Blackstone Blue Gum Ink Review @AppelboomLaren

Thank you to Appelboom for sending this ink for a review!

ABOUT

Color: Teal
Bottle: 30 ml
Price: $8.68 USD
Where to buy: Appelboom

Discount Code for 10% off: friend

PROS

• Very legible, even with finer writers.
• Reusable ink bottle.
• Gorgeous color!! I love this one.
• The bottle is easy to fill from.
• Easy to store/stack on your shelf.
• Portable.

CONS

• Messy to open the bottle with the foil seal.
• So saturated that if you get it into the threads, it can crust up and cause leakage.
• A little tough to clean from certain pens.
• I don't like the scent.

OVERALL

While I really like the original series of Blackstone inks (unscented) and I LOVE the color of this particular one, it's been such a pain. Messy to open, messy around the mouth when the ink crusts, and I don't like the scent. It is not for me.

I received this item/these items free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not compensated monetarily for my review. Everything you've read here is my own opinion.

Sunday Reads: December 9. 2018

Stuff I Looked At Elsewhere & Read

• PHILADELPHIA PEN SHOW!
• January 11 - 13, 2019
• I will be giving a workshop called Pilot Parallel 101. Sign up here!

• Garlic herb butter parker house rolls - How Sweet Eats.
• Panettone Swirl Buns - Vanilla Bean Blog.
• Pumpkin sheet cake with marshmallows - Bon Appetit.
• A Captivating Hyperlapse Through Paris’ Most Iconic Tourist Attractions - Twisted Sifter.
• Nightshift: An Illuminated Glimpse Into Shanghai’s Late Night Shops and Stalls - Colossal.
• All the Types of Chocolate, Explained - Bon Appetit.
• Stranger in the Village: James Baldwin’s Prophetic Insight into Race and Reality - Brain Pickings.
• Spiced pumpkin cheesecake - Cook's Illustrated.
• Slumped Plexiglass Pillows by Colin Roberts Refract Light like Dazzling Disco Balls - Colossal.
• Self-care strategies for the holidays - Shutterbean.
• Cats bumping into cameras - Sad and Useless.
• Strawberry banana smoothie bowl - Bakers Royale.
• If you're into this kind of stuff, Stephen talks about some of his pens.
• Sperm whale found dead with 13 pounds of plastic in its stomach - Nat Geo.

Stuff I Apparently Did This Week

• Yenderings London PM03 Opera Night in Covent Garden
• Blackstone Blue Cypress Ink Review
• Wordless Wednesday
• Unboxing Pen Gallery Diamine Jalur Jemilang Ink
• Pen Gallery Diamine Jalur Gemilang Ink Review

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Discount codes here!

Pen Gallery Diamine Jalur Gemilang Ink Review

Thank you to Pen Gallery for sending me a bottle of their exclusive Diamine ink for a review!

ABOUT

Color: Blue
Bottle: 80 ml
Price: ~ $13.00 USD (price may vary with exchange)
Where to buy: Pen Gallery

PROS

• Affordable, especially for 80 ml of ink.
• Beautiful shading.
• Beautiful, rich, vibrant, saturated color.
• Fun red sheen!
• Special name.
• Simple, low-waste packaging.

CONS

• Exclusive to Pen Gallery so you'll have to pay a bit more for shipping than you may be used to!
• It is so heavy on the sheen that it dries almost instantly on the mouth of the bottle, making it difficult to seal properly, leading to leaks.
• It's difficult to clean, especially if it dries out at all.
• Super saturated - I would not recommend putting this in a vintage pen, piston-fillers unless you can take them apart, etc. 

OVERALL

This is an interesting one. Yes, it is another blue ink, I actually really like saturated blue inks and it is wicked on the saturation and sheen. If you're looking for an intense, vibrant, fun ink, this is the ink for you. It comes with the work of cleaning and trying not to make a mess with it because it's tough to clean.



I received this item free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not compensated monetarily for my review. Everything you've read here is my own opinion.