Herbin Bleu Myosotis: I think it changed

[PithyProlix]

Mystified by recent reviews that showed Herbin Bleu Myosotis as much more a middle-of-the-road blue rather than the more lavender color I have (more violet than blue to my eye and I much prefer it), I did a Google Image search and it seems there are two distinct colors. Looking at about 15 online reviews of Bleu Myosotis revealed some consistency: all reviews published up to 2014 showed the lavender color while all after, except for one, showed a more standard blue. The exception - a very recent review - had the old color but perhaps it was manufactured earlier. Of course, we don't know when the inks used in the reviews were actually manufactured but the total absence of the MOR blue before ~2015 seems to be pretty strong evidence for a change around that time.

 

I am disappointed by the change, not only because I had hoped to replace my 10ml bottle (which were introduced circa 2014) with the same color, but also because Herbin's Bleu Myosotis has a long history.

 

First World ink-geek problem ...

[Lithium466]

Interested in other's answers. I only have recent production bleu myosotis, and it's not erasable/eradicable (not that Herbin says it is, they just say the colour is close to standard school blue).

I always wondered what Herbin colour was the erasable blue, I remember seeing the small aluminum tins of cartridges when I was in school and using erasable blue, but for some reason never bought it (maybe I had asked which one was erasable and was told "none"?).

 

Do you have some Monteverde Malibu blue, by any chance?

[PithyProlix]

1 hour ago, Lithium466 said:

Do you have some Monteverde Malibu blue, by any chance?

 

I don't (nor any other Monteverde ink) but I'm curious why you asked. (?)

[Mercian]

Herbin reformulated several of their inks in/around 2014.

 

E.g. I found my interest piqued by reviews of the pre-2014 version of their Poussière de Lune, but then discovered that it had been reformulated to a much redder, and less ‘dusky purple’ shade (with less water resistance too). Luckily I found that out before buying any PdL.

 

I seem to remember that Herbin had said that they needed to reformulate the inks because of a problem with their water source (or was that Monteverde?), but I think that a more likely explanation for the changes would be a change in the regulations regarding the safe handling of chemicals in industrial settings.

Several European ink manufacturers reformulated their inks at around that time.
If manufacturers looked at a new set of safety regulations and calculated that, in order to not contravene the new regulations they would need to remodel their factories, or e.g. install lots of new ventilation, and/or vapour-containment equipment, they may well have decided to change the formulations of their inks instead.

[Mercian]

As for trying to find an ink that resembles the old Bleu Myosotis, the only ink that I can immediately think of as having a similar colour to it is Pilot Iroshizuku Ajisai.

 

N.b. I have never used either of these inks, I am only going off my memory of seeing reviews of them.
And, obviously, I strongly advise anyone who is interested to look at several reviews of Ajisai, so that they are able to decide for themselves how good - or how bad - a ‘match’ it is to the old Bleu Myosotis.
And not just in terms of its hue, but also whether or not it shades, flows, spreads, bleeds, feathers, lubricates the nib on the page etc in a similar way to the Herbin ink.

 

Slàinte,
M.

[Mercian]

Might there be an ink in the Sailor/Nagasawa ‘Kobe’ ink range that is close to Bleu Myosotis?

Perhaps #62 Nunobiki Lavender?

Or #79 Tamon Kakitsubata?

 

I expect though that anyone who wishes to get a really good match to the old Bleu Myosotis is going to need to retreat into their Top Secret alchemical laboratory, don their PPE, and start conducting Inkxperiments in the mixing vats.

 

 

 

[Lithium466]

4 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

 

I don't (nor any other Monteverde ink) but I'm curious why you asked. (?)

I never tried the old Herbin formula but thought Malibu blue could be an approximation, in term of behaviour, lubrication, saturation and appearance once dry on the page (including the initial mild fading after a few days). That said as I only tried the new bleu myosotis, that is just an idea.

