Orchid = Octopus Fluids Orchidee

• Diplomat Orange = Octopus Fluids Orange

• Diplomat Moss Green = Octopus Fluids Moosgrun

• Diplomat Deep Green = Octopus Fluids Tiefgrun

• Diplomat Caribbean = Octopus Fluids Karibik

• Diplomat Deep Blue = Octopus Fluids Ultramarinblau

• Diplomat Royal Blue = Octopus Fluids Konigsblau

• Diplomat Purple = Octopus Fluids Purpur

• Diplomat Lilac = Octopus Fluids Flieder

Overall, Caribbean and Deep Blue are my two favorite Diplomat inks.

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

Love & Hate Inks

Happy Valentine’s Day y’all! This weekend I’ve been playing with some of my favorite pink inks for Valentines and it made me think about some of the inks I absolutely love and some I can’t stand to use. I love reading about other peoples’ favorites so here are a few inks I both love and hate.

Inks I Hate:

Noodler’s House Divided is probably the #1 ink I hate. Why? Because not only does it feather like a baby duck, it also tends to separate dyes-the red stays where you put it but the blue underlying dye separates out and travels up to an inch away from the red. I get that the ink creator was trying to make a political statement with this ink, but I prefer the ink to say what I want it to, not what someone else does.

Organics Studio Amino Acid seems like a normal blue with a little bit of shimmer, right? Well, it seems fine at first but over time the ink broke down which not only damaged the paper I wrote on but also ate some of the interior of one of my pens, so this ink is a no-go for me.

3 Oysters Navy Blue had a weird thick, stringy consistency. I greatly disliked the ink just based on the flow and consistency. It didn’t smell weird and I know it was a fresh samples so it wasn’t moldy or anything, just had a funky consistency.

Tono & Lims Universe and Moon. Universe is a clear ink with silver shimmer which weirdly reminds me of sparkly nail polish top coats from my teenage years. Both of these inks fluoresce under UV light so I know they have some use out in the world, but not in my world.

Inks I Love:

Platinum Carbon Black is an ink I always have in a pen, it currently lives in a TWSBI Mini Rose Gold. I use it almost everyday. It’s highly water resistant and gives a great writing experience.

Sailor Ink Studio 224 has awesome shading and is a little more readable than the ever popular Sailor Ink Studio 123.

KWZ Butterscotch aka Meet Me in St Louis 2019 is such a great ink I wish I had ten bottles of it. It’s smooth and has the most gorgeous shading. I use it constantly in the autumn. I might cry when my bottle is empty.

Sailor’s Sailor is a beautiful blue, shades really well and is nice and smooth. It’s just an overall great ink.

Pilot Iroshizuku Tsutsuji is a fabulously bright, fun ink. It’s well-behaved and has a nice wet flow.

So now it’s your turn! Let me know what inks you love and hate in the comments below.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page and this post is not sponsored in any way.

Holiday 2020 Inks

Yesterday we covered my current favorites and an inky gift guide, today let’s talk about inks that are great for the coming holidays!

These metallic inks are perfect for any holiday from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. No matter what the occasion, these inks always add the “wow” factor.

• Platinum Carbon Black

• Robert Oster Gold Antiqua

• Robert Oster African Gold

• KWZ Old Gold

• Bungubox Ebisu Gold

• Robert Oster Heart of Gold

• Nemosine Coalsack Nebula

• Monteverde Smoke Noir

• Colorverse Anti-matter

• Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-same

• Diamine Grey

• Diamine Snow Storm

While our Thanksgiving is going to look very different this year, I still reach for specific inks each November (this one is KWZ Honey).

Browns and reds are my favorites this season, especially those with fabulous shading like Colorverse String and Taccia Tuchi Golden Wheat.

• Colorverse String

• Taccia Tuchi Golden Wheat

• Robert Oster Caffe Crema

• Monteverde Scotch Brown

• Robert Oster Toffee

• Monteverde Pumpkin Cake

• Diamine Oxblood

• Robert Oster Astorquiza Rot

• Diamine Mulled Wine

• Diamine Burgundy Royale

• Robert Oster Maroon 1789

You can’t go wrong with oranges and yellows in November.

• Diamine Autumn Oak

• Kobe Arima Amber

• KWZ Butterscotch

• Robert Oster Terracotta

• Montblanc Red Fox

• Monteverde Fireopal

• Kobe Taisanji Yellow

• Robert Oster Honey Bee

• Jacques Herbin Ambre de Baltique

• Franklin Christoph Honeycomb

• KWZ Honey

Christmas is my favorite holiday! There are so many great Christmas greens and reds that I couldn’t limit myself to just a few.

Dark green inks are perfect for Christmas.

• Taccia Midori Green

• Robert Oster River of Fire

• Robert Oster Spearmint

• Montblanc Irish Green

• Robert Oster Peppermint

• Diamine Woodland Green

• Diamine Holly

• Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-ryoku

• Robert Oster Evergreen

• Robert Oster Emerald

• Diamine Ultra Green

• Diamine Sherwood Green

Not only do I love the dark greens for Christmas, but there’s always room for some lighter brighter greens and of course some shimmer inks as well.

