Battle of the Purple Inks with Melissa Naujoks and Pen Chalet

Battle of the Purple Fountain Pen Inks: Not Your Typical Fountain Pen Ink Review

Today’s fountain ink review isn’t your typical fountain pen ink review. We’re hosting a Battle of the Purples – with some of our favorite purple fountain pen inks . One of our guest reviewers (and ink connoisseur), Melissa Naujoks, is a big fan of purple. If you follow her feed, you may have noticed. And she isn’t the only one.

Facts About the Color Purple that Make Purple Ink a Desirable Choice:

  1. Royalty, nobility, luxury and ambition are all associated with the color purple. That’s all good stuff, people.
  2. Contrary to popular belief you CAN rhyme words with purple, so if that has been holding you back, you can now embrace the color fully. (If seeking to wax poetic about “purple” you can try working the following into your rhymes: nurple, turple, curple, or hirple).
  3. Samuel L. Jackson said that he would only play Mace Windu in Star Wars if he had a purple lightsaber. You have to like a guy who stands by his purple beliefs. (This has nothing to do with pens or writing or ink, but we had to let you know this happened just in case you didn’t know).

Little known fact: Porphyrophobia is fear of the color purple. We can’t imagine someone being fearful of the color purple, but if YOU have porphyrophobia, you should probably skip to our next ink review. You won’t like this one.

Photo Credit: Melyssa Naujoks (@acourtofwingsandjournals)

The Contenders: Purple Fountain Pen Inks Battling for the Top Spot

  1. Pilot Iroshizuku Murasaki-shikibu ink
  2. Diamine Monboddos Hat ink
  3. Colorverse Delicious Sleep (from the Colorverse Joy in the Ordinary ink series)
  4. Twsbi Royal Purple ink
  5. Robert Oster Go Go ink

Are you ready to see what our purple-loving reviewer thought of all these purple fountain pen inks from some of your favorite fountain pen ink manufacturers? We’ll try to get you all the little details you need so you can make the best decision when it’s time to add a new purple ink to your fountain pen ink collection. Review details coming right up.

Day 1, Battle of the Purple Fountain Pen Inks: Pilot Iroshizuku Murasaki-shikibu Ink Review

Pilot Iroshizuki murasaki-shikibu fountain pen ink review

Photo Credit: Melyssa Naujoks, @acourtofwingsandjournals

Pros: Really nice color, great glass ink bottle, no smudging for lefties*, pairs perfectly with her Esterbrook Estie fountain pen in Lilac.

Cons: Lighter ink than she typically works with, comes off looking more blue in photos than it does in person

Our reviewer, Melyssa, is left-handed and she loved that with this ink from well-respected Pilot, she didn’t have any weird ink smudging. Some inks don’t work out so well for her, but with Pilot Iroshizuku Murasaki-shikibu Ink, she had zero problems!

Day 2, Battle of the Purple Inks: Diamine Ink Monboddos Hat Ink Review

Diamine Mondboddos Hat Ink Review with Esterbrook Camden Composition fountain pen in spring break fluorescent green

Photo Credit: Melyssa Naujoks (@acourtofwingsandjournals)

Pros: Nice and dark ink color, bit of a sheen, not expensive, pairs perfectly with her Esterbrook Camden Composition fountain pen in Spring Break.

Cons: You know, she didn’t specifically mention any…

Melyssa finds there’s just something about the combination of lime green and dark purple that is just perfect.

*Other products featured in image: Esterbrook Camden Composition fountain pen in Spring Break (fluorescent green).

Day 3, Battle of the Purple Inks: Colorverse Delicious Sleep Ink Review

Battle of the Purple Inks with Melyssa Naujoks and Pen Chalet featuring Colorverse Delicious Sleep

Photo Credit: Melyssa Naujoks (@acourtofwingsandjournals)

Pros: Beautiful dusty purple, not a lot of problems with smudging, really nice to write with

Cons: Feathered a tiny bit (in Melyssa’s a6 leuchtturm) and looked a bit “washed out” in some of her review images (but she did get a great shot of it in the ink swatch below).

