Diamine Cocoa Shimmer: Ink Review

 Diamine Cocoa Shimmer fountain pen ink with ink splatters

Part of Diamine’s Shimmertastic collection, this Cocoa Shimmer brown fountain pen ink features gold shimmer. This ink is the perfect ink for anyone looking for a bright brown ink with depth from the golden shimmer. It's warm and delicious, just like the name makes it sound! Read on to find out more.

Diamine Cocoa Shimmer ink review on Rhodia paper

 Diamine Cocoa Shimmer ink review on Leuchtturm paperDiamine Cocoa Shimmer ink review on Tomoe River paper

Ink Review 

Supplies Used:

Smear Test (Dry Time):

  • 20+ seconds – This dried fairly quickly despite how wet it writes. The ink was dry by 30 seconds and showcased a lot of shimmer.

Drip Test (Water Resistance):

  • Low – We found this ink did not hold up to water well, though it would still be perfect for desk top journaling.

Saturation:

  • High – The rich dark browns come through as the Swabs from 1 to 3 and the shimmer is quite robust.

Ease of Cleaning:

  • Low – As with any shimmer ink the particulate is difficult to rinse away, we recommend our Goulet Feed Brush to help scrub down any stubborn deposits of shimmer.

Shading:

  • Medium-Low – The ink its self does not have much shading but paired with the gold shimmer you will see some color variation especially when the light hits just right.

Flow:

  • High – This is a pretty wet writing ink and it flows readily without causing an issue on some less fountain pen friendly papers.

 Packaging and Aesthetics:

  • The Shimmertastic series comes in a tall glass bottle with a cute gold cap and well-designed labels. Diamine has sturdy glass bottles for all their inks, which look great on a desk!

Diamine Cocoa Shimmer fountain pen ink bottle with swab

If you're interested in similar colors, check out our Swab Shop where you can compare colors side by side.

Summary:

At first glance, this ink may seem like just a warm brown, but once it's on the page, it shines! The brown paired with the warm gold shimmer creates a dynamic writing experience. Brown is a somewhat overlooked color, especially for ink, but this is a must try. 

Diamine Cocoa Shimmer fountain pen ink bottle with swabsDiamine Cocoa Shimmer ink swabDiamine Cocoa Shimmer splatter

This color is available in 50ml bottles as well as our ink samples.