Posts filed under Ink Reviews

Vinta Inks Blue Blood Dugong Bughaw 1521 Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Just a few months ago, I reviewed my first Vinta ink and was really impressed by the performance and the sheening characteristics. I was excited to try more, and that's exactly what I'm doing today with Vinta Blue Blood Dugong Bughaw 1521. From Vinta, here's some background on the name:

"Dugong Bughaw" is a term denoting the ancient Filipinos who were part of the royalty. Nevertheless, one can say also say that every Filipinos' blood runs blue brought about by the archipelagic nature of the country. This gorgeous sheening blue ink with undertones of pink and red is a literal representation of a blue blood.

I was really happy with the performance of their Azure Maharlika ink, so I had similar expectations for Blue Blood. Luckily, I haven't been disappointed.

Blue Blood is a dark blue ink that I can't decide whether to call a blue-black or just a really dark blue. It doesn't have any of the black or gray tones that I would expect from a blue-black, so dark blue is probably a better generic color name. Either way, the color is deep and saturated in a way that is really satisfying to see on paper. The ink flow is fantastic and will improve the writing experience of any dry nib.

With the wet flow comes a big trade-off: dry time. I've measured dry time to be between 30 and 60 seconds, and Vanness notes the dry time at 50 seconds on their page. This is a slow-drying ink, so buyer-beware. This is a poor choice for lefties or anyone looking for a fast-drying ink.

The headlining feature of this ink isn't the color or the shading, no. Shading with this ink is minimal, by the way. The boldest feature of this ink, by far, is the sheen. This ink has a pink/red sheen FOR DAYS. I know I said that Azure Maharlika had some excellent shading properties, and it still does. But I did have to plan and work a bit to capture that sheening effect on camera. Well, with Blue Blood, it's more difficult to capture the dark blue color of the ink without the pink/red sheen taking over. That's how strong it is.

While capturing the ink in the form of ink swatches is fairly difficult due to the high sheen factor, the ink does remarkably well in more normal situations, like writing with a pen (go figure, right?). With most normal pens, there's plenty of dark blue on the page, but you can make the red/pink sheen really pop depending on the angle of light reflecting off the paper. It really is dazzling, and I'll take this effect every time over any kind of shimmering ink. Shimmers are cool, but sheening feels more magical to me.

If the dry time doesn't turn you away and the prospect of a super-sheening dark blue ink piques your interest, then I enthusiastically recommend Vinta Blue Blood. I haven't had this much playing with an ink in quite a while, and I'm still surprised when I flip to a page of a notebook where I've used this ink before — the dark blue and red/pink reflective sheen is so dramatic and eye-catching. I absolutely love it.

Vinta Blue Blood comes in a 30ml bottle for $14.50 or a 4ml sample vial for a few bucks. Either way, if you decide to pick some up, I sincerely hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Now that I've had two great experiences with Vinta Inks, I'm more excited to see what else they have.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on October 23, 2024 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Vinta, Ink Reviews.

Laban Hermes Sky Blue Ink Review

Laban Hermes Sky Blue ink is an addition to my "didn't know they made ink too" list, but this is a list that I'm always happy to see expand. We definitely don't have a shortage of ink choices these days.

My only exposure to Laban in the past has been their fountain pens and other ballpoint/rollerball writing instruments. They're a luxury brand on the more affordable side that offer a lot of unique and attractive designs. Until recently, I thought that's all they did. But it turns out they also make their own ink.

Hermes is just one ink out of the Greek Mythology collection, all of which are bold and striking colors. Hermes is a bright sky blue that really pops off the page. It's just dark enough to be easy to read while still obviously being sky blue. Compared to other sky blues from other ink makers, it's definitely on the lighter side.

The ink shades easily from the pervasive sky blue to a lighter sky blue as it dries. It's not a large amount of shading, but it provides some character and flair to the ink. Once the ink dries, I can detect a very small amount of bright sheen in some angles. It's not enough to even name the color of the sheen, but it does add a dynamic look to the dried ink on the page.

Dry time is pretty average when comparing to other inks. Typical strokes from a medium nib are dry in around 15-20 seconds, while larger strokes from a wider nib take between 20 and 30 seconds to dry. Nothing to write home about, but decent. For left-handed writers, this won't be a great option since it doesn't dry fast enough to avoid hand smudges while writing.

The flow of this ink is a little on the dry side. It's not enough to make the nib feel dry or scratchy, but it does mean nib/feed combos that lean to the dry side might struggle to supple enough ink. It does fine in the nibs I've tried, but I can definitely tell that the ink feeds slower than most inks. Not a good choice for a nib that you know is already a little scratchy, but it feels fine in a well-tuned nib.

One thing I noticed pretty quickly is that this ink can behave a little erratically on different types of papers. It does well when writing on coated papers (like Rhodia), but can be splotchy or invisible in some areas on uncoated paper. There's a good example of this on the swatch card in the photos. There are a couple of spots on the card that look much lighter than the rest. This is likely due to some sort of small imperfection in the paper stock that the ink refused to soak into for some reason. I've noticed it on other papers that aren't coated, so it must be something in the ink formula that makes it less resilient on different paper types. Not a dealbreaker, but an oddity that needs to be pointed out.

At $25 for a 50ml bottle, Hermes Sky Blue is priced a bit higher than other inks of the same size. Not to single anyone out, but for comparison's sake, a 50ml bottle of Robert Oster ink is $18, and that's an ink brand that almost always delivers flawless performance. I'd rate the behavior of Hermes Sky Blue behind the Robert Oster inks I've used, so that's worth considering given the price. I'd be happier and more willing to recommend it if it were closer to the $15-20 mark. Since I've only tried one ink from Laban, I can't say yet if their other inks are on par with this performance, but I certainly hope they behave a little better than Hermes Sky Blue. I'm definitely keeping my eye on them and looking forward to trying other inks from their lineup.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on October 2, 2024 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Laban, Ink Reviews.

Robert Oster Dragon's Night Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Just in time for the shorter days and longer nights, it's a lusciously dark violet-blue ink from Robert Oster that also has a faint hint of copper sheen. Dragon's Night is a gorgeous dark ink that has just enough character to keep it interesting for long writing sessions.

It's not uncommon for Robert Oster inks to have a little flare on top of the base color, and this one is no different. There's a medium amount of shading — just enough to be noticeable under normal writing conditions. But there's also a hidden copper/red sheen that comes out in rare lighting conditions. This isn't a crazy sheening effect that's hard to ignore like some inks. It's subtle, and even when it does occur it isn't widespread. It's small and reminds me of glistening stars or floating embers rising from a small fire.

I had a hard time finding other ink swatches to compare this with because it's a unique combination (in my ink collection at least) of dark purple/violet, dark blue, and blue-black shades. When writing, it usually looks like a violet-black with lots of blue undertones. I've realized that my ink collection has lots of purples, but not many violets, which also means I prefer the warmer purple shades to the bluer violet. Either way, this is an ink color that I'm more than happy to use.

While it's not a particular fast-drying ink, I've found that it's dry to the touch at around 20 seconds in a medium nib. Could be faster, but could also be much slower.

Writing with this ink is an absolute pleasure. It has a good amount of lubrication for the nib and starts easily in whatever pen I throw it in. Despite being so dark, it also doesn't show through to the opposite side of the page much.

I'm a little disappointed that the copper sheen doesn't present itself more readily. It's really shy and I had a lot of trouble creating the optimal conditions to make it come out. In normal writing, it's rare that you'll see the sheen, but it will make you smile when it does appear.

Given the light sheen, it's a good thing the base color and medium shading behavior is so nice with this ink. Definitely purchase this ink due to the color and not with any expectation of sheening!

I've always been really happy with the many Robert Oster inks I've used, and Dragon's Night is no exception, as long as you have the right expectations. This is a violet-black that will be in heavy rotation over the next few months!

Dragon's Night is available in a 50ml bottle for $18, or you can pick up a 4ml sample vial to try out first. It's a good bang for the buck in terms of value, and I'd happily recommend it to anyone that likes the dark, moody violet shade.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)