Mystery Ink No. 8

[Laura N]

MI8 is an ink that varies a lot for me. In a Montblanc 146 with a medium nib it seems a cheery and friendly pink, with a bit of shading, and just a hint of orange that takes it part of the way to salmon. But thankfully only part of the way. In that pen, it has reminded me a bit of Pilot Iroshizuku Kosumosu. But I like it more than I liked Kosumosu. In a Montblanc with a broad nib it looks darker and redder, and I think of cherry pink. In one pen I had used long ago -- an Esterbrook J with a wet stub nib -- the color made me think a little bit of Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki. Although it was not nearly as saturated, and it was pinker. But that particular pen brought out the orange and the red.

It's a soft ink, for me, even in its redder guise. It's not neon or bright. But it's not really the kind of pink that Lily Pulitzer would put on a girl's dress. It feels slightly out-of-the-ordinary. I haven't gotten tired of it, which is something that can happen to me with a pink ink. With all of its changeability, I find it interesting.

For me, its behavior always has been excellent. It flows nicely and starts up perfectly. It cleans out easily. Even with the 146 broad nib, I just tested it on all sorts of paper, including Clairefontaine, and it dries in less than 10 seconds. Luckily, I have never seen either feathering or spread. However, I don't have to write in blue books or the like, and I have never used it in a real gusher, like a vintage Parker or Pelikan. I don't doubt that it might be too wet for paper or a pen like that.

I probably would not choose to write a three-page document with it. Nor would I use it with an extra-fine nib, because I am half-blind, in that over-40 way. But I like it for editing. I like to write with it in notes and letters. I like it in a medium nib.

Inks that I have used in the past that strike me as having significant similarities with MI8 are Diamine Coral, Pilot Iroshizku Kosumosu and actually Lamy Neon Coral if you could remove the bright neon aspect of the Lamy and just have the coral. I got some great guesses, and I will go into that in a later post. And I will come back and add photos when I have more time. But for now....

MI8 is J. Herbin Rouge Caroubier.

[Crazyorange]

No way!!!! I thought it looked familiar.

[Sammyo]

Not even close! Back to the drawing board... or is that writing desk?

[migo984]

Ah, I knew I didn't like it very much. That was my second choice. I suspected a Herbin because of the paucity of pigment & the wetness, but my first guess was Monteverde. An outside bet was Stipula, again because of the weak saturation.

All the reviews looked different with this ink; not sure if that's due to ink behaviour or photo setting variances.

[elaineb]

I really had no clue what it was, but I'm not surprised now that I know. Like Migo, I don't always like the low saturation in Herbin inks, but since I don't like strident red inks, the softness of this shade was kind of appealing. I am surprised that it flowed so freely. Perhaps it's my choice of colors, but all of the Herbin inks I've owned have been disappointingly dry. This one flowed quite nicely, though. Live and learn.

[Chrissy]

I really enjoyed the reviews and I actually like the ink colour. I also like quite a few J Herbin inks.

Thank you Laura and everyone who gave their time reviewing this ink. Great job!

[migo984]

Has anyone done a previous fade test on MI8? It's something rarely covered in ink reviews, which are usually limited to contemporaneous experiences, but I'm interested to see how these less saturated inks fare. I followed the "Fade Olympics" on the other forum and it was amazing how some of these inks did so badly in longer-term testing.

[caribbean_skye]

uhm wow, would never have guessed, i just knew what it wasnt. i may have to get a bottle. will also have to dig out my sample of kosumosu as my impressions of that ink was that it was very light pink to the point it almost seemed that one could barely see it

[mhguda]

I have very little experience with J Herbin inks; this is only the second sample of one I've tried. The other one was Bleu Myosotis, which I found a little too subdued for my taste; I have found that in a mix with a really loud blue it looks much better. I did find it to flow very nicely, as did this one, once I had it in a good pen. The Fellowship Turpido I loaded it with first turned out to have flow issues with other inks, too. Since remedied.
While unsaturated, I find this "pink" ink loud enough for grading exams. I will see how far I get with it. If any remains after this, I may try a mix.

[elaineb]

Migo, fade tests take time (i.e. weeks to months), unless you have access to the accelerated aging testing gear that paint manufacturers use. If I had a consistently sunny window in a consistently sunny climate, I would be doing tons of them for my own use. But given my north-facing apartment and the vagaries of Boston weather, that's not likely to happen for a while.

