I love the look and miniature size of the J. Herbin mini ink bottles which has lead me to purchase a few colors every time I place an order at Jet Pens. Its just enough ink to enjoy without having an excess. A lot of J. Herbin’s inks are light, bright and floral-y so a little bottle for letter writing or a special occasion is just right. And I’m not stuck with a vat of it if its not a favorite.
The latest four colors I picked up make a case on both sides of this. The Violette Pensee and the Larmes de Cassis are colors I think I could use. The bright, vivid color of the Violette Pensee will be a fun summer color and the Larmes de Cassis is a dusty, reddish purple that is a color I am always attracted to — a tertiary, complex hue. So, I feel like these were good investments. The Gris Nuage and Boutan d’Antan were a true waste of fund. Gris Nuage is so light when wet as to be practically invisible. Boutan d’Antan was not much better though both dry darker but it doesn’t help much if you can’t see what you’re writing. So, those two were ink fails as far as I’m concerned.
J. Herbin Mini Bottles are $4.75 each and all standard J.Herbin inks are available in the mini bottles so there are 30 colors to choose from.
DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Jet Pens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
Thanks for posting this ink review, esp. of the Bouquet d’Antan. I tried a sample of it (via Inkdrop) and when it was so light, I thought I must have had water in the pen or something. Good to know it wasn’t the pen but the ink.
I find most J. Herbin inks to look “washed out”. I do prefer more bold saturated inks but most of these are bland. I do like P’ de Lune, the only one I use. I wish more companies would do the smaller bottles though.
i’m surprised that you thought the gris nuage was too light….a beautiful silvery grey that isn’t as clumsy as most other greys out there. also i find western or westernised blogs to feature too much on broad or ‘fine’ (if you can call it that) based on western ideals….western ideals. anyway…waiting for something truly exciting to pop up on the blog.
I love all of the J. Herbin inks I’ve tried EXCEPT Gris Nuage for the same reason as the blogger — it’s too light for me to see what I’m doing as I do it.
And, um. This blog is being written in the West, so is it really a surprise it’s written to “Western ideals?”
The mini-bottles are not much bigger than the samples you can get at the fountain pen online shops and the samples are much less expensive. Still, they are nice looking bottles and for certain inks, I prefer a smaller size. I love Violet Pensee and have a 30ml bottle of it. I have been grateful that I didn’t have to purchase a 50ml or larger bottle of it. I only use it for letters or journal writing. 30ml will last a long time for me. 🙂
I have one of the little cartridge tins of Gris Nuages, and I’m glad I didn’t get more. I did find it usable, though, once I added a few drops of Diamine Damson to the cartridge. Then it was a pretty purple grey and I could at least *see* it.