Hello, welcome to the first post of 25 Days of Dupes 2023. Below you’ll find the inks for days 1-4. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe for any of these inks, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Some info:
- You can click the images to view them larger.
- I swatched each ink with a small (#2) paintbrush and wrote with a Zebra G dip nib.
- Behind-the-scenes: I included more than just my final swatches for each ink. Preliminary swatches are on Iroful A5 dot grid paper. I’ve found that inks can look VERY different on this paper. I swatched the top matches on Franklin-Christoph sugar cane paper (from a leftover Firma-Flex notebook) and Kokuyo 5mm grid Sarasara loose-leaf paper.
- While I try to edit the images so they look as close to real life as possible, I can’t guarantee that the color you see on your screen will be true to life. However, with all the dupes on the same page, you’ll see how the colors look in relation to each other, which is the main point of these posts.
- I can’t fairly call any ink a perfect color match, as I’m not comparing them scientifically, I’m just using my eyes. Therefore, I won’t be going any further than calling an ink a “near-perfect color match.”
- Reminder: I’m not attempting to dupe the special properties of the inks — sheen, shimmer, scent — only the base color.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Jump to a day: Fortunes Gold | ⇣ Cashmere Rose | ⇣ Early Dusk | ⇣ Masquerade
Day 1: Fortunes Gold
Fortunes Gold is a greenish-gold chameleon ink. In case you’ve forgotten, chameleon inks contain duo- or multichrome shimmer, where it looks different depending on the angle at which you view it. Fortunes Gold shimmer shifts from gold to blue. The duochrome shift is prominent in the swatches, but not in the writing samples.
Each paper I swatched the inks on had a different best match:
- Iroful: Platinum Classic Citrus Black
- Kokuyo: Colorverse Gluon
- Franklin-Christoph: Robert Oster Muddy Bucket
Top Matches
The top matches I compared to Fortunes Gold are (swatched left-to-right): Robert Oster Muddy Bucket, Platinum Classic Citrus Black, Sailor Ink Studio 970, Colorverse Gluon.
On Kokuyo Sarasara paper, Muddy Bucket is a hint too green and shades too dark. Citrus Black isn’t vibrant enough and also shades too dark. 970 is significantly too green. Gluon shades a bit too dark, but is a near-perfect color match and also has shimmer, although it’s pink, rather than multichrome.
Initial Swatches
I didn’t test any other inks against Fortunes Gold. Once again, the inks are (swatched left-to-right): Robert Oster Muddy Bucket, Platinum Classic Citrus Black, Sailor Ink Studio 970, Colorverse Gluon.
Jump to a day: ⇡ Fortunes Gold | Cashmere Rose | ⇣ Early Dusk | ⇣ Masquerade | ⤒ Back to Top
Day 2: Cashmere Rose
Cashmere Rose is a muted/dusty pink standard ink that can shade to almost black.
The best match is Robert Oster Plumb Nut, but Taccia Umemurasaki is a close second on both Iroful and Kokuyo paper.
Top Matches
The top matches I compared to Cashmere Rose are (swatched left-to-right): Colorverse Sea Europa, Laban Aphrodite Pink, Robert Oster Plumb Nut, and Taccia Umemurasaki.
On Kokuyo Sarasara paper, Sea Europa is too pale, although it’s virtually the same hue. Aphrodite Pink is too warm. Plumb Nut is very close, but perhaps a hint too purple and doesn’t shade quite so dark. Umemurasaki has a very similar base hue, but where it shades heavily, there is an almost green “overlay” to the ink — it’s as if a granulating watercolor has been turned into ink.
Initial Swatches
I tested several additional inks against Cashmere Rose. The test inks are (swatched left-to-right): Colorverse Sea Europa, Laban Aphrodite Pink, Robert Oster Plumb Nut, Ferris Wheel Press Spadina Rose, J. Herbin Rouille d’Ancre, Sailor Ink Studio 237, and Taccia Umemurasaki.
Jump to a day: ⇡ Fortunes Gold | ⇡ Cashmere Rose | Early Dusk | ⇣ Masquerade | ⤒ Back to Top
Day 3: Early Dusk
Early Dusk is a muted blue standard ink.
Taccia Classic Blue Jeans is the best match, although it’s not quite as good on the Franklin-Christoph paper.
Top Matches
The top matches I compared to Early Dusk are (swatched left-to-right): Robert Oster Blue Martini, Taccia Classic Blue Jeans, and Sailor Shikiori Zaza.
On Kokuyo Sarasara paper, Blue Martini is virtually the same hue, but too dark. Classic Blue Jeans is the same base hue, although it doesn’t shade as dark. Zaza is a hint too green, although it is the correct shade.
Initial Swatches
I tested several additional inks against Early Dusk. The test inks are (swatched left-to-right): Robert Oster Blue Martini, Taccia Classic Blue Jeans, Sailor Shikiori Zaza, Sailor Ink Studio 442, and Kobe 36 Sakae Machi.
Jump to a day: ⇡ Fortunes Gold | ⇡ Cashmere Rose | ⇡ Early Dusk | Masquerade | ⤒ Back to Top
Day 4: Masquerade
Masquerade is also a muted pink (even more desaturated, and a bit more purple, than Cashmere Rose) shimmer ink that can shade to almost black. The shimmer is bronze.
While I was not able to find a match close enough to consider a dupe, Masquerade is another ink where the closest color was different depending on the paper:
- Iroful: Wearingeul Don Quixote
- Kokuyo: Van Dieman’s Bengal Tiger Blaze
- Franklin-Christoph: Taccia Umemurasaki
Top Matches
The top matches I compared to Masquerade are (swatched left-to-right): Colorverse Sea Europa, Taccia Umemurasaki, Wearingeul Don Quixote, Van Dieman’s Bengal Tiger Blaze, Colorverse α Sgr, and Robert Oster Pink Squirrel.
On Kokuyo Sarasara paper, Sea Europa is too pink. Umemurasaki is too vibrant and a bit too pink. Don Quixote is too brown. Bengal Tiger Blaze is the right hue and even has matching shimmer, but is too pale. α Sgr is too pale and too brown. Pink Squirrel is too purple.
Initial Swatches
I tested MANY additional inks against Masquerade. The test inks are: 1) Colorverse α Sgr, 2) Robert Oster Pink Squirrel, 3) Inkebara Brown Pink, 4) Sailor Shikiori Kitsune Biyori, 5) Colorverse Sea Europa, 6) Wearingeul White Rabbit, 7) Inkebara Brown Pink (oops!), 8) Taccia umemurasaki, 9) Sailor Ink Studio 237, 10) Ferris Wheel Press Lady Rose, 11) Sailor Shikiori Yozakura, 12) Wearingeul Don Quixote, and 13) Van Dieman’s Bengal Tiger Blaze.
Jump to a day: ⇡ Fortunes Gold | ⇡ Cashmere Rose | ⇡ Early Dusk | ⇡ Masquerade | ⤒ Back to Top
Thanks for reading to the end, I hope you enjoyed my post. What was your favorite color from this week? Are there any you’ll want to get later, or do you already have some of the dupe inks? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.
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