Ferris Wheel Press Gourmet Summer Lady Rose - 4ml Fountain Pen Ink Sample

Hue: A muted, dusty antique rose with a distinct brown-grey cast. Ferris Wheel Press describe it as a pastel pink; on my swatches on Tomoe River it reads browner and greyer than that — closer to a mauve-taupe or old rose than to pink. Reviewers have variously called it an unsaturated mauve and a light puce with a hint of taupe, which matches what I see. Pooled ink deepens considerably into a greyed plum-brown.

Shading: Moderate. Frequent but low in contrast, with a soft gradient rather than sharp steps, so it's subtle in finer nibs and clearer in broader ones. Heavy pooling produces strong dark haloing at the edges, as shown in the drop swatches.

Sheen: None.

Shimmer: None. The shimmer version is a separate ink — Lady Rose in Gold.

Flow: Dry

The interesting bit: Lady Rose comes from Ferris Wheel Press's Gourmet Summer Collection, released alongside Buttery Popcorn, Grape Ice Pop, Jelly Bