Tag: Ink Dupes

I just so happened to purchase samples of both of these at the same time, so they got swabbed right next to each other. I couldn’t miss the similarity. So if you missed out on Kabayaki, you can grab a bottle of Nostalgia. Unfortunately, I can’t find a review of Kabayaki, so you’ll have to do without.

The Inks

If you have any suggestions for future comparisons, let me know in the comments. And check out my other Ink Dupes posts.

This is my second Diamine vs Montblanc, and I have to say Montblanc is seriously disappointing. For the price, I would expect SIGNIFICANTLY different colors. These two are so similar I can’t help but wonder if UNICEF blue is just rebottled Aqua Blue.

The Inks

If you have any suggestions for future comparisons, let me know in the comments. And check out my other Ink Dupes posts.

When prepping this Ink Dupe, I discovered you can’t just leave the chromatography strips sitting and forget about them. The spreading goes too far. But, since it was an interesting accident, I included the original strips as well as the “proper” strips. I’m sure you can tell which is which.

The Inks

If you have any suggestions for future comparisons, let me know in the comments.  And check out my other Ink Dupes posts.

I’ve got a couple of notes on this comparison. 1) Hisoku is an odd ink. It doesn’t work well with dip pens, as you can see below. I also now understand the meaning of a “dry ink”. You can tell how much better flow/wetness there is with The Real Teal.  2) The Real Teal is a old limited edition. So it’s nearly impossible to get a bottle. In my opinion, Hisoku is a fairly decent dupe. When writing with a properly inked pen, you can’t really tell the difference.

The Inks

If you have any suggestions for future comparisons, let me know in the comments.

Welcome to Ink Dupes. I’ll warn you now, this series will most likely feature fairly irregular posts. Make sure you subscribe to my blog or to the fountain pen category so you don’t miss an issue.

This week, I’m starting with red — my favorite color — with Diamine Matador and Montblanc Corn Poppy Red.

A bit of a backstory — since you all know I’m so fond of stories. I noticed a while ago that some inks are nearly identical to others. When Ink Journal shared an article about chromatography in their Flex Nib Friday newsletter, I was curious to find out just how similar these seemingly identical inks really are.

After the first comparison, it occurred to me that I’m not the only one who’d be interested in knowing which inks are similar (or identical) in color. So, I’ll be sharing my comparisons with you all. I’m hoping it will help those who are looking for expensive or hard-to-find inks.

That said, if you’re curious about how two inks compare, let me know. I may have (or be able to get) both inks for comparison.

Continue reading “Ink Dupes #1: Montblanc and Diamine” →