J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune

**carpedavid** · March 31st, 2010, 07:52 AM

J. Herbin Poussière de Lune (Moon dust) is a deep violet color that reminds me of the shadow cast by a lunar eclipse. It exhibits moderate shading in wider nibs, but is remarkably consistent in a fine nib. It is a moderately saturated ink – especially compared to other J. Herbin inks I own, which tend toward low saturation – so its overall color is affected by the paper it is used with. On the off-white paper of a Moleskine, the ink takes on an even more umbral tone.

It's been my experience that J. Herbin inks flow well in all of the pens that I've used, and this one is no exception. Unlike some of their other inks, which tend to feather, this one displays very little feathering regardless of paper; both Moleskine and Rhodia papers behave well with it. Show-through is minimal, even on the thin paper of a Moleskine Cahier, and bleed-through is nonexistent when used with a fine nib.

As with most inks, drying time varies by the absorbency of the paper in question. On an absorbent paper like Moleskine, it is dry to the touch in two seconds or less. On the Rhodia, though, I noticed a range of behavior, depending on how wet a line I created. It would dry in about eight seconds when writing at a quick pace (the speed at which one might jot down a note or two), but at a more leisurely pace (the speed at which one might write when concerned about one's penmanship) it took anywhere between ten and fifteen seconds to dry.

While I have a number of bottles of J. Herbin, this is one of the few that stays in my regular rotation. The ink color is saturated enough to provide good contrast and it is of a shade that's easy to read, so it is well suited to daily use. I'd also consider it to be conservative enough for normal business use.

J. Herbin fountain pen inks come in a 30ml bottle with an integrated pen rest that is suitable for displaying on top of one's desk.

Review materials: For the wide strokes, I used a Lamy 1.1mm steel calligraphy nib in a Lamy Safari. For the narrow strokes, I used a Lamy 2000 with an EF nib.

**eriquito** · March 31st, 2010, 12:54 PM

Hey David,

Another great review! Thanks for sharing them here with us.

I'm very much drawn to violet ink but find that once I'm using it, the love affair is short-lived. Still, I keep hoping to find a violet that keep me interested. I'll see about adding Poussière de Lune to my next sample order.

You mention the integrated pen rest in the J. Herbin ink bottle. I've never found a pen that fits in the pen rest. Guess I'll try my Safari in it and see what happens.

Eric
Son of Ragnar

**dannzeman** · March 31st, 2010, 03:57 PM

Agree, another great review. Keep 'em coming, please.

@eriquito The Parker 51 fits on the pen rest rather nicely, except for the seam in the middle that causes the pen to teeter-totter on the bottle.

gillyohan · April 6th, 2010, 02:48 PM

eriquito - My Safari wouldn't fit correctly there. My no.2 pencil fits just right though.

**eriquito** · April 9th, 2010, 09:26 PM

eriquito - My Safari wouldn't fit correctly there. My no.2 pencil fits just right though.

Yep, I'm afraid I'll have to give J. Herbin a grade of F when it comes to the function of that integrated pen rest.

It's a cool idea, I'll give them that. It's just too bad it doesn't work with most pens =(

Eric
Son of Ragnar

**Kelly G** · April 19th, 2010, 09:18 PM

David - great review. And, your handwriting is more than nice.
The Moon Dust (can't manage the real name) is a great color; a bit reminiscent of Richard Binder's Burple - a 50/50 mix of Waterman Purple and Florida Blue. I'm on the lookout for a purplish ink similar to the Moon Dust with some brown tones.

I mixed some Burple with a bit of Pelikan Brilliant Brown for an ink to put in my Danitrio FPN Fellowship pen, but it would be nice to find a stock ink that fits that pen.

**Ernst Bitterman** · April 22nd, 2010, 01:40 PM

This might be thought of as a purple-black, in as much as Bleu Nuit is Herbin's blue-black. In a wettish pen (and with paper that supports it), you don't notice it's purple without close examination. I don't like the colour quite as much as Noodler's Tulipe Noir, but it is a LOT easier to chase it out of a pen when it's time for a flush.

penspouse · April 22nd, 2010, 03:04 PM

Great Review. Thanks.

**radellaf** · March 12th, 2012, 01:53 PM

The pen rest has never worked for me either. Fortunately this is one of 6 colors available in a 100ml bottle (goulet).

**John the Monkey** · March 12th, 2012, 03:17 PM

I really love this colour - my sample (one of Herbin's delightful tins of six cartridges that I picked up in France) is a bit finicky in terms of the paper it likes, but choosing carefully seems worth the small amount of hassle for this colour.

jor412 · March 13th, 2012, 11:46 PM

This is one of my regular inks as well. It's a fabulous color and works well with my TWSBI 530 medium nib and an Esterbrook fine (I forget the number but it's a 9--- series nib). I tried it in a Waterman Laureat II with a medium nib and it came out a bit too dark.

**Ordinal** · March 15th, 2012, 11:48 AM

I'm very fond of Poussiere de Lune, but recently I've been finding it a lot less wet than I remembered (I first got some a couple of years ago). I've put it in some quite broad and/or wet pens, and the nib feels very dry on the page. I do dimly remember having emptied a barrel of Perle Noire into that bottle at some point, but that should really cause _that_ sort of effect I would have thought. Odd.

If you like P. de Lune, I can also recommend R&K Scabiosa - very much the same colour, a bit more shading IMO, and also an iron gall - and Diamine Amazing Amethyst (some pictures).

**Truppi327** · May 19th, 2012, 11:05 AM

Poussiere de Lune is one of the only J. Herbin inks I regularly use. I hate the bottles though and find the best solution is to buy the 50ml bottle and decant it into an empty Montblanc shoe bottle.

The pen rest holds the J. Herbin glass dip pens nicely. Not much else.

jor412 · May 21st, 2012, 10:11 AM

Originally Posted by Ordinal

I'm very fond of Poussiere de Lune, but recently I've been finding it a lot less wet than I remembered (I first got some a couple of years ago). I've put it in some quite broad and/or wet pens, and the nib feels very dry on the page. I do dimly remember having emptied a barrel of Perle Noire into that bottle at some point, but that should really cause _that_ sort of effect I would have thought. Odd.

If you like P. de Lune, I can also recommend R&K Scabiosa - very much the same colour, a bit more shading IMO, and also an iron gall - and Diamine Amazing Amethyst (some pictures).

There seems to have been some change in the formula of PDL. Thanks for the recommendations for a substitute. I was considering Diamine Damson but now that I've seen the comparison, it seems Amazing Amethyst might be the closer match.

**Chi Town** · May 23rd, 2012, 06:15 AM

Nice Review, This is one of those colors that I really like!

**KrazyIvan** · May 23rd, 2012, 09:13 AM

I don't know what it is about purple and purpl-ish blues that just turns me off.

Othersise, very nice review.

**Freddy** · May 23rd, 2012, 04:33 PM

I am a fan of the J. Herbin Poussière de Lune. It probably remains my favorite purple/violet just because it is muted.

**Bogon07** · May 23rd, 2012, 05:56 PM

I purchased Poussière de Lune after seeing it on the Pen-guin's review
http://thepen-guin.blogspot.com.au/

My bottle like hers appears to be slightly darker than Carpedavid's, more of a purpleblack colour.