Other products featured: Twsbi Eco fountain pen, Brown Cover (vegan leather version) from @lortonhorn

Melyssa noted during her review that Colorverse Delicous Sleep ink definitely does remind her of sleeping – which we think is great. We love when the name really fits the ink! She also found that it wasn’t a really wet ink, but wasn’t really dry either, but she hasn’t tried it in many different nib sizes yet. She thought it was really nice to write with, and she didn’t have much of a problem when it comes to smudging.

Day 4, Battle of the Purple Fountain Pen Inks: Twsbi Royal Purple Ink

Battle of the Purples with Melyssa Naujoks and Pen Chalet featuring twsbi Royal Purple ink

Photo Credit: Melyssa Naujoks (@acourtofwingsandjournals)

Pros: Very nice (in a 1.1 stub nib), very well behaved, love the shape of the bottle, nice to write with

Cons: She wished it was brighter, but it dried down quite differently than the look when in the bottle

After reviewing Twsbi Royal Purple ink, Melyssa reported that she was pleasantly surprised! This may have sold her on trying more Twsbi inks in the future since she really liked it overall.

In fact, I believe she was heard somewhere saying that there was a pink Twsbi ink calling her name. If you haven’t tried Twsbi inks yet, don’t let their very affordable price tag scare you off. You might find yourself pleasantly surprised at how nice they are to write with just like Melyssa during her review).

Day 5, Battle of the Purple Inks: Robert Oster Go Go Ink Review

Battle of the Purple Inks featuring Robert Oster GoGo Ink with Melyssa Naujoks and Pen Chalet

Photo Credit: Melyssa Naujoks (@acourtofwingsandjournals)

Pros: Great choice if you like lighter inks, wonderful to write with (like all Robert Oster inks).

Cons: She wouldn’t actually consider this a purple ink (is that a con?)

In the photo, Robert Oster GoGo ink has a bit of a purple tint, but in person, it’s more blue. Melyssa wouldn’t really consider this a purple ink, more of a periwinkle color, but she did decide that it was still beautiful (even though she’s a MAJOR fan of purple inks). She was already a big fan of Robert Oster inks before she had Robert Oster GoGo fountain pen ink pop up during Battle of the Purple Inks with Pen Chalet, and she ended her review on Day 5 by actually recommending that you try a Robert Oster ink if you haven’t yet!

Battle of the Purple Inks with Melyssa Naujoks and Pen Chalet

Photo Credit: Melyssa Naujoks (@acourtofwingsandjournals)

The Finale: Battle of the Purple Fountain Pen Inks with Melyssa Naujoks and Pen Chalet

Did you pick a favorite? Do you prefer the classy, smudge-free Pilot Iroshizuku Murasaki-Shikibu ink? Or are you drawn more towards the surprisingly nice results from the ever-affordable Twsbi Royal Purple? Or if you’ve been on the lookout for a dusty purple, you may have found your perfect match in Colorverse Delicious Sleep. Then there’s the classic, dark, purple with a bit of a sheen you can get with Diamine’s Monboddos Hat ink or if you prefer a lighter ink, Robert Oster is always a solid choice.

While Melyssa found something to love about ALL the inks in Battle of the Purples, we DID hear her say that she absolutely fell in love with Pilot Iroshizuku Murasaki-Shikibu fountain pen ink (Day 1’s contender in Battle of the Purple Inks). But then…which purple ink is YOUR favorite is going to depend on how you plan to use it, what fountain pen you’re using, your preferred fountain pen nib size, and…well, your mood. So, what sort of purple mood are YOU in today? Whatever type of “inky” mood you’re ink, you can look for just the right fountain pen ink at PenChalet.com.

 

 

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Michelle
3 years ago

Love this battle! It’s one aspect I really miss from your ink reviews – compare/contrast with other inks of the same color. Will you please do (other colors as well?

Melissa
3 years ago

My two favorites weren’t tested. Colorverse Hayabusa is a FANTASTIC, saturated, dark purple. Just gorgeous. And, bonus, you get the little bottle of the matching shimmer version with it. I’ve only used it for less than a year, but I love it.

DeAtramentis Lavender is a beautiful, dark, saturated blue-purple. Blurple, if you will. It also smells like lavender, but the real stuff and not fakey perfume. The fragrance is mostly apparent when it’s wet. It’s been one of my favorite inks for about 20 years and behaves beautifully.