You might have wondered why I ordered a pencil from Cult Pens last week. And that would be because I was ordering a few other things that were 100% exclusive to Cult Pens so I threw the pencil in with the rest of the order, because why not? I was already paying shipping and tariffs so, in for a penny, in for a pound sterling, right?
Wha compelled me to brave tariffs and fees and international shipping, you might ask? That would be the Diamine Deadly Nightshade ink (£13.00 GBP for 50ml bottle) that was exclusive to Cult Pens. What’s so special about this ink?
I probably would have purchased it for the name alone but it is a purple sheener ink with silver shimmer in it as well. And… insert dramatic dirge music here… floating skulls in the bottle to act as mixing beads!
You read that correctly. Floating skulls. There was a great photo on the CultPens site. I did my best to get my skulls floating upright and visible but in the end, they look more like two teeth. Which is equally creepy so I’m going to go with it.
The ink color is a pinky purple with a clear green sheen. And the shimmer adds a little sparkly moonlight. Yes, I really do want everyday to be Halloween.
I tested the ink with a variety of pen tools. The sheening is definitely more visible in wider nibs. There is not a ton of shimmer which I don’t mind. If I see a little shimmer that’s cool but there is so much sheen that I think it would be distracting if there was a a crap ton of glitter too.
I compared the Deadly Nightshade to the purples currently in my collection first. I needed to compare it to Monteverde Birthday Cake (one of my favorite inks) which is not a sheener and quite a bit bluer violet than the Deadly Nightshade. Colorverse Delicious Sleep is closest to the color in my stash but also not a sheener. So if you like the color but don’t want sheen or shimmer, I’d recommend it as an alternative.
I tried to compare the Deadly Nightshade to other sheener or shimmer purple inks. I think the Taccia Murasaki Purple is the closest to the Deadly Nightshade base color. The Bungubox L’Amant reminds me of the lighter, finer writing samples above. Neither of these are sheen or shimmer inks.
The Kuretake Art Nouveau Perkin Mauve is the only other sheener purple that was similar but the sheen is darker making the ink feel like a purble black.
In the shimmer inks, Diamine’s Purple Pazzazz has a gold shimmer, Esterbrook Shimmer Lilac is lighter than Purple Pazzazz and has a lighter gold shimmer. Jacques Herbin 1789 Amethyst de L’Oural has a silver shimmer and finally Robert Oster Barossa Grape has a gilver shimmer which gives the ink a different feel altogether. None of the shimmers in my library were also a sheener so if you like the idea of purple but not sheen consider one of these options instead.
Final Verdict:
I do think I prefer the Deadly Nightshade in a finer nib as I can see more of the color of the ink and a hint of the sheen. The shimmer is cool but not a make a break for me. Diamine’s shimmer particles are fine enough now that I don’t worry much about it clogging.
YES! I love the addition of themed mix beads like little plastic skulls in an ink called Deadly Nightshade. This is a great way to plus up an ink and make it more fun to use. I want to see more of this! But, Diamine and Cult Pens, could you make it a little easier for US customers to get a bottle? Let’s collab! I have ideas!
Now, for the really big news…
Giveaway:
I didn’t just buy one bottle of this ink. I bought another bottle of Deadly Nightsahde to give away to ONE lucky reader.
TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me what other POISON inks you’d like to see. Or what floaters you think should be added to ink bottles. Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.
If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give themonkeys some time.
FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Saturday, June 6, 2026 at 10pm Central. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Instagram, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.
I would love to see a blue sheening ink based on the Bobtail Squid. You could theme the beads after octopi or even seaweed if available.
How about a green ink called Arsenic and Old Lace with a lacy design on the bottle? Arsenic was used in green dyes during the Victorian era.
That’s an awesome ink!
My idea for a poison ink would be poison apple: A green ink with gold sheening, with apples floating in it.
Oh man, the floaters are definitely a good gimmick.
I feel like there’s definitely a market for some soot sprites in a Spirited Away ink. What color would the ink be- maybe a pink-persimmon-orange, like Chiharu’s clothing?
As someone who also wants it to be Halloween year round, some pumpkin floaters in a dark green would also look pretty cool. (Maybe a Great Pumpkin tie-in?)
As for poison inks- Amanita mushrooms are an obvious one. Red pigment but could you make an inclusion that causes white speckling? Poison ivy is another one, although I think it would take some very clever marketing to sell. I would be most interested in hellebore. I think the flower has some very lovely shades, including darker tones that look good in goth gardens.
Arsenic would make a great ink. A yellow-green shade, similar to the dyed dresses of the 1800’s. Floaters could be tiny rats as it was used as rat poison as well.
Nonono, the plural of octopus is octopuses. Seriously. I know this stuff. Any ink that’s a sky-theme could have both crescent shaking-things and multi-color sparkles in it. Anything else that’s floral but not too specific could have flower-shaped disruptors. Spherical disruptors could be a color with contrasting dots, to represent holes, like in bowling balls. Call the ink Ebonite. Get it? Have you seen, or seen pictures of the prize-winning pen that Dave Dollar made with the floating sea objects suspended in fluid? Similar little critters, like tiny fish and seahorses and snail shells, would work as disruptors in ink that has a color consistent with the ocean. How about disruptors shaped like teensy cars, trucks, motorcycles? I am on a roll! Stop me before I hurt myself. Thank you for your attention, and give my love to the monkeys.
If it anything like the Noodler’s Nightshade it’s probably phenomenal.
My dad has a set of six highball glasses that say Pick Your Poison on them and then have the name of various poisons. Arsenic, hemlock, belladonna, curate, cyanide, strychnine. (Yes, I have called dibs on the set when he cleans out the bar.) Most of those are boring colors (gray, white), I bet a murky green hemlock could be lovely…gold or bronze shimmer maybe?
I think all shimmer inks should come with agitators, but I get it’s probably too expensive to manufacture ramune-like ink bottles. A poison ink I’d like to see an interpretation of is… this is going to be really long-winded so I apologize in advance… isn’t actually a poison but it was an oil in an episode of Xena which made her gradually get blind unless she got the cure within 24 hours. So maybe like a disappearing-reappearing ink like from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Or maybe something sheeny b/c I think the original use of the oil was to make clothing pretty or something (it’s been a while since I did a rewatch of the series).
I’d love something like digitalis (continue the potentially poisonous plant theme) with a magenta ink and black sparkle. Maybe throw in an anatomically correct heart as a mixer!