Sailor Jentle Ink Kin-Mokusei: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Kinmokusei is a small shrub known as Orange Osmanthus (Tea Olive) in the United States. The plant boasts beautiful, fragrant, orange flowers that bloom in the fall. Sailor’s ink captures the flowers’ color perfectly.

Kin-Mokusei ink is supposed to be a re-release of the beloved Sailor Jentle Apricot that has been out of production for some time. Since I don’t have any Sailor Apricot, I can’t compare the two to see if they are exactly the same. Regardless, Kin-Mokusei is a beautiful ink in its own right.

The ink is a vibrant orange with significant pink tones and a bit of yellow, as demonstrated in the chromatography.

It offers excellent shading properties, especially in wide nibs.

Like other Sailor Jentle inks, you will notice a slight odor, but it is not pronounced (nothing as strong as the KWZ inks). It is wet, and on smooth paper takes a good amount of time to dry. It is not waterproof.

The ink exhibits a tiny bit of pink sheen, as you can see in these ink spots.

Kin-Mokusei is a true orange, with a vibrant hue that is unlike any of my other orange inks. I expected Iroshizuku Yu-Yake and Kin Mokusei to be an exact match, but they aren’t. Yu-Yake is much less vibrant. Diamine Autumn Oak and Pelikan Amber aren’t close matches either.

Kin-Mokusei is a perfect ink for autumn. You can order this limited-edition ink from Vanness Pens for $18.00. It’s currently sold out, but they’ve got more on the way. You can sign up for email notification when it’s in stock. Obviously, this is already a very popular color. If you like this ink, order several bottles!

(This ink was purchased at full price with my own funds from Vanness Pens.)

Robert Oster Signature Ink - Tranquility: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

A few weeks ago, I reviewed my first Robert Oster Ink: Torquay. This week I'm reviewing another blue-green ink called Tranquility. Tranquility is a darker turquoise color than Torquay, and, personally, I like it quite a bit more.

Tranquility is a beautiful, deep sea, blue-green ink. It flows smoothly from my Omas Ogiva fountain pen with a fine, extra-flexible nib.

The ink is wet, especially on my Maruman paper, which is very smooth and nonabsorbent. In the dry times test, the ink remained wet even after 30 seconds. My Omas nib lays down a very wet line, so dry times will vary depending on the paper you use and the wetness of your nib. The ink is not waterproof.

Tranquility provides wonderful shading and fantastic magenta and gold sheen.

The ink appears to contain more blue than green in my chromatography test.

I've been using this ink in my Omas Ogiva for a couple of weeks. I absolutely love the color. Although it reminds me of Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku and Tsuki-Yo, neither of those inks are a close match for Tranquility. All three inks are beautiful, but Tranquility is my favorite–a surprise for me since I almost always prefer Iroshizuku inks over any other brand.

Robert Oster inks have quickly risen to the top of my ink wish list. I'm currently using Jade in my loaner Aurora 88 Satin Black, and it is one of the most beautiful green inks I've ever used (look for a review on that one soon). I highly recommend these inks. They come in a huge variety of colors at a reasonable price. You can purchase them at Vanness Pens, $16.00 for 50ml and $2.00 for 4 ml.

(I purchased these Robert Oster Inks with my own funds from Vanness Pens.)

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KWZ Ink - Brown Pink: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

A few weeks ago, I reviewed my first KWZ Ink - Honey. I purchased a whole bottle of that ink and still think it is fantastic. This week, I'm reviewing another KWZ ink color: Brown Pink. I purchased a sample of this ink from Vanness Pens for $2.00.

Brown Pink is an unusual color and that's why I wanted to try some. Although it's called "brown pink," the color looks more like dusty mauve rather than brown. Chromatography distributes the colors in two shades: pink and blue.

In my testing, I found the ink to be wet with fairly lengthy dry times.

The photograph makes the ink look more purple/pink than it is. It is a dusty mauve.

It shades well with flex nibs, but exhibits no shading with my medium Franklin-Christoph SIG nib. It is not waterproof.

I did some ink splats to check for sheen and found absolutely none with this ink. Although the ink actually looks brown in the splats it also seems very flat. I'm not sure how else to describe it other than "flat." The ink (in the splats) lies thick on the paper much like paint. Not all inks have sheen, so this isn't necessarily a negative strike against the ink. But I did find its flatness strange.

Like KWZ Honey, Brown Pink has a distinct odor to it. I explained the odor in my last KWZ review, so I won't reiterate that here other than to say that the smell is normal.

I like KWZ Brown Pink in spite of the fact that it is a muted, flat color. It is different from any other ink color I've tried. Most burgundy/plum inks are bright and showy. This one is understated, and that makes it unique and adaptable to most tasks. While I wouldn't use an ink like Iroshizuku Yama Budo for writing a business letter, KWZ Brown Pink would probably be acceptable. It's a great ink for journaling (I've used it quite a bit the last week in my journal and love how it looks on Tomoe River Paper) and general writing.

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Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

KWZ Brown Pink on Tomoe River Paper