Ink Review: Cult Pens Iridescink Herbert

Cult Pens Iridescink Herbert is one several high sheen inks in the “Iridescink” range that is made for Cult Pens by Diamine Inks.

Herbert is a very saturated ink that exhibits some dark red sheen. I found it flowed very well with all of the pens I tried it in, felt wet, and it’s lubrication was really smooth across the page.

Cult Pens describes Herbert as blue but I would call it a dark blue. It’s at least as dark as their Deep Dark Blue ink and I predict that it will darken even more, if you keep your pens filled with it for a while.

My review was written on 100gsm smooth coated paper, that is not very absorbent, and I saw a bit of show-through but no spread or feathering. I saw some nice red sheen on some of the papers I tried it on. The lines were crisp, and it dried quite quickly for such a saturated ink.

It washed off of my hands fairly easily with soap and water and didn’t stain my pens or the insides of my converters that I rinsed out with warm water as usual.

Available in 80ml and 30ml bottles from Cult Pens web-site. Cult Pens calls the 30ml bottles “Little Herbie.”

Thanks to Diamine for sending me a review sample of this ink.

• Flow Rate: Very good - felt wet.
• Lubrication: Very smooth - wrote really smoothly across the page.
• Nib Dry-out: Not noticed.
• Start-up: Immediate.
• Saturation: Very saturated.
• Shading Potential: None seen. Too saturated.
• Sheen: Dark red sheen on Maruman Mnemosyne and Tomoe River papers.
• Show-Through: Some seen but I could write on the back of all of them.
• Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not seen.
• Nib Creep / “Crud”: Not seen, even after several days in the pen.
• Staining (pen): Not seen after several days - easy clean-up.
• Staining (hands): Cleaned off with soap and warm water.
• Clogging: Not seen.
• Water resistance: Not sold as waterproof, but shows a little water resistance.

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Thank you for another great review Chrissy!

I remain undecided about these. Actually, I'm a bit on the fence about sheen altogether - I like the idea, but I'm rarely pleased with the actual end results - and I think that applies especially to red sheening inks.

I've come close to putting one or two of these in my basket every time I've shopped at Cult in the last few months, but it hasn't quite happened. I think my reluctance is telling me something.

Funnily enough, I love the colour left behind in the grid water test!

Thanks Chrissy for another fantastic review :)
I got the sheen thing out of my system with your November rain and Skull and Roses....
Though I have to admit, that dark blue looks quite classy, nevertheless....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mizgeorge

Thank you for another great review Chrissy!

I remain undecided about these. Actually, I'm a bit on the fence about sheen altogether - I like the idea, but I'm rarely pleased with the actual end results - and I think that applies especially to red sheening inks.

I've come close to putting one or two of these in my basket every time I've shopped at Cult in the last few months, but it hasn't quite happened. I think my reluctance is telling me something.

Funnily enough, I love the colour left behind in the grid water test!

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You're welcome. :) This one and several others are very nice to write with. Sometimes I like the idea of saturation and sheen, and sometimes I prefer "normal" inks. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Yazeh

Thanks Chrissy for another fantastic review :)
I got the sheen thing out of my system with your November rain and Skull and Roses....
Though I have to admit, that dark blue looks quite classy, nevertheless....

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You're welcome. :) I much prefer dark blues like this to murky blue-blacks. :)

I like dark blues but this one is not attractive to me. Your "murky" describes it well for me.