La Plume Etoile

I love pink.  What can I say?

The Color: Rose Tendresse is a perfect, feminine, light bubblegum pink.  It’s soft and girly, just as pink should be. 

On Paper: Somewhat wet, with lovely subtle shading.

Consistency: Saturated, yet gentle, like all other Herbin inks.  I first tried Rose Tendresse in a Reform 1745 and it was VERY dry.  I now have it loaded in my pink Esterbrook (!) and have used it with a 2314-M nib and a modified 1555 Gregg nib.  Rose Tendresse flows extremely well from both of these nibs, which makes me think the Reform might have been the problem instead of the ink in my first trial.

Other Considerations: Rose Tendresse translates to rose tenderness.  Just another reflection of this ink’s soft and feminine qualities.

Overall: Another favorite from J. Herbin.

Purchasing and Pricing: A 30mL bottle runs between $7-10 depending on the retailer and is available at most online retailers catering to fountain pen and ink users.

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The Quo Vadis blog had another green and orange ink giveaway for St. Patrick’s Day.  This giveaway is a bit special because I was sent J. Herbin’s Vert Olive at last year’s giveaway, which was my first review on La Plume Etoile.  Karen sent me Vert Pre to try this year.

The Color: Vert Pre is a bright and cheerful green that instantly evokes images of spring and summer.  It is similar to Vert Olive, but brighter and more casual.  Vert Olive has more of a yellow tone and has a more formal feel.

On Paper: The swatch below was done with an Esterbrook 2442 nib in a dipless set. Its flow quality is in the middle of the wet/dry spectrum.  Vert Pre’s shading really impressed me and I was able to get noticeable shading on different types of paper.

Consistency: Saturated, yet gentle, like all other Herbin inks.

Other Considerations: Not much to report here - the ink performed wonderfully when I tested it and is consistent with the quality of other J. Herbin inks.  I have read complains from other reviewers that Vert Pre has poor flow; but I have not loaded it myself yet to make that determination.  I need more pens to fill!

Overall: Another great ink from my favorite ink brand.

Purchasing and Pricing: A 30mL bottle runs between $7-10 depending on the retailer and is available at most online retailers catering to fountain pen and ink users.

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The Color: This color is a great blue-turquoise color, but definitely more blue than turquoise. It reminds me of cheerful, summery blue that painters will often use to depict the ocean. It also looks exactly like the swatch on the box and as shown in the bottle.

On Paper: Like most J. Herbin inks, it looks great on paper and lives up to its expectations. If you have tried the disposable Pilot Varsity in the similar color, Bleu Pervenche is just a bit lighter and less saturated.

Consistency: Fairly saturated and consistent. It flows well and exhibits some slight shading. The first writing sample shown was written with my J. Herbin glass dip pen on Rhodia paper.

I wrote the next sample with a Pilot Varsity refilled with Bleu Pervenche on card stock.

The photo editing makes these writing samples look a bit washed out.  They are brighter and more vibrant in reality.

Other Considerations: Bleu Pervenche means Blue Periwinkle in French. Using this ink in business is “iffy” because on the one hand it is blue, but on the other hand, it’s a bit more fun. This one stays in my personal rotation and is a great, cheerful alternative to blue.

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The Bottle: A small rectangle plastic bottle. I think this is just for sampling purposes.

The Color: This is a true red color. It skews more orange-red than blue-red, but it is just a great red color.

Consistency: Saturated and consistent. It normally flowed well, although sometimes it would get clogged in the nib and flow a little thin. I know others use this ink without any problems, so my problems may have been partially caused by the pen or the paper I was using. However, these problems have been reduced when using other inks in the same pen.

Other Considerations: As much as I liked the color of this ink, it stains. I realize most inks will stain clothing, fingers, etc. However, this ink also stained the interior of my pen. I tested the ink in a modified Pilot Varsity, so I was not using a converter or sac. After rinsing the pen, the plastic barrel was stained a light red color, which is something I have not often seen with other inks.

I have to say I would be very hesitant to use this ink in any of my vintage pens and would only use it in something disposable like a modified Pilot Varsity.  Like I said, I know other people have used this ink with no problems, so my experience may be an isolated incident.  If you like the color, try it and see how it works for you!

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The Color: This color is a true violet color, with more blue tendencies than pink.

On Paper: This ink shows up well on paper. It is not bright, but more bright than dull. It is just right.

Consistency: Saturated and consistent. It flows well and shades with wetter-writing pens. The writing samples shown were with a glass dip pen (review coming soon) on Rhodia paper, but loaded in a Reform 1745, it can sometimes be a bit dry.

Other Considerations: I originally thought Violette Pensee meant “violet thought, which I thought was a nice sentiment.”   It turns Pensee is also a flower, and that is this ink’s reference.  (Thanks JFT.)  Either way, this ink is pleasant, calm and attractive.

Here’s the flower:

The ink:

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I was so excited about trying J. Herbin’s Poussiere de Lune ink and it has lived up to my expectations. Is it possible for me to have a new favorite J. Herbin ink?