 

 

[PithyProlix]

14 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

I never tried the old Herbin formula but thought Malibu blue could be an approximation, in term of behaviour, lubrication, saturation and appearance once dry on the page (including the initial mild fading after a few days). That said as I only tried the new bleu myosotis, that is just an idea.

 

This is a good example of the old version.

 

(This image is from Pinterest. I don't know who the reviewer is but I think he/she used to post on FPN. (?) )

[Lithium466]

On my screen that doesn't seem that far from my own bleu myosotis. I will need to ink a pen with Monteverde Malibu blue to compare, but I really don't want to ink a pen with Herbin bleu myosotis 😂

[yazeh]

Unless you find an old forgotten bottle dusty bottle in some stationary, there are two other solutions. Find a similar colour, which should be easy, or diluting the ink with distilled water, until you find the colour you like.  

[Penguincollector]

  I looked up the oldest review for Bleu Myosotis on here, which is @visvamitra’s 2014. I compared it to @yazeh’s review and it seems to be more lavender. I took the hex code  (6c6ebb) from Visvamitra’s review and inputted it into inkswatch and this was the result: 

 

  The writing sample pictured up thread is from fivecatpenagerie, which sounds really familiar- but I can’t place it right now. Maybe the name will ring a bell for someone else. 

[PithyProlix]

9 hours ago, yazeh said:

Unless you find an old forgotten bottle dusty bottle in some stationary, there are two other solutions. Find a similar colour, which should be easy, or diluting the ink with distilled water, until you find the colour you like.  

 

Or some mixology... 🧪⚗️ I suspect diluting won't make the current version more violet. 

 

The reality is that, while it would be nice to find the old version, I tend not to get stuck on any one color and make the best of what I have (which is really considerable). What is more disconcerting to me is that Herbin changed a color that has a very long history plus has the conceit to keep the name. I understand the marketing reasons but it feels disingenuous. 

[Mercian]

17 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

This image is from Pinterest. I don't know who the reviewer is but I think he/she used to post on FPN. (?)

I recognised the handwriting & the review style, so I had a bit of a look through old reviews, and I identified that reviewer’s username on here.
They post here only infrequently now, so I’m not sure that I feel comfortable to identify them.
In any case, although there are still many reviews up here on FPN that were done by that reviewer, their review of Bleu Myosotis is not.

[Mercian]

6 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

What is more disconcerting to me is that Herbin changed a color that has a very long history plus has the conceit to keep the name. I understand the marketing reasons but it feels disingenuous. 

Quite a few people were saying exactly that back in 2014 when they reformulated several of their inks.

[PithyProlix]

8 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

 

PenBBS April Diamond is one of the inks that I was planning to get when I get around to ordering from China. It's interesting that it looks like inkswatch.com has the old Bleu Myosotis. And that April Diamond is closer to Bleu Myosotis than ... Bleu Myosotis. 😉 (Assuming the inks are ordered by their closeness to the hex code's color.)

[Penguincollector]

  I really like the look of the PenBBS #182. I’ve been enjoying a blue-green 374 and a pigmented gold 379 by them lately. They are nice and well priced inks. 

[PithyProlix]

On 6/16/2024 at 10:33 AM, Penguincollector said:

  I really like the look of the PenBBS #182. I’ve been enjoying a blue-green 374 and a pigmented gold 379 by them lately. They are nice and well priced inks. 

 

I'm a fan of PenBBS ink. Interesting colors, a huge variety, good performance, good prices. My domestic low-priced source dried up and, next time, I will try a proxy buyer for Taobao. (I just took a look at the two you mention and I've added 379 to my list.)

[Penguincollector]

  I found 379 on Amazon, and have seen April Diamond on AliExpress.

[mhphoto]

On 6/15/2024 at 2:17 AM, PithyProlix said:

This image is from Pinterest. I don't know who the reviewer is but I think he/she used to post on FPN.

Some say he still does…

[PithyProlix]

8 minutes ago, mhphoto said:

Some say he still does…

 

I have since found out who it is and, well, it is good to hear he still posts. 😉