Lipstick ink? What on earth does that mean? Taccia recently unveiled a new line of inks called Lip color ink, available in six colors: 01 Coral Pink, 02 Pink Beige, 03 Corinth Pink, 04 Burgundy, 05 Sunset, and 06 Rose Pale.
*Photograph from Vanness Pens
When I saw the lineup, I wondered why on earth someone would come out with inks that were so geared towards women and lipstick. Not that this tactic is a new one!
However, I was intrigued. This group of inks didn’t actually seem to be pointed at women but rather to the wide variety of shades available in lipstick as an inspiration.
I was pleasantly surprised by the variety in color with the Lip color inks. The names (along with the numbering system) were obviously inspired by classic lipstick colors and Taccia did a wonderful job recreating the colors of the named lipsticks.
Pink Beige is a Salmon colored – strong undertones of orange. Good shading and no sheen.
Taccia Coral Pink is one of my favorite shades. The undertones are less orange than Pink Beige, but as the pooled ink dries, a bit of the orange moves to the edges. Shading is more subtle and there is no sheen although there is a faint dark outline where ink pooled heavily.
Corinth Pink is very close to Coral Pink although it leans more toward brown undertones rather than just orange. Corinth Pink shows less shading and again no sheen. The same dark halo is present in Corinth Pink and shows slightly darker.
Sunset is my favorite of the Taccia Lip color line. The color is bright pinkish-coral ink, darker than Diamine Flamingo Pink. Gold sheen is present in the swatch as well as in writing but shading is minimal.
Rose Pale is darker than Diamine Hope Pink but looks very similar. A small amount of shading is present but no haloing and no sheen.
Taccia Burgundy is a rich rose pink, plenty of blue undertones. I was surprised to find that it was such a good match for a vintage ink – Sheaffer Persian Rose. Persian Rose is tough to find since Sheaffer discontinued it decades ago. Burgundy shows shading the the swatch, but I didn’t see shading in writing. A gold sheen is present although light.
The Taccia Lip color ink line is not water-resistant (no waterproof lipstick available!) but doesn’t bleed or feather on fountain pen friendly paper plus they are all easy to clean out of a pen (typically pinks and reds are not quick cleaning colors). All Taccia inks that I have used (including the Lip color line) are low maintenance inks that are neither wet nor dry.
I enjoyed the image that I was using lipstick in writing – Taccia did a great job matching these inks to actual lipstick colors. A few of the colors (Coral Pink, Sunset, Burgundy) are ones that are not commonly found – I already have a couple bottles ordered!
Tools:
- Ink: Taccia Lip Color ink (Vanness, $12 for 30mL or $3 for 4 mL)
- Swatch Cards: Col-o-ring ink testing cards ($10 for 100 card pack)
DISCLAIMER: All materials used in this review were purchased by me. Please see the About page for more details.
ITOYA carried a line of Cocktail inks years ago. Don’t know if they were the French inks or if they made their own. Very much regret I missed my chance to get one called Kiss in the Dark.