If you’re like me, you have a LOT of inks. Like, so many inks that sometimes I think I need to declare a moratorium against acquiring more. So when I was browsing at JetPens several weeks ago and came upon Kakimori Pearlescent Solution ($33.50, 35mL), I couldn’t resist.
The pearlescent solution is made to be added to other inks to give it a bit of a pearlescent look. That means you can take some of those plainer inks and zhuzh them up.
I decided to try with a simple ink that didn’t have any shimmer, sheening or much shading: Monteverde Mandarin Orange. The key here is to mix in small ink vials or trays to experiment.
First sample was Mandarin Orange only, just to gauge what I was doing.
Then I carefully added 4 drops of the pearlescent solution using an eyedropper, closed and shook the vial to combine and tested. To be honest, I did’t notice much of a difference.
I went ahead and added 6 more drops (10 total) until I could really see it in the vial and repeated the process. This time it worked a little better.
I will say that the pearlescent effect is subtle. You can see even in the Q-tip swab and the writing that it’s not terribly present. It’s only when I added ink droplets and a second coat of the ink with a swab that it started to show up more. Even in the bottle, the pearlescent material seems to sink to the bottom, so a good shake, or dipping the nib towards the bottom is the way to go.
I haven’t put the pearlescent in a pen and the product packaging does recommend against it (it suggests dip pens only). Technically, it recommends you mix it in only with other Kakimori pigment inks, but I wanted to try it on what I had at home. It also suggests to use black paper for maximum effectiveness!
Anyway, if you’re looking for a fun experiment to try to get new use out of your older favorite inks, this is one way to try. Just remember to sample first!
DISCLAIMER: Special thanks to Jet Pens who sent us the Kakimori Pearlescent Solution for the purposes of review. Other items may have been received for review, or purchased with our own funds. Please see the About page for more details.
- Paper: Baron Fig Mastermind Desk Pad ($16)
- Pen: Komamono Lab Fonte Glass Body Pen ($7.50)
- Ink: Kakimori Pearlescent Solution ($33.50, 35mL) and Monteverde Mandarin Orange ($12, 30mL)