(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, Root Rot, is now available for pre-order!)
It starts out feeling just like a cold, then a stomach flu, and then you're dead. Just a few doses of Aqua Tofana, and that's it. Or, that was how it worked in Italy in 1630, when Giulia Tofana developed and sold the arsenic, lead, and belladonna concoction to women who wished to be widows.
But this particular bottle of Aqua Tofana looks pretty and smells nice, so I'm sure it's fine. Don't drink it, though.
Third House Inks gives a new face to this name. Instead of a poison cosmetic, we have a charming ink. It comes in a 30ml matte black glass bottle with an eyedropper lid. The eyedropper is handy for filling pens that fit that style, but it's trickier for filling converters. And the bottle's neck is too narrow for many pens to fit into, so filling from it is also a bit tricky. But once the pen is filled, this is a very fun ink.
The color is a pure teal, with chromatography going from sky blue to a tint of yellow. Where it pools, it looks like dark spearmint green, then it fades to a bright emerald. It has a quick dry time, and it does feel a bit dry when writing. It has no sheen, and shows little shading in the writing, but it doesn't feather except where it has been pooled on the page on purpose. The ink shows excellent water resistance, and didn't fade or run at all when water was dripped on it or wiped across it.
Overall it behaves well, and, as I said above, it smells nice. It has clearly been perfumed, and the scent is apparent not just in the bottle, but on the page as well. It's not overpowering, just pleasant.
There are similar shades of teal out there, but the fast dry time and water resistance set this one apart. And while I don't love the bottle, I do like the ink, and it's certainly worth the $8 price tag. Heck, for that, I'd buy it just for the name. In fact, Third House Ink names are all pretty irresistible. So many poisons!
(No individuals were harmed in the writing of this review. Brad purchased this ink at the 2023 Orlando Pen Show at regular price.)
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