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Diamine Shimmertastic Sparkling Shadows


Gazcom

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Sometimes inks are not made for being used at work, for taking notes, for normal correspondence... but they are so gorgeous that you simply don't mind what other people could think of you and keep using them like there's no tomorrow.

The review which is going to follow is the complicated love story between me and Diamine Shimmertastic Sparkling Shadows.

 

OVERVIEW.jpg

 

Diamine Shimmertastic Sparkling Shadow is a interesting grey ink, dark enough to be definitely usable, with high ammount of nice shading on every paper, and lots of nice gold glitters.

Like most Diamine Inks, has really good characteristics: marvellous flow (despite the presence of glitter I've never experienced cloggings), well lubricated, smooth feeling when writing with every type of nib, no feathering, not a single bleedthrough (even under the third swab test). Dry times are fairly long, and it's not waterproof.

But let's sto wandering around the main thing around this ink: It's a glittery ink.
Glittery inks are not made for everyday based use, it's unlikely you'd be signing a paper with this kind of ink, it feels unprofessional and not respectful in front of the person you're writing to. I definitely agree, I respect the social convention by not using it if inappropiate, but I really cannot give a look to this ink without finding it gorgeous.
It's a wonderful grey ink (and it's definitely not easy find a good grey ink) that gains a sort of third dimension by the adding of extremely thin gold particles. It ends to be an ink suitable only for drawing, for other artistic purposes, for signing holiday cards or doodling around... But the pleasure you feel while writing, the shining trace of ink you leave on the paper is something I find difficult to find in other inks.

Ink with such glittery particles are usually known to be difficult to clean, I've to say that this particular one it's a little more difficult to clean and needs a little more mantainance, but just a little, cleaning is not a big issue in my opinion.

 

So, the usual final question is : It is worth it?
A bottle of 50 ml of this ink costs around 12€, and you acquire a huge ammount of a extremely well ingeneered ink. It's up to you, in my opinion this ink is worth every cent, but I like using it for different and personal reasons. If you want something you're like to use every day probably this is not made for you. If in doubt, buy it, for 12 € it's worth trying.

 

COPY PAPER

COPY_PAPER.jpg

 

SCHIZZA & STRAPPA PAPER

SCHIZZA_STRAPPA.jpg

 

TRACING PAPER

TRACING_PAPER.jpg

 

INKDROP

INKDROP.jpg

 

CROMATOGRAPHY

CROMATOGRAPHY.jpg

 

SHIMMER CLOSEUPS

Shimmer2.jpg

Shimmer1.jpg

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  • Gazcom

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Thanks for the review! I love diamine and this will be my next purchase.

 

Where did you buy the review papers?

People who know my name, dont know my work. People who know my work, dont know my name.

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Hi Schadebfreude! You'll love it!

Fabriano copy paper is a standard inkjet paper, nothing fancy. The same for the tracing paper, just a standard one. Schizza & Strappa paper is instead a very particular paper, extremely light but with a better behaviour on inks and fountain pens, it's quite common in italian stationeries... Can't really say where to buy them online... Maybe amazon? You can also check "casa della stilografica" online store maybe? If you have difficulty in finding schizza & strappa you can have a good quality alternative buying a standard rhodia pad.

If you were referring to the module itself, i've modified a pdf file posted on fpn and printed it directly on my own paper.

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I am sure i will enjoy the ink! I have two shimmertastic (shimmering seas and brandy dazzle) and love them.

 

Your review on your papers is very neat and i'm glad to see a neat handwriting of a leftie. However, my question above was more about those printed words (ink type, etc) i have never seen such papers for ink review so this is new to me. I like your review: it's short but clear with comparable inks. Parker quink black and blue have always been my daily inks since the very first time i was obliged to use FP at school (i was 10yo at the time and had to learn Palmer script). Montblanc oyster grey is what i also have in my mind to buy.

Edited by Schadenfreude

People who know my name, dont know my work. People who know my work, dont know my name.

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Of all the Diamine inks I have tried, I have found their shimmer range to be disappointing. They just don't "shimmer". No matter what I try.

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In my opinion the shimmer leaved on paper can be also pen - dipendent or nib - dependent. Another factor that can influence the shimmertasticness of the result is your handwriting, glittery parts are usually more visible when the inks shades, so when you slow down your hand , you flex your nib or when it leaves the paper.

 

Schadenfreude, I'm actually answering on my phone and I do not have the pdf file with me, but you can find the same form with different fonts on the ink reviews main forum!

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Thank you!

People who know my name, dont know my work. People who know my work, dont know my name.

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Thanks for the review. I didn't try this one because I already have a bottle of J Herbin 1670 Stormy Grey, but I *have* been curious to see a side by side comparison.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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One of my favourites from the first releases. Great review.

The Good Captain

"Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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Done with a B nib, grinded to Architect (love this nib a lot). I've to finish the ink in my lamy, so that I can pass over another ink ^^

 

philadelfia_bell.jpg

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