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I was fortunate to receive a collection of Sharpie pens from Shoplet.com. My package contained:

I won’t go through my usual pen review categories on this review since most people have used Sharpie pens before and will be familiar with them. Click on the thumbnails for the full photos.

The Neon markers are what you would expect from Sharpie, although they smell a little different. The colors in the pack are neon yellow, pink, blue, green, and orange. When first writing with the yellow, the ink looks like a dark marigold, but once it dries it is a bright yellow that is bright enough to be readable on white paper, but can also double as a highlighter if needed. The orange is quite bright, while the green and pink are tolerable and the blue is actually a somewhat calming color. They perform exactly as one would expect from a Sharpie. This pack of five neon Sharpies sells for $8.94 on Shoplet.com.

The gold and silver Metallic Sharpie markers are also what you would expect from a Sharpie, but the metallic ink and felt tip is a little softer than non-metallic Sharpies, especially with the silver ink. The gold is in the middle between the silver and a non-metallic Sharpie. These also smell like regular black Sharpie pens and are the same in body, etc. to the classic Sharpie. These metallic pens are some of my favorite Sharpie markers because the metallics work great on white, black, or colored paper — plus, I love metallics! You can also use these markers to decorate plastic. I used it on a planner cover and am thinking about using them on the Kantek Desktop Tablet Stand as well. I have even seen DIY projects where people use the Sharpies on dishware and then bake it in the oven to set the design! Although I received this gold/silver two-pack from Shoplet.com, also available is a three-pack with gold, silver, and bronze. The gold/silver two-pack sells for $4.56 on Shoplet.com.

: Silver really shines on the white paper.

: Gold shines more on the black paper.

The Sharpie Premium Pen really got me excited. I had heard about this pen before and jumped at the chance to try it. The body and cap are stainless steel with a chrome clip. The pen sports a black jewel at each end and a black band where the cap meets the body. The pen does have black lettering on the side that says “Sharpie | Pen” and frankly I would prefer if that was omitted. I think it makes the pen look less high-end than it would without the logo. The section is a soft and smooth rubber grip that is extremely comfortable to use. The pen is light enough to be comfortable for long writing sessions, but heavy enough that it doesn’t feel too light. I’d say it’s just right.

I find the pen to be better balanced when writing unposted as it’s a little tall and top-heavy when posted in my opinion. The fine tip is a pourous point, which is basically like a felt-tip. It’s similar to the fine tipped Sharpies, but I find a better comparison is to the Cross Porous-Point (Felt-Tip) 8443 Refill. The two best parts about this pen are that 1) it’s refillable! and 2) NO SMELL! It’s so nice to use a Sharpie product without that terrible smell that is guaranteed to give me a headache. I have been using this pen consistently since receiving it and it has become one of my most used pens. It is comfortable to use, even for those of us with arm/wrist issues and I find myself reaching for it frequently – especially for jotting notes that require faster writing than is ideal for a fountain pen and for papers that don’t do well with a nib. The ink has very minimal show-through and no bleed-through. This one was definitely a score! Plus, the price is definitely write for such a quality-made pen. The Sharpie Premium Pen sells for $6.13 on Shoplet.com.

(Shoplet asked me to include the following links to products/services provided by Shoplet, so here they are: Office Supplies, Sharpie Premium Pen, Metallic Permanent Sharpie markers, Neon Permanent Sharpie markers, Promotional Products, Promotional Shirts, Office Stationery)

Thanks to Karen at Exaclair, I recently had the opportunity to try some very fun and fancy inks. J. Herbin’s Encres Acidulees Effet Scintillant are Herbin’s group of Pearlescent Inks. These inks are NOT for fountain pens, they are for dip nibs only. There are several colors, all of which have a shiny/glittery/pearlescent sheen. I discuss each ink in the group below.

The Colors (listed in the same order as the sample photo):

Pink: A lovely bubblegum pink color. When the ink is thinning on the nib, it can be sheer. Frequent dipping to have a lot of ink on your quill/nib is best.

Peach (Peach): A lighter, less pink color with more orange to it. Same properties as the pink.

Blue: A dark royal blue color. It was really nice and quite a surprise as I expected a sky blue color since the rest in the group are more pastel. As you can see, it doesn’t show up well on the darker paper. I suspect it would do fabulously on a lighter paper.

Yellow: Bright! Despite it’s brightness, the hue is more of a softer yellow rather than obviously neon.

Green: Also quite bright. Maybe a prime creamy avocado?

Consistency/On Paper: This ink takes a little trial and error to get it right. I had to try a few nibs, but then found it worked well with some of the very small Brause nibs (again from Karen and distributed through Exaclair) because the smaller nibs held the ink and allowed it to flow onto the paper best. The bigger nibs didn’t let the ink flow down well enough to complete a line. Even with the small nibs, I had to dip often to keep enough ink on the nib so that the ink stayed thick and didn’t thin out like you can see in part of the writing sample. I also had to take care in my pressure on the nib to avoid the ink transferring too quickly to the paper and creating blobs, as is a concern with wet ink. However, I found working with care and patience avoided this problem. This is definitely an ink to play with when you have some relaxing time to devote your attention without rushing.

Paper choice was also an issue. I’ll save you some time — you can avoid reaching for the cheap paper. This ink needs sturdy, thicker, high quality paper to support the thickness and composition of these inks. The brown paper in the photo is a sample of G.Lalo (again, distributed by Exaclair – this paper is great and a review is forthcoming). The inks were very happy to be paired with G. Lalo paper and you shouldn’t have a problem if you use G. Lalo or a similar high quality paper.

An additional note is to take care in handling your writing even after the ink has dried. As you can see in the photo, the pearlescence tends to smear a bit.

Overall: There have been some other blogs in the pen and ink world that have given these inks poor reviews. However, I really enjoyed testing these inks and plan to use them for special occasion items such as when writing someone a special card. I already used the yellow color to make an artistic name card for someone special (on grey G. Lalo paper in case you are interested – it was a lively combination!). I will be using these in the future. If you are interested in them , I would recommend giving them a chance and playing with the right nib and paper combinations. I have not tried other calligraphy inks that may be similar to these, so I cannot compare them to other brands. I also just learned there are a few colors (like coral red!) that I did not get to try. I must have that coral red!

Purchasing and Pricing: A pack of 5 assorted 10ml will run you around $20, depending on the retailer.

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Sharpies Galore! (Review)

Ink Review: J. Herbin’s Encres Acidulees Effet Scintillant (Pearlescent Inks)