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De Atramentis Sandalwood

10/17/12
I forgot the ink smear, but you can check it out in the Ink Drop post.
Sandalwood showed up in the September Ink Drop from GouletPens.com. The theme that month was "Staff Favorites," and this was Will's favorite ink.

Sandalwood is a really appealing color. It was the first ink that I put in the Lamy Nexx that my wife got me for by birthday, and I really like the color. It's a medium-light green ink that is interesting without really being whimsical. I used it for almost a month, and it looks pretty good on most papers. It bleeds through filler paper, but it still shades there. It's a great color.

See? Bleeds right through.
The problems with it are two: smell and lubrication.

Sandalwood is one of the DA inks that is scented, and it is the strongest of the ones that I've tried. Most of those inks are not really noticeable unless you put the nib next to your nose. This one envelops you in a cloud of sandalwood smell. It's strong. If you ask me, it's too strong. That's actually the reason that I stopped using it. If I wrote too long with it I would get a bit of a headache from it. It also seems to stick around on the pen. My Nexx doesn't have any Sandalwood in it anymore (it's DA Steel Blue now), but that scent is still around. It's not nearly as strong, but it's still there.

The other problem is the lubrication of the ink. Some inks aren't lubricated enough, and they tend to make the nib feel like it's dragging across the page. This one doesn't have that problem. This one is too slick. It slides and slips even on absorbant papers, and that makes it look like it's skipping. I haven't had that experience with an ink before, but I'm not a huge fan.

I'm thinking that perhaps the scent comes from an oil that's added to the ink, and that makes the ink a little too slippery and to heavily scented. It might also explain why my Nexx still smells like Sandalwood. It's just a guess, but it's the best explanation I can come up with.

What do you think of this ink?

Water test not done, here.


I actually did the water test video on time this time!




***EDIT: Whoops. It turns out that I never posted the September Ink Drop! Derp. I'll get on that.***
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