As I have been thinking about this post for the past several days, I realized that I am no where near as organized as Thien Kim was about her review. I ended up going more by gut feel, which means I probably have some recency bias (more inclination towards what I have been using more recently). I also discovered a flaw in my re-inking notes – I don’t always mark the pen as re-inked if I refill it with the same ink. That said there are a few inks I put the same pen repeatedly, or multiple pens this year.
This is one of the first inks that I reviewed for the Desk way back in 2018. I re-discovered it this year when I pulled out my Pilot Metropolitans and wanted to go matchy matchy. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about this green! It’s the perfect springy limey green, with just a hint of yellow/chartreuse. It’s not just that it matches my pen, it’s that it makes me happy to see full pages of text in it. You can tell it’s gotta be good because the bottle is almost half gone!
Dominant Industry Periwinkle Twinkle
This was an ink I discovered back in 2022, during the Veri Peri Pantone Color of the Year reviews (we’re still not talking about the new Pantone color of the year yet – I have feelings!). With this ink it’s definitely a combo of the ink and the pen I have it in . The pen is a Jinhao 82 and there is something I ABSOLUTELY love about the wet nib + this ink. The Twinkle is supposed to have a bit of silvery pearl and I don’t always get that, but the blue just has a hint of lavender that I love. I don’t think this pen had any other ink in it this year!
Diamine 150th Anniversary Purple Dream
Apparently this one was another Pantone acquisition in 2018 (the year of Ultra Violet). Ultra violet it is not, but I swear it went into almost every pen I wanted to fill with a purple ink this year. And it’s not like I don’t have other purple inks. Something about it is rich and regal, with just a hit of red at the end.
So somehow I ended up at the cool end of the rainbow, revisiting lovely inks from years past. So what inks were new (or new to me) in 2025?
Again I end up back at Pantone. This year was my Brown Year (sorry, my Mocha Mousse year!). The ink that intrigued me the most out of all of them was the Vinta Sepia Isabella. This ink has so many beautiful colors in it that it’s amazing. Except that when I put it into a pen to use it, I just didn’t get what I wanted. It came out looking vaguely brown/pink. I need to try a few more pens.
The rest of the browns? They were lovely, but I just don’t find myself reaching for brown inks that often. So I know they’ll get into the rotation eventually, but I can’t give them a top spot.
What were your favorite inks of 2025?
DISCLAIMER: Some of the inks shown here have been purchased with my own funds, others were received as review samples. Please see the About page for more details.
- Paper: Baron Fig Mastermind Desk Pad ($16)
- Swatches: Col-o-Dex Rotary Cards ($15)
My fave ink of 2025?
Hmmm….. I suppose it depends on how I define “favorite”.
If by most used, then: Platinum Blue Black, because it’s a perfect pairing for my most used/EDC pen, a Platinum Curidas EF. The ink just flows effortlessly out the EF nib in reverse position and does not feather or bleed. (Second most: Diamone Scarlet tied with Iroshizuku Shin-Rhoku, a red and green for notetaking/editing)
If by most pens inked with it, then it would be Diamine Onyx Black. It’s a great well-behaved black that plays well with a lot of pens. (Second most: Diamine Scarlet, for editing.)
If by most loved color, well then! I would have a hard time choosing just 5, much less only one. Taking a stab at it, in no particular ranking:
Iroshizuku Tsutsuji
Ferris Wheel Press Steeped Umber
Iroshizuki Shin-Ryoku
Diamine Onyx Black
Platinum Blue Black/Diamine Scarlet (Tied)
Fairly pedestrian, tbh, but mybwriting needs are fairly pedestrian, so ….
And yet, it hasn’t stopped me from buying more inks in more colors. You’d think I’m using them to paint art or something … Nope!
I just like having an array of colorful ink in t-eir boxes where I can see them and have a little bit of pretty to lighten my day.
So many good colors. My writing and notes are mostly for myself (I work from home) so I use ALL THE COLORS! 🙂
Ugh. Please ignore the phone typos.
(Facepalm!)
Thank you.