My ADHD brain in blog form.
Each year, I try to dupe the colors of the Diamine Inkvent calendar. You can find all of my 25 Days of Dupes posts here. But, if you’re looking for a specific year’s posts, you can visit its tag page: 2019 | 2021 | 2022
Posted in Ink
Day 18’s ink is Subzero, a shimmer ink. Of the inks I swabbed, Diamine Aqua Lagoon is the best color dupe. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 17’s ink is Thunderbolt, a standard ink. Of the inks I swabbed, Monteverde DC Supershow Blue is the best color dupe. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 16’s ink is Vintage Copper, a shimmer ink. Of the inks I swabbed, Monteverde Fire Opal is the best color dupe. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 15’s ink is Night Shade, a “standard” ink, but actually, another multishader. Of the inks I swabbed, Sailor Ink Studio 343 is the best color dupe. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 14’s ink is Red Robin, a standard ink. Of the inks I swabbed, DeAtramentis Oriental Red is the best color dupe. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 13’s ink is Ruby Blues, a sheening ink. Of the inks I swabbed, Diamine Skull and Roses is the best color dupe, although you’d likely want to cut it 2:1 water to ink to remove some of the sheen. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 10’s ink is Diamine Stargazer, a shimmer and sheen ink. Of the inks I swabbed, Taccia Dark Wash Jeans is the best color dupe. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 11’s ink is Party Time, a shimmer ink. Of the inks I swabbed, Kobe 41 Suma Rikyu Rose is the best color dupe. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 10’s ink is Peach Punch, a standard ink. None of the inks I swabbed was a perfect dupe, so I made my own custom mix (recipe below). If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 9’s ink is Storm, a shimmer ink. Of the inks I swabbed, Caran d’Ache Magnetic Blue is the best color dupe. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 8’s ink is Raspberry Rose, a standard ink. None of the inks I swabbed was a perfect dupe, so I made my own custom mix (recipe below). If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 7’s ink is Candle Light, a standard ink. Of the inks I swabbed, Colorverse Rising Reflections is the best color dupe. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 6’s ink is Winter Spice, a shimmer and sheen ink. Of the inks I swabbed, Robert Oster Aussie Brown is the best color dupe. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 5’s ink is Harmony, a “standard” ink, but actually, another multishader. Of the inks I swabbed, Robert Oster Violet Dreams is the best color dupe. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 4’s ink is Tempest, a shimmer ink. Of the inks I swabbed, Robert Oster Thunderstorm is the best color dupe. Pilot Iroshizuku Shin Kai is a decent color dupe as well, but if yours is drying up a bit like mine was, then you’ll need to add a bit of water to cut down on the sheen. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 3’s ink is Ash, a “standard” ink. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Diamine included multishaders in this year’s inkvent. Of the inks I swabbed, Caran d’Ache Infinite Grey is the best color dupe, but Vinta Inks Armada is the closest shading dupe. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 2’s ink is Garland, a shimmer and sheen ink. Of the inks I swabbed, Organics Studio Walden Pond is the best color dupe, but you’d need to cut it at least 2 to 1 water to ink to let the color show past the sheen. My custom mix is a pretty good color dupe as well; see the recipe below. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Posted in Ink
Day 1’s ink is Seize the Night, a standard ink. None of the inks I swabbed was a perfect dupe, so I made my own custom mix (recipe below). If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Don’t worry, I won’t be sharing spoilers today (or any day, technically).
Diamine’s Inkvent Calendar returns with the Red Edition. After how little I actually used the 2019 Inkvent Calendar — I don’t use shimmer ink, and rarely use sheening ink — I couldn’t justify purchasing the even more expensive 2021 calendar. Lucky for me, the DC Metro Pen Crew is a very generous community. David was kind enough to allow me to borrow his calendar to replicate my 25 Days of Dupes idea from 2019.
As before, to avoid spoilers, I’ll be publishing each post the day after its ink is opened. Meaning, tomorrow, the 2nd, I’ll share the dupe for today’s ink, and so on. Because it’s 25 days — and 25 inks — these will once again be truncated dupes. I won’t include as much information about the inks (e.g. price, size, etc.), nor will I include the variety of comparison methods.
Unlike 2019, however, I won’t be sharing to Instagram every day — instead sharing a reminder of the posts once a week. So if you’re interested in following along, subscribe to my blog for daily notices.
Based on feedback from 2019, I’ve decided not to avoid dupes that are difficult to obtain or expensive. It’s likely that these inkvent inks will also be released individually, and people may choose to get them as dupes for those harder-to-acquire inks.
Posted in Ink
I hope you’ve enjoyed this series. If you were unable to purchase the Inkvent Calendar, then I hope this settled your mind about experiencing the colors. If you fell in love with a color (or a few) from the Inkvent Calendar, then I hope this freed you to use them since you can get color dupes.
I want to provide an easy reference post so you don’t have to click through 25 separate blog posts to find the dupe names. I’m only listing the ink that I feel is the best overall dupe. If you want to see the comparison swabs or the other dupe options, you can click through to the corresponding post.