Dyes (and dye-based inks) have always had lightfastness issues. Not all of them, of course, but I would guess that the great majority of consumer writing inks from the late-19th century through 20th century wouldn't do well if exposed to continuous sunlight. However, as someone who worked in an academic manuscript archive for a few years, I can tell you that fading isn't generally an issue for written documents on paper, mostly because they're either sealed up in envelopes, folders, boxes, or on the inside pages of a book. Anything hung on a wall for public view will present a lightfastness challenge. As an artist I am extremely concerned about the lightfastness and stability of any material used in my art work. But for my written pages? Nah, I don't sweat it. They spend most of their lives in darkness, keeping those dye molecules fresh and vivid for the future.

[reprieve]

I really love this ink and it's one that I've used extensively. It has become my primary ink for marking papers--and is permanently paired with my red Platinum Plaisir. I've used Rouge Caroubier on cheap, nasty paper (I'm thinking of those horrid bluebooks) without issue. Yes, there's a bit of feathering, but the line remains crisp enough and legible enough for my purposes. I've truly put this ink through its paces and it's turned out to be a champ.

I love how different the ink can look. It can appear orange, red, pink, or some coral combination of those colors, depending on the nib and paper and lighting. It's an enigma. It's complex. It holds my interest.

I put MI8 (before I knew which ink it was) in my Platinum 3776 Sai--a demonstrator--and I'm really liking the way it looks and writes. It turned out to be a great ink-pen matchup. Rouge Caroubier is one of those translucent inks that looks so pretty and intriguing sloshing around in a demonstrator. And it flushes out quickly and easily, especially for a red, so staining shouldn't be an issue.

Even though it turned out to be an old favorite of mine, this is my favorite mystery ink yet!

[Sailor Kenshin]

MI8 is an ink that varies a lot for me. In a Montblanc 146 with a medium nib it seems a cheery and friendly pink, with a bit of shading, and just a hint of orange that takes it part of the way to salmon. But thankfully only part of the way. In that pen, it has reminded me a bit of Pilot Iroshizuku Kosumosu. But I like it more than I liked Kosumosu. In a Montblanc with a broad nib it looks darker and redder, and I think of cherry pink. In one pen I had used long ago -- an Esterbrook J with a wet stub nib -- the color made me think a little bit of Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki. Although it was not nearly as saturated, and it was pinker. But that particular pen brought out the orange and the red.

It's a soft ink, for me, even in its redder guise. It's not neon or bright. But it's not really the kind of pink that Lily Pulitzer would put on a girl's dress. It feels slightly out-of-the-ordinary. I haven't gotten tired of it, which is something that can happen to me with a pink ink. With all of its changeability, I find it interesting.

For me, its behavior always has been excellent. It flows nicely and starts up perfectly. It cleans out easily. Even with the 146 broad nib, I just tested it on all sorts of paper, including Clairefontaine, and it dries in less than 10 seconds. Luckily, I have never seen either feathering or spread. However, I don't have to write in blue books or the like, and I have never used it in a real gusher, like a vintage Parker or Pelikan. I don't doubt that it might be too wet for paper or a pen like that.

I probably would not choose to write a three-page document with it. Nor would I use it with an extra-fine nib, because I am half-blind, in that over-40 way. But I like it for editing. I like to write with it in notes and letters. I like it in a medium nib.

Inks that I have used in the past that strike me as having significant similarities with MI8 are Diamine Coral, Pilot Iroshizku Kosumosu and actually Lamy Neon Coral if you could remove the bright neon aspect of the Lamy and just have the coral. I got some great guesses, and I will go into that in a later post. And I will come back and add photos when I have more time. But for now....

MI8 is J. Herbin Rouge Caroubier.

I HAVE that ink, and I wouldnt have guessed! And yes...I use it for editing.

[Crazyorange]

I have the ink too. Never put two and two together. I just kept getting a feeling I had seen the ink somewhere (when looking at reviews). Duh, I own it.

[migo984]

Migo, fade tests take time (i.e. weeks to months), unless you have access to the accelerated aging testing gear that paint manufacturers use.

