Perle Noir is one of the most recommended and well reviewed black inks out there. When I bought this ink a few years ago, I was disappointed. It is not the blackest, not the smoothest, not the fastest drying ink, not an archival ink, not the cheapest. I decided to give it a second chance so I eyedropped a Preppy with it and filled a Lamy All-star. Over the past few days I have written many pages of work notes with the ink. Perle Noir is a well behaving black ink that is sold at a reasonable price, but it doesn't excel in anything. Below some writing samples, followed by drying times and test in water resistance. Drying times are about average to slow, 45 secs with a broad nib on Tomoe River 52g paper. The ink is certainly not water resistant, but it can handle an accidental drop. The full characteristics: Feathering none Shading hardly any Show through negligible ...
I've often called Noodler's ink very functional and not very beautiful. And even though that is mostly true, some of their colors are definitely challenging that opinion. Black Swan in Australian Roses is a beautiful ink and when I saw Habanero on Reddit, I knew I would have to buy this ink too. A color that is mostly suitable for personal writing, but with the Corona lockdown, you can use anything for work notes while in a video call. High shading, no feathering, no significant show-through, and decent lubrication. The ink writes really nice. However, it is very wet and has an extremely long drying time. On Tomoe river paper it looks wet for more than half an hour and smears very easily, even after 45-60 minutes. This of course does limit the possible use of the ink, less suitable for a notebook or journaling. Once dry, a little bit of water will ruin it, but the ink remains legible if you're quick enough with a kitchen towel. Compared to other orange ...