The Bottle: Same as all the other J. Herbin ink bottles

The Color: This color is best described as a dark plum color. However, it is more plum when wet and more of a dark purple when it dries. In French, Poussiere de Lune means “moon dust.” Even though the moon is not plum colored, “moon dust” is the perfect description for this color. I cannot explain it more than that; it is more of a feeling that accompanies the look of the color.

On Paper: This ink is pretty consistent on different papers. No feathering and very light to no shading. The writing sample in the photos was taken with a glass dip pen, so there is more shading than when writing with a fountain pen.

Consistency: Saturated and consistent. It flows well

Other Considerations: I realize this review is slightly shorter than normal, but I don’t know what to say about this ink other than I really love it! I am consistently excited to use it and have to resist filling all my pens with it in order to give some of my other ink colors a chance.

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Here is another winner from my new favorite brand of ink, J. Herbin.

The Bottle: It’s just like the other J. Herbin bottles — small, cute, French and has a depression to rest your pen.

The Color: Rose Cyclamen is a bold magenta/fuschia color, much like the flower for which it was named. The ink color is almost exactly like the color of the flower below.

Photo by jam343

It has very little shading and feathering. If you examined your writing VERY closely, you might notice the slight feathering, but most people would not examine anything you wrote that closely. Unless, of course, they are ink-obsessed like us.

On Paper: It shows up well on all papers I have written, including plain white paper and a yellow legal pad. As to be expected, the ink has a brighter color on the white paper than the yellow.

Consistency: Unlike my last review of J. Herbin’s Vert Empire, Rose Cyclamen is bright, bold and saturated. It is not thin or like a watercolor.

Other Considerations: According to this site, the Cylamen flower symbolizes resignation and goodbye. This is a sad sentiment that does not match the cyclamen’s bright color. Aside from this symbolism, J. Herbin’s Rose Cyclamen is fun, bold and cheerful. I would also guess this is a woman’s ink, as I don’t know many men who would use this color.

Rose Cyclamen is definitely a new favorite! Photos are below.

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I LOVE THIS INK.

The wonderful Karen at Quo Vadis sent me some J. Herbin inks to review. The first one is Vert Olive. I had read BiffyBeans‘ review of the ink and it’s color immediately intrigued me. I had high expectations for loving Vert Olive and I am not disappointed.

The Bottle: The J. Herbin bottles are cute and small. You can also rest your pen in the depression in the glass!

The Color: I had a hard time getting the color of the ink to show up correctly through my scanner and camera. However, I also took photos of the box and the ink is almost exactly like the square on the box lid. It reminds me of the color of grass stains and green olives.

On Paper: The ink’s color varied in intensity depending on what paper I used. On some cheaper/fibrous/off-white paper, the ink was very light and hard to read. Conversely, it showed up very well on white printer paper. I also used it to take some marginal notes in a textbook, which had the shiny, semi-glossy paper typical of textbooks. The ink was bright and brilliant on that paper. In short, you may have to experiment on different kinds of paper, but I have found it shows up best on bright white paper.

Consistency: Vert Olive is clear and solid. It is not watery, even though it seems like a thinner ink. I did not notice any feathering.

Other considerations: Vert Olive is a very gentle ink. I got it on my hands, it only lightly stained my fingertips and completely washed off by the next day. The drops I spilled in my sink and on my counter top were easily cleaned by wiping with a tissue.

Be aware that this ink is not waterproof. I spilled a drop of water on something I had just written, and the ink almost disappeared!

In conclusion, I refer you back to my first sentence — I love this ink. I will be using it often.

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Thanks to Monteverde and some luck, I recently won one of their Mini Jewelria pens in green. Here is my review.

Appearance: This is a fantastic looking pen. The green striation area is pretty. The whole pen looks to be high-quality and well made. The iridium nib also has some engraved swirls for extra visual aesthetics. One feature I really like is that not only does the pen cap screw on to cap it, it screws on the top of the pen to post it. This insures the cap will not fly off or flop around when writing.

Size/Weight: When capped, this pen is quite small. When uncapped and unposted, it is tiny. I think the only way to use this pen is posted. I like light pens and this pen is quite substantial. It is not as heavy as some of the larger high-end pens, but it does hold its own in your hand. Depending on the day, my arm may tire after a few pages, although I have written many pages with it before.

Writing: My pen is a medium nib, which is definitely medium. I prefer Fine points, so this is different for me. The pen lays down a smooth wet line — most of the time. The pen often stops writing and I have to scribble with it for a minute until the ink starts flowing again. This is quite annoying when trying to write continuously. I’m not sure why it does this, but I wish it didn’t. I also do not know if this is typical of these pens or if it is my pen in particular.

Ink: This pen only uses Monteverde mini-cartridges, which I find disappointing. Monteverde sells these mini-cartridges in many colors, but I prefer to have bottled inks that usually offer more color variety than cartridges. Black cartridges came with my pen and depending on the paper, it often seems to be more of a black-brown than a pure black.

Overall: The best feature of this pen is its appearance. I do wish it didn’t skip, took a converter and was a bit lighter in weight. With that said, I do like it very much and it is in my rotation. I am very happy and grateful to have won it.

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