Diamine Shimmer Inks 2017 Frosted Orchid

[Chrissy]

I’m reviewing samples of the new set of Diamine Shimmer inks.
This one is Diamine Frosted Orchid

This is a saturated ‘dusky lilac’/purplish ink with silver shimmer. It is like a more saturated version of J.Herbin Poussière de Lune

I found it a wet and well flowing ink.
It had good lubrication with the pens I tried it with.
It’s a fairly well saturated ink for a ‘dusky lilac’ shade.
With broader nibs it looks more saturated than it does with finer nibs, although it’s wet enough to show the silver shimmer with all nibs.
It showed through on some of the papers I used.

The pens I used were Libelle Nature Mosaic Cocoa M nib, Lamy Nexx M Stub 1.1mm nib, Lamy Nexx M F nib.
The comparison inks were swabbed with a cotton bud and their ink names were written with a glass dip pen.

I consider Frosted Orchid a well-behaved ink. I didn’t experience any ignition or clogging problems with it. Clean-up was easy. No problem at all removing it from hands or pens using soap for hands and plain water for pens.

It is not sold as a water resistant ink but it is reasonably water resistant.

The Mebin UK Notebook I used was supplied by someone on FPN who sold TR 68gsm Notebooks. The paper in the Mebin UK Notebook is quite thick at 95gsm, it’s acid free, and has a really smooth surface with no drag or tooth at all. Inks generally take longer to dry on this paper, so wetter inks tend to pool and I knew that they would show their shimmer well enough for me to photograph the sheen.

The Moleskine Notebook is a UK clone, and I found there was very little spread on it.

• Flow Rate: Very good.
• Lubrication: Very good
• Nib Dry-out: Not noticed.
• Start-up: Immediate.
• Saturation: A fairly saturated ink.
• Shading Potential: Very good.
• Sheen: Silver shimmer
• Show-Through:
  
  • Tomoe River 52gsm.
  • Cheaper generic 80gsm printer papers & lined pads.
  • Field Notes
  
  
• Spread / Feathering: Not seen
• Nib Creep / “Crud”: Not seen, even after over a week in the pen
• Staining (pen): Not seen - easy clean-up
• Staining (hands): Not seen - easy clean-up
• Clogging: Not seen. Seems unlikely.
• Water resistance: Not sold as waterproof, but has some water resistance..
• Availability: Will be available from Diamine Inks web-site and other outlets.

Diamine Frosted Orchid 1.jpeg

[Chrissy]

I took some photos of my card swabs in the sunshine, in the hope of trying to show the shimmer. Some worked better than others, so it's a work in progress.

Here is one for Frosted Orchid:
Diamine Frosted Orchid_0013.JPG

[southpaw52]

Being a a big fan and user of purple inks, I really like this color.

Of course another great ink review.

[Chrissy]

Being a a big fan and user of purple inks, I really like this color.

Of course another great ink review.

You're welcome. Poussière de lune lovers who would like a bit more colour saturation should try a sample of this ink.