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.)

Morning Glory Mach Campus Rollerball 0.28 mm 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 Twitter.)

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to thread a needle with a pen, the Morning Glory Mach Campus Rollerball should do the trick. This is by far the finest point I have ever used on a rollerball pen, and it writes beautifully.

The teeny rollerball is set into a metal needlepoint tip. I literally own sewing needles that are not this sharp. I expected a bit of scratchy feedback from such a tip, but the writing experience is surprisingly smooth and pleasant. The ink flows without skipping. If I didn't know better, I'd assume it was a gel pen--but with ink that dries faster and is more resistant to smudging.

The pen body is lightweight clear plastic with some fun, decorative barrel designs. The cap snaps shut with a satisfying click--and it also click-snaps in place to post (heart eyes). It has a nicely springy metal clip, but it's anchored in plastic and looks likely to snap off if it's pushed too far.

The grip is lightly textured clear plastic, which allows for a fun view of the feed. The color of the grip section (which is visible through the clear plastic cap) indicates the pen's ink color. They only come in red, blue, and black ink--perfectly practical, but a bit of a bummer. I'd buy a rainbow set of these in a heartbeat. To get multiple colors in this brand you'd have to bump up to the .38 mm tip. Its direct competitor is probably the Hi-Tec-C gel pen, which is considerably more expensive (more than a dollar more per pen--though definitely worth the price).

I think they're great for writing in small spaces or on thin paper that may not handle broad lines or runny inks. They'd be fantastic for office use or detailed sketching--or for writing notes that are meant to have been left by the tooth fairy. I'll definitely get good use out of these, though I still prefer the Hi-Tec-C. If you love a needlepoint pen but prefer rollerball to gel ink, however, this may be just the product you've been waiting for.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode #227 - Myke Was Indeed Right

We have liftoff.

And by liftoff, I mean Myke's blood pressure, and ego - all in good fun of course! Lots to cover on this one so jump on in.

Show Notes & Download Links

This episode of The Pen Addict is sponsored by:

Harry's: Use code PENADDICT at checkout to claim your free trial set and bonus post-shave balm.

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