Posts filed under Vinta

Vinta Inks - The Awareness Project - Sailfin Green - Ibid 1829 Ink Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

The Awareness Project collection from Vinta Inks is a tribute series to endangered animals in the Philippines. This Sailfin Green Ibid 1829 is inspired by the Sailfin Lizard, or the Soa-soa Water Lizard, also known as the Ibid. The whole series is gorgeous, but this one stands out as perhaps one of my favorite ink colors ever made.

The ink comes in an amber glass bottle, which helps keep sunlight away from the ink, so it will last longer. The bottle has a black plastic cap with a good seal. The label is informative and has a small swatch of the color on it, so it's easy to see what the ink looks like. The bottle opening is wide enough for most pens, and the vertical design keeps the ink supply deep enough to fill from the bottle easily as the ink level gets lower.

The ink base is a lovely celadon green with brown undertones that give it an olive hue, with an added fine blue shimmer. It's a stunning effect that looks like sunlight sparkling on a tropical sea. Of course, it also looks like its lizard namesake. And it's all my favorite colors in one. Chromatography shows its complex color formula, with a rosy coral orange, gold-green, and brilliant teal.

It can be a little light in handwriting, but it pools beautifully. It has no water resistance. Water fully erased it, whether it was wiped, blotted, or let to sit. It has a fantastically quick dry time, with only light smudging by 15 seconds, and almost none by 20.

A 30ml bottle of this ink sells for $17.50 at Vanness Pens, which is considerably less expensive than many ink brands. You lose nothing on quality, though. The ink performs as well as any expensive ink. A portion of the proceeds from each sale also go towards Teach for the Philippines, which promotes education access for Filipino children.

A beautiful ink, at an affordable price, named after a fabulous lizard, with funds toward a good cause? This one is all wins. I could happily write in this all day.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on April 2, 2026 by Sarah Read and filed under Vinta, Ink Reviews.

Vinta Inks Blue Blood Dugong Bughaw 1521 Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Just a few months ago, I reviewed my first Vinta ink and was really impressed by the performance and the sheening characteristics. I was excited to try more, and that's exactly what I'm doing today with Vinta Blue Blood Dugong Bughaw 1521. From Vinta, here's some background on the name:

"Dugong Bughaw" is a term denoting the ancient Filipinos who were part of the royalty. Nevertheless, one can say also say that every Filipinos' blood runs blue brought about by the archipelagic nature of the country. This gorgeous sheening blue ink with undertones of pink and red is a literal representation of a blue blood.

I was really happy with the performance of their Azure Maharlika ink, so I had similar expectations for Blue Blood. Luckily, I haven't been disappointed.

Blue Blood is a dark blue ink that I can't decide whether to call a blue-black or just a really dark blue. It doesn't have any of the black or gray tones that I would expect from a blue-black, so dark blue is probably a better generic color name. Either way, the color is deep and saturated in a way that is really satisfying to see on paper. The ink flow is fantastic and will improve the writing experience of any dry nib.

With the wet flow comes a big trade-off: dry time. I've measured dry time to be between 30 and 60 seconds, and Vanness notes the dry time at 50 seconds on their page. This is a slow-drying ink, so buyer-beware. This is a poor choice for lefties or anyone looking for a fast-drying ink.

The headlining feature of this ink isn't the color or the shading, no. Shading with this ink is minimal, by the way. The boldest feature of this ink, by far, is the sheen. This ink has a pink/red sheen FOR DAYS. I know I said that Azure Maharlika had some excellent shading properties, and it still does. But I did have to plan and work a bit to capture that sheening effect on camera. Well, with Blue Blood, it's more difficult to capture the dark blue color of the ink without the pink/red sheen taking over. That's how strong it is.

While capturing the ink in the form of ink swatches is fairly difficult due to the high sheen factor, the ink does remarkably well in more normal situations, like writing with a pen (go figure, right?). With most normal pens, there's plenty of dark blue on the page, but you can make the red/pink sheen really pop depending on the angle of light reflecting off the paper. It really is dazzling, and I'll take this effect every time over any kind of shimmering ink. Shimmers are cool, but sheening feels more magical to me.

If the dry time doesn't turn you away and the prospect of a super-sheening dark blue ink piques your interest, then I enthusiastically recommend Vinta Blue Blood. I haven't had this much playing with an ink in quite a while, and I'm still surprised when I flip to a page of a notebook where I've used this ink before — the dark blue and red/pink reflective sheen is so dramatic and eye-catching. I absolutely love it.

Vinta Blue Blood comes in a 30ml bottle for $14.50 or a 4ml sample vial for a few bucks. Either way, if you decide to pick some up, I sincerely hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Now that I've had two great experiences with Vinta Inks, I'm more excited to see what else they have.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Vinta, Ink Reviews.

Vinta Inks Azure Maharlika Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

It's always exciting to discover new ink brands, even after all these years of trying new things. No matter what it is or how seemingly similar it is to something you already have, the unique take from a different person or brand is interesting and worth checking out. This week, I'm trying out an ink from a new-to-me ink maker called Vinta Inks.

Based in the Philippines, Vinta Inks is passionate about creating unique, high-quality fountain pen inks that we can all enjoy, but their mission goes deeper than just the ink they sell. They also partner with Teach for the Philippines to donate part of each sale to the betterment of their fellow Filipinos. It's a worthy cause, and you get great ink as a bonus!

The first ink I'm trying from Vinta is called Azure Maharlika, and it's a deep azure blue with light shading characteristics and a beautiful pink/red sheen that glistens on top of the ink once it's dried. In most scenarios, this looks like a typical dark blue when writing with a standard fountain nib (anything broad and smaller), but it really shines when paired with a larger nib. In areas where the ink pools, you'll notice a pink or red sheen after the ink dries. It's a beautiful effect, and I really can't get enough of it.

I'm a sucker for inks that have a good deal of shading, but this one just doesn't quite do it for me. There is some shading, but it's minimal and difficult to notice when writing. It comes out more in wider nibs, but I typically write with nibs that fall between EF and M. With those size nibs, it's difficult to see any shading, but it's there even though it's subtle.

Writing with this ink has been a pleasure. It behaves very well in my pens and I haven't had any complaints so far. The ink flows immediately and smoothly, and the lines it creates are crisp and deeply saturated. The dark blue color looks great on paper, and it could even pass in more professional settings due to how dark it is. I wouldn't call it a blue-black; it's definitely a blue ink, so don't expect anything darker than a deep blue.

Dry time is a little difficult to describe with this ink. The majority of a stroke is dry enough to resist smudging after just a few seconds, but any areas of pooled ink can take up to 30 seconds to fully dry. If you're using a small nib, you'll notice that the ink is smudge-resistant after 10-15 seconds. Larger nibs require more dry time, but only for small spots where the ink has pooled a bit. Based on how quickly you write and what pen/nib you are using, this could be sufficient for quick-drying requirements. It's not quick enough or consistent enough to recommend as a good leftie ink, but it does a better job than most.

What really sets this ink apart for me is the lovely sheen that appears shortly after the ink dries. It's a beautiful red/pink color that pairs so well with the dark blue. I just wish it showed up more in smaller lines. This just gives me a reason to use my larger nibs more often!

Vinta Maharlika is available from Vanness Pens for $14.50 for a 30ml bottle. And if you're not sure you want a whole bottle, you can also pick up a small sample vial. I really appreciate Vinta Ink's mission and look forward to supporting them in the future. If all of their inks perform like this one, I'm excited to try more colors!

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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