A few months ago I saw a wonderful review of Diamine Shimmering Frosted Orchid (€9.50 for 50ml bottle) and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Frosted Orchid is part of Diamine’s Shimmer series which now has 32 colors in the collection.
Frosted Orchid is fairly true to it’s name — it is a gorgeous orchid color and in certain applications is quite frosty and shimmery. I was a little disappointed to discover I could only see the shimmer if I really shook the bottle or (rolled) the pen before application, though I understand that’s just how shimmer inks work.
As a result, the first time I swatched the ink, I got absolutely no shimmer.
So I went back and did a second swatch, shaking the bottle and using a paintbrush. That did the trick.
Frosted Orchid is a plummy purple that leans towards the red spectrum. In heavier applications it is dark and moody, while in lighter applications it’s almost a frosty sugarplum color. Unfortunately, this one isn’t water resistant, though again I could be happy with the ink in watercolors.
As I said, in some samples it’s really hard to get the shimmer to shine through, but I still love the shading of the ink even when the shimmer isn’t as present.
I found Frosted Orchid to be very close to my Platinum Classic Lavender Black, shimmer notwithstanding. I also noted that Monteverde’s Rose Noir and Diamine’s 150th Anniversary Purple Dream were similar.
So if you’re looking for a delicious orchid colorway with a hint of shine, this one might be for you.
*Editor’s Note: As with other inks with metallic flakes, be careful leaving Frosted Orchid in your pen too long as the metallic flakes can accumulate in the feed and nib and may clog. Clean the ink out if you are not planning to use the pen again soon and we would not recommend using metallic/shimmer inks in pens that cannot be disassembled easily for cleaning.
Laura is a tech editor, podcaster, knitter, spinner and recent pen addict. You can learn more about her knitting and tea adventures on her website, The Corner of Knit & Tea and can find her on Instagram as Fluffykira.
DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Appelboom for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
OMG That is such a beautiful color! I love the Diamine Shimmering inks, even if they do plug up my medium nibs for some reason.
I have the Purple Pizzazz Shimmering ink from Diamine. It has gold colored particles in the ink.
Since I cannot tell from the online swatch, is this ink the same color as the Purple Pizzazz except with silver particles in it?
I may have to order it anyway!
Thanks for the review!
Beautiful! Thank you! And I love the Purple dream too… so many inks, so little money 🙁
That is a lovely color! Thanks for the review… I thought I had all the shimmering inks I needed, but now I think I need one more…