Thanks Elaine. Yes I do appreciate the timescale involved hence I asked if anyone had done a "previous" fade test. Some time ago I participated in a 24 month fade experiment on a large number of inks, but this wasn't one of them. There were some surprising results, with some inks staying remarkably unaffected. Also, some inks faded a lot, even when not exposed to constant light. You can see that happen in just a few days with some inks as they dry, but others fade badly even in a closed book, for example. It is an issue for some who write journals & the like. I know they could use archival-quality inks, but even so, the outcome of the test on commonplace inks is very interesting.

As this colour has been around for many years, I was just wondering if by chance someone had tested it before now for propensity to fade.

[Laura N]

And you know what, with MI8, a number of people PM'd me with guesses. Thank you, guessers! So fun.

The most popular guess was Diamine Coral. It's a good guess, because the ink sort of reminds me of Diamine Coral in being a pink-orange. However, as I remember that one, Rouge Caroubier is pinker, and softer and more subtle. Caveat: I sampled Diamine Coral a few years ago, and it was not for me, being too vivid and too orange for my tastes. So I haven't used it for a while. However, if your tastes run more to bright, and more to orange, you may also want to try Diamine Coral. Another similar one, as I think I said, is Lamy Neon Coral, which is another lovely bright color, which for me was a very bright flamingo pink.

One guess that intrigued me was Diamine Vermillion. I don't know this ink at all. From images online it looks a little more orange, but since I'm a charter member of the "not totally sure I can trust images online" club, I can't be sure. In any case, it's intriguing. Also, does anyone else think Diamine has a lot of ink colors? I can't keep up.

And then I got three guesses that I think were influenced by the more red looking photos: Pilot Iroshizuku Momiji and Montblanc Winter Glow or Ink of Love. Which underlines that, of all the interesting things about Rouge Caroubier, I think the most interesting is that it can look like so many other inks, depending on pen and paper.

I think I told you that one person did guess correctly, and that was reprieve! Reprieve now must accept all the honors and benefits of being the first correct guesser of MI. Which have yet to be determined at this point, and may not actually be more than words words words. But, trivial matter of prize aside, while we work on that, we can at least shower reprieve with applause and adulation.

[Laura N]

uhm wow, would never have guessed, i just knew what it wasnt. i may have to get a bottle. will also have to dig out my sample of kosumosu as my impressions of that ink was that it was very light pink to the point it almost seemed that one could barely see it

Oh, that would be great. I'm literally saying that off the top of my head, so I might be totally wrong. I bought a bottle of Kosumosu when it first came out, and I didn't really like it, so I sold it to someone who'd appreciate it more. So I know they aren't the same. But there is something in my head that said, this sort of reminds me of Kosumosu. But I like Rouge Caroubier more, acknowledging that someone else might feel the opposite.

[Chrissy]

And you know what, with MI8, a number of people PM'd me with guesses. Thank you, guessers! So fun.

I think I told you that one person did guess correctly, and that was reprieve! Reprieve now must accept all the honors and benefits of being the first correct guesser of MI. Which have yet to be determined at this point, and may not actually be more than words words words. But, trivial matter of prize aside, while we work on that, we can at least shower reprieve with applause and adulation.

Congratulations reprieve.

[Neo]

Kudos Reprieve.

[Sailor Kenshin]

uhm wow, would never have guessed, i just knew what it wasnt. i may have to get a bottle. will also have to dig out my sample of kosumosu as my impressions of that ink was that it was very light pink to the point it almost seemed that one could barely see it

Oh, that would be great. I'm literally saying that off the top of my head, so I might be totally wrong. I bought a bottle of Kosumosu when it first came out, and I didn't really like it, so I sold it to someone who'd appreciate it more. So I know they aren't the same. But there is something in my head that said, this sort of reminds me of Kosumosu. But I like Rouge Caroubier more, acknowledging that someone else might feel the opposite.

I have both inks. My impression is that Kosumosu is very soft and delicate with near-zero orange tones. Rouge Caroubier seems bright bright bright orangey-red-coral. With maybe a hint of watermelon.

And way to go, Reprieve!

[reprieve]

LOL.

I don't deserve any kudos. When I first saw MI8 in the vial, I thought it might be Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki. And then when I swabbed MI8, I thought it might be Lamy Coral. It's a hard color to pin down. I only recognized it because it's an ink that I have been using daily for the past several months. It's funny, before I knew what it was, I loved it. After I knew what it was, I realized it was an ink I already loved and I loved it even more.