• Robert Oster Peppermint Candy

• Diamine Golden Ivy

• Diamine Magical Forest

• Diamine Golden Oasis

• Robert Oster Fizzy Lime

• Robert Oster Ryde Green

• Blackstone Lemur Lime

• Diamine Kelly Green

I have a love/hate relationship with red inks. I’m always on the lookout for my perfect red, so far the closest I’ve found is Sailor Jentle Irori, but it’s still a bit too bright for me.

• Diamine Matador

• KWZ Maple Red

• Sailor Jentle Irori

• J Herbin Rouge Grenat

• Monteverde Cherry Danish

• Robert Oster Red Candy

• Diamine Firestorm Red

• Diamine Crimson

• Monteverde Love

• Diamine Red Dragon

• Diamine Noel

• Robert Oster Clay Red

• Robert Oster Blood Rose

• Robert Oster Red Gold

I posted my favorite Christmas inks last year, and had a lot of requests to include Hanukkah inks this year.

I wanted to include a range from black to silver even though I know the traditional colors are only blue and white. White inks are almost impossible in fountain pens (yes, I know some actually exist I just haven’t tried them yet).

• Sailor Kiwa-guro

• Sailor Nano Souboku

• Robert Oster Tokyo Blue Denim

• Sailor’s Sailor

• Robert Oster Blue Water Ice

• Colorverse Horizon

• Diamine Moon Dust

• Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun

• Diamine Silver Fox

What are your favorite holiday inks? Let me know in the comments below!

Disclaimer: all photos and opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page, and this post is not sponsored in any way.

1300 Inks!

We’ve passed 1300 inks so it’s time for another favorites post! Since we are so close to the holidays I decided to make this not only my current favorites but also a gift guide of sorts, based on ink properties.

This year has been really difficult, especially for small retailers. When you are doing your holiday shopping please remember to support small businesses! I did a blog post awhile back about my favorite small businesses and another post about custom pen makers if you are looking for more pen people to support.

Water-resistant Inks:

Water-resistant inks are perfect for the journaler who wants their writing to last, the klutzy friend who always spills their coffee or the artist who loves to mix fountain pens and watercolors.

• Sailor Sei-boku

• Rohrer & Klingner Salix

• Sailor Souboku

• Platinum Carbon Black

• Monteverde Documental Black

Copy Paper Inks:

These inks perform well on cheap paper so these inks are perfect for the penny pincher friend who doesn’t want to buy nice paper, the office-dweller who doesn’t get to pick their paper or the student stuck with school papers.

• Rohrer & Klingner Salix

• Rohrer & Klingner Alt-goldgrun

• Lamy Benitoite

• Sailor Kiwa-guro

• Bungubox Ebisu Gold

Wet Inks:

Wet inks are great for the writer who loves big juicy broad nibs or the calligrapher who uses flex and stub nibs.

• Platinum Carbon Black

• Rohrer & Klingner Verdigris

• Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-kai

• KWZ Butterscotch

• Monteverde Ocean Noir

Dry Inks:

Dry inks are great when you have a nib that’s too wet and needs a little taming.

• Robert Oster Bishop to King

• Platinum Lavender Black

• Kyo-iro 01 Stone Road of Gion

• Diamine Citrus Ice

Iron Gall Inks:

Iron Gall inks are great for the archive journaler, artist or historian.

• Platinum Lavender Black

• Rohrer & Klingner Salix

• KWZ Iron Gall Gummiberry

Non-shading Inks:

Non-shading inks are great for the office-dweller when shading isn’t appropriate, the boring friend who wants their writing to look like “normal” or the perfectionist who hates variation.

• Platinum Carbon Black

• Aurora Black

• Diamine Oxford Blue

• Sailor Jentle Shigure

• Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi

Shading Inks:

Shading inks are a great gift for 99% of pen users, especially when they are as pretty as these ones!

• Sailor’s Sailor

• Taccia Tuchi Golden Wheat

• Robert Oster Tokyo Blue Denim

• Colorverse String

• Colorverse Saturn V

Crazy Shading Inks:

Dual shaders, chromo shaders, multi shaders-whatever you call them, they are fabulous for the artist in your life. They are rather pale in writing so I stick to broad and flex nibs to see the gorgeous shading.

• Sailor Ink Studio 123

• Sailor Manyo Nekoyanagi

• Sailor Ink Studio 150

• Troublemaker Abalone

• Sailor Manyo Haha

Sheeny Inks:

While I love a good sheeny ink, I hate ones that smear. I tend to stay in the medium to high sheeners, where Sailor and Colorverse perform well.

• Sailor Jentle Yama-dori

• Sailor Jentle Irori

• Colorverse Andromeda

• Blackstone Barrier Reef Blue

• Colorverse Gravity Wave

Shimmer Inks:

Shimmer inks are great for those in your life that want a bit of sparkle and shine in their writing.

• Robert Oster Heart of Gold

• Robert Oster Rose Gilt Tynte

• J Herbin 1670 Emerald of Chivor

• Diamine Winter Miracle

• Nemosine Coalsack Nebula

So now that we’ve covered the first 1300 inks, on to the next ones! What’s your number one ink to penable a friend? Let me know in the comments below!

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