Pen mail came today! As it should everyday imo lol. Today’s haul was small, it was a bottle of Noodlers Cactus Fruit Eel.
I have been dancing around trying Noodlers ink for a while. I had read a few posts about Noodlers Ink being dangerous for pens, but have also read a ton that say it is fine as long as you practice pen hygiene which I do on a regular basis 🙂
I decided to try it with my pilot VP on the off chance that if something does go wrong I can replace the converter/nib inside and the body won’t be affected.
The first thing I noticed was the cute little box it comes in. I always enjoy the little sketches on Noodlers products. I’m a huge fish fan as well, so +1 for that!
The next thing was not so pleasant, the smell, the ink had the strongest odor of any ink I have tried so far, even the iron gall I had did not invade my nostrils with such intensity! But I got over that quickly as the smell disappeared as soon as I closed the bottle.
The color did not disappoint! It is a beautiful magenta pink type color. The sort of color my girly self is always looking for!
Here is a photo in regular room lighting, no special filters etc. The ink has a nice flow and dries rather quickly compared to the J.Herbin Cyclamen that I am comparing it to.
The two colors are very similar however the Noodlers has more shading, while the Cyclamen almost feels like it has a coated property with great saturation. With the quicker drying time I think that for me at least the Noodlers has the edge between these two.
As you can see I am still perfecting my camera skills with regard to ink comparisons but I hope this has helped!
This color is going to end up being one of my favorites I just know it! Glad that it is a cost effective bottle that comes in a large 3oz size!
December 2, 2016 at 5:46 pm
Love the color of the Noodlers.
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December 2, 2016 at 5:46 pm
Me too! It feels like it has a little something extra, I can’t put it into words though. Definitely a keeper!
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December 2, 2016 at 6:08 pm
Aren’t the “eel” inks “lubricated”?
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December 2, 2016 at 6:09 pm
I’m not sure, please educate me! Or tell me to stop being lazy and I can google 🙂
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December 2, 2016 at 6:12 pm
I was wondering if it was lubricated if you could tell it in the use of the ink with respect to smoothness, drying, etc compared to “normal” inks…
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December 2, 2016 at 6:14 pm
I am curious about this too, the ink seems very smooth to me yet dries pretty quickly for how wet the line is. More investigation is needed! 🙂
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December 3, 2016 at 10:39 am
I believe that’s accurate. My husband uses it in his TWSBI Eco and it doesn’t cling to the pen much, which I think is due to the added lubrication.
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December 3, 2016 at 10:41 am
Thank you for clearing this up! And that’s good to hear, I love inks with good flow. I am guessing it helps improve it a bit?
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December 2, 2016 at 8:09 pm
Looks more purple to me. Is it my iPhone?
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December 2, 2016 at 8:11 pm
It is like a purple sort of magenta color, really similar to the Cyclamen. Definitely purple tones though! I don’t think it’s your phone 🙂
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December 2, 2016 at 8:22 pm
I’m brand new to fp and I am following you per FPN 🙂 I received this ink in my sample set with my new FP. What about it makes it dangerous ? I’m afraid to ruin my new TWSBI 580 al 😳 Thank you and great post 😍
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December 2, 2016 at 9:12 pm
From what I was reading people consider it a high maintenance ink, and also there is a color called Baystate Blue that I have read stains pens.
My personal feeling is that Noodlers is pretty safe, I plan to practice good pen habits and clean. They have such a lovely range that it would be sad to exclude them from any ink collection.
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December 3, 2016 at 6:22 pm
BSB aside, Noodler’s is pretty well-behaved. I just got Omaha, which was made for a small store in….well, you guessed it.
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December 3, 2016 at 6:24 pm
Thats great to hear! I am finding that its just like any other ink too, aside from the smell. Does your ink have a strong aroma, like a chemical type? I’m wondering if I got a bad one, color is great though so I will keep it 🙂
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December 2, 2016 at 9:23 pm
Btw I forgot to say, enjoy your new TWSBI! Which color did you get? :). I just picked up the pink. Couldn’t resist!
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December 3, 2016 at 10:37 am
We just bought a bottle of this as well. I had a sample and my husband fell madly in love with the color. Of course he doesn’t go through nearly as much ink as I do so the bottle hasn’t been opened yet because he hasn’t needed to refill the pen (a TWSBI Eco fine so it takes a while), but it really is a lovely color.
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December 3, 2016 at 10:40 am
Heh the struggle is real for wanting to switch Ink out! I tend to buy inks whenever I see a nice or new color and I’m super sad when there isn’t a pen almost out of ink to try the new stuff out in heh. Shamefully I usually end up flushing some of the ink to make way for the new colors -_-
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December 3, 2016 at 6:41 pm
Oh, I’ve NEVER done that! 🙂
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December 3, 2016 at 6:41 pm
I guess I like to live dangerously loL!
