Sailor Storia Night Blue (Pigmented Nano-Particle Ink)

[lgsoltek]

Sailor has recently released a new line of ink, the STORiA inks, which are pigmented nano-particle inks like Sei-boku and Kiwa-guro.

The packaging and the frosty glass bottles are quite lovely. This is a photo of the blue:

http://s0.homezz.com/201504/5915/50651_o.jpg

 

The official swatches show them to be quite interesting. But the reality is that they are much more less saturated than you can see on the swatches. They all dry to a chalky colour. Some are terrible, like the pinky "Fire" Red.

 

http://sailorshop.jp/pic-labo/13-1502_colorsample_395.jpg

 

Compared to the red, the Night Blue is much better looking. I enjoy it more than the red.

 

Splash

Although it also dries to a paler colour, it doesn't look too terrible. It even has a slight reddish sheen where it's very wet.

 

http://s0.homezz.com/201504/5915/50647_o.jpg

 

 

Sample

As the other pigmented inks, this one doesn't flow as well as other regular (dye-based) Sailor inks. I tried to increase the flow with some Photo-Flo and so far I haven't encountered any adverse effect (try it at your own risk).

The sample below is written with a Pilot Falcon SF. The word "Blue" under "sample" is written with a dip pen. As a pigmented ink, it has good water-resistance.

 

http://s1.homezz.com/201504/5915/50650_o.jpg

 

 

Comparison

Swab comparison with all my blues. Some are not exactly blues, more like purple, eg. PR Tanzanite.

The scan shows them to be more saturated and vibrant than they really are. The colours may not be accurate. The colour of R&K Verdigris and PR Ebony Blue is wrong. They turned out to be purple in my scan but they are in fact dark blue/green. I tried to correct the image but didn't succeed, so I leave them as is and marked them with ?! after the swabs.

 

 

STORiA with dip pen

These STORiA inks do in fact work quite well with dip pens. They are relatively viscous so will stay better on the nib. And since it's wetter the colours are nicer than what you'll get with fountain pens. The brown, the yellow green and the blue are not too bad.
I don't have Balloon Green. It's not a colour I like anyway.

 

 

 

Final words

This Night Blue from the STORiA line is not bad. If you like this somewhat washed out blue and you like the water-resistance, this is quite a good choice.

Edited April 29, 2015 by Lgsoltek

[Algester]

How would you judge the ink with seiboku?

Never mind it seems you have covered it along the swabs

Edited April 29, 2015 by Algester

[gylyf]

I don't love pigmented inks, so this probably isn't for me, but *thank you* for that awesome swab comparison...

[visvamitra]

Not bad.

[whichwatch]

Nice review - thanks. I'll stick with Sei Boku.

[ethernautrix]

I love the comparison with the other blues - nice work!

 

I don't care for the red sheen of some blue inks, so I'm grateful to see these various blues. As for this ink, it's pretty.

 

 

 

Adding:

 

The inks I like most from your swabs are Akkerman Shocking Blue, Sailor Hatsukoi, Iroshizuku Tsuyu-kusa and Iroshizuku Ajisai.

 

I'm kindv surprised that I'm liking lighter, brighter blues, as I've usually preferred darker blues, such as Sailor Blue-Black. But a friend had given me a few Parker Penman Sapphire cartridges that were half-full (evaporation over time), and when I added water to fill one of the cartridges, the color was appealing. As the ink level decreased, I added more water (maybe twice more), and each time the color appealed to me more. Sometimes I want a pretty, bright blue, like the day sky (to reflect my mood).

Edited April 29, 2015 by ethernautrix

[lgsoltek]

How would you judge the ink with seiboku?

Never mind it seems you have covered it along the swabs

 

 

Nice review - thanks. I'll stick with Sei Boku.

 

Sei-boku is a great ink. The colour is rich and saturated which I like, it doesn't feather much on the cheapest paper, and it has nice shading and sheen. The only complain I have about it is that it's not easy to clean.

[lgsoltek]

I love the comparison with the other blues - nice work!

 

I don't care for the red sheen of some blue inks, so I'm grateful to see these various blues. As for this ink, it's pretty.

 

 

 

Adding:

 

The inks I like most from your swabs are Akkerman Shocking Blue, Sailor Hatsukoi, Iroshizuku Tsuyu-kusa and Iroshizuku Ajisai.

 

I'm kindv surprised that I'm liking lighter, brighter blues, as I've usually preferred darker blues, such as Sailor Blue-Black. But a friend had given me a few Parker Penman Sapphire cartridges that were half-full (evaporation over time), and when I added water to fill one of the cartridges, the color was appealing. As the ink level decreased, I added more water (maybe twice more), and each time the color appealed to me more. Sometimes I want a pretty, bright blue, like the day sky (to reflect my mood).

 

Ajisai is too light for me. Tsuyu-kusa is a lovely blue on the lighter side. Check out Sailor Souten too. It's (one of) my favourite blue.

[jasonchickerson]

Your comparison pages are becoming magnificent. I should do something similar. The way I have been doing it takes forever.

 

BTW, what are the characters indicating next to R&K Verdegris? Because I don't think that is Verdegris. At least, it looks nothing like mine.

[lgsoltek]

Your comparison pages are becoming magnificent. I should do something similar. The way I have been doing it takes forever.

 

BTW, what are the characters indicating next to R&K Verdegris? Because I don't think that is Verdegris. At least, it looks nothing like mine.

 

In fact I've mentionned this problem in the post. My scanner is acting weird. "The colour of R&K Verdigris and PR Ebony Blue is wrong. They turned out to be purple in my scan but they are in fact dark blue/green. I tried to correct the image but didn't succeed, so I leave them as is and marked them with ?! after the swabs."

[jmccarty3]

I was pleasantly surprised at how much this ink shades.

[Davros]

Yeah, I like but am not overwhelmed with this ink. It really does look best in very wet nibs if you are not attracted to the washed look. Thanks for the review!

[Frank C]

Thanks for posting this. I have many blue inks, I don't see any need to buy this one.

[lgsoltek]

The sheen is more pronounced on onion skin paper.

 

[ethernautrix]

I'm not a big fan of the sheen. For me (and it must be my optical curse), the sheen makes paragraphs written with such inks kindv... irritating. But for a word here and there or for word-art projects, it looks very pretty.

 

And I like your handwriting.

[mhosea]

Great review. Thanks.

[Morbus Curiositas]

Very nice blue in a very nice review

 

 

I love all the sailors in this review.....

 

I am at LCC in 2 weeks so thanks for the inspiration

 

Salut Peter

[Algester]

ok I think looking at these photos I'm finally decided Magic purple, Night Blue and Lion Brown will probably the only inks I will get from this line

[inkstainedruth]

Oooh. Like the look of this one.

Thanks for the review.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pinkladywriter]

I love tjhis blue and thanks for review.

I am looking for water proof or water resistant inks and at the moment i have only some noodler's...I was very curious about these storia inks