I keep picking up more purple inks. I don’t know what’s possessed me but I keep finding new, different and interesting purply colors.
Over the last few months, I grabbed a bottle of the Yachingstyle Bellflower, Ink Institute Echeveria Sahviana (Mexican Hens) and Diamine Inkvent Black Edition Potpourri.
The Inks:
I confess I bought Ink institute Mexican Hens because of the name. I have this same problem with nail polish. As lovely as it is, the color is not very saturated and is unlikely to get much use in my super fine pens.
Yachingstyle Bellflower was a limited edition color that was on sale at the SF Pen Show so I got caught up in the whole FOMO of the show. Its a deep indigo violet color so I’m hoping it will be more saturated in writing than Mexican Hens.
Finally, Diamine Potpourri is a reddish plummy purple which is a color that I do tend to be attracted to as you’ll see below.
Comparing Inks:
Ink Institute Mexican Hens is a smoky blue purple with low saturation. I don’t have a lot of other colors that are similar but that’s probably because its soon light. I think Kala Abstraction Pigment Ink in Mongolian Sandstorm is the closest but I think Diamine Inkvent Black Edition Marley has a lovely blackberry color that looks quite light with a fine nib size.
Diamine Potpourri is probably pretty similar to Troublemaker Inks Moon River but it much more readily available. For me, Robert Oster Australian Opal Mauve is a tiny bit more purply and a little more saturated but its pretty close.
Yanchingstyle Bellflower is more blue than many of the deeper violet purples in my collection. Vinta Maskara is probably the closest though it is a more vibrant violet with more red in the color. I love Maskara and its almost empty so I think Bellflower will make a good replacement for now.
I know a lot of ink colors feel like they are limited edition or only available for a short time so I think finding a close dupe is a great way to feel like you have the fancy color. Dupes also help to avoid the possibility of buying a similar color to something you might already have.
In the case of Mexican Hens, I don’t have anything similar but it is really light so I think it might be better for drawing, painting or more artistic uses. Both Potpourri and Bellflower may be more useful and I’m planning to you use them more frequently.
Do you find yourself getting into a specific color family and buying a lot of different inks in that color family?
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These are all beautiful and distinct from one another! As to your question, I shall refer you to the bulging sagey-green, muted teal section of my ink collection.