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December 3, 2016 at 2:07 pm
It looks like a quite lovely colour! Glad you like it. Recently I find myself being more drawn to purple-ish colours than I ever was in my life. Still, I’m all for blue, though. A bottle of Iroshizuku asa-gao is in the mail … winging its way to me.
I don’t own any Noodler’s ink.
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December 3, 2016 at 2:12 pm
I absolutely love Iroshizuku inks! I think my favorites one so far is yama-Budo followed by tsutsuji and Ku-Jaku. Let me know how the Asa-Gao goes! Currently I have a bottle of Momiji making the journey to me 🙂
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December 3, 2016 at 2:13 pm
I had a sample of yama-budo, and it was very nice. Asa-gao is blue, though, and I thought I’d have more use for that 🙂
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December 3, 2016 at 2:15 pm
I can see that being true, yama-Budo isn’t much of a professional color 🙂 What do you mainly use FPs for? I am writing a novel analog style heh so I have a lot of freedom in which colors to use.
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December 3, 2016 at 2:18 pm
Heh! I have all the freedom too … I only journal. You mentioned Bullet Journaling, and I’ve read a lot about it. It’s rather trendy right now. Haven’t bothered, since I don’t have anything to plan. I don’t DO anything LOL
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December 3, 2016 at 2:19 pm
Sometimes not doing anything is the best haha. I used to be a childless housewife, so I know a lot about having 100% leisure time. Bullet Journaling is fun, I didn’t really plan with it as much as keep lists and track goals. I’m super bad at planning things down to the last minute so I try to live my life with a bit of spontaneity. I think the calendar part of the BuJo was my least favorite.
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December 3, 2016 at 2:23 pm
I hear ya’! 🙂 Now I have a Hobonichi Techo, and I have yet to figure out what I’ll write in it. But there are a few weeks left until next year …
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December 3, 2016 at 2:24 pm
I am a little sad that I opted for the english version because its so small lol, but I just couldn’t be wondering what the print was saying all year lol. Hoping they come out with an A5 version in english someday 🙂
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December 3, 2016 at 2:26 pm
Have you got any kind of cover for yours? I would totally love A5 version in English. I, too, opted for the English version for the same reasons as you.
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December 3, 2016 at 2:30 pm
I ordered the black/pistachio cover with my english hobonichi. I haven’t put it all together yet but hoping the quality of it is good. The free pen and toast thing they give are definitely gimmicks, but its a nice gesture.
Some of the prices people want for the covers are just ridiculous! Even usa sellers trying to sell the ones from Hobonichi are insane. I got mine shipped directly from them for around $55, and when I was looking around people wanted around $40 for the book plus like $30-100 for various covers. The cover that came with mine people were trying to sell for $40+ on its own.
I was looking at a couple of the covers on Seven Seas but they are easily $80, and I wasn’t too impressed with the styles.
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December 3, 2016 at 2:32 pm
When it comes to the Hobo, I’ve decided to hold off for a while. I want to see how much I’ll use it. I’m thinking about the brown leather cover in Nanami for the Seven Seas book though … but it’s always out of stock. I want a very plain, good-quality leather ..
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December 3, 2016 at 2:33 pm
Have you thought of getting one custom made? I’m always looking around for the perfect thing but usually don’t have much success…well unless we are talking about inks and pens, they are all perfect lol
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December 3, 2016 at 2:36 pm
Yes, I have thought about it. Actually, today I was thinking of emailing the guy. He lives in Canada so … that simplifies things. The leather cover I have for my little notebook (A6?) is from him, and it’s the type of leather you just want to pick up and feel all the time. I don’t know yet whether he does custom … but I’ll find out.
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December 3, 2016 at 2:38 pm
Oh awesome! Keep me posted for sure :). I am just hoping that I like the size of it, I am so used to A5. A6 seems to be an easier carry though.
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December 3, 2016 at 2:40 pm
Yeah, I keep it for loose thoughts 🙂 I write Morning Pages ‘n stuff in the A5.
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December 3, 2016 at 6:42 pm
I got my niece a bottle since she loved it so much!
Try the bamboo green!
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December 3, 2016 at 6:43 pm
Someone sent me a sample of the bamboo green, its a nice color! Its a bit light for my liking though. The next one I want to try is that Momiji but its just taking forever to get to my mailbox!
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December 3, 2016 at 6:44 pm
Ok, just STOP IT! I bought the black and pistachio, too! I would have bought a leather cover but they sell out so soon and this year’s selections are not as good as last years. Besides, I think I bought a pen with an anchor on it. It’s a sickness, I admit it.
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December 3, 2016 at 6:45 pm
Lol maybe we should start syncing our pen buying…or wait would that mean we buy more or less? I need a pen with an anchor on it….which model did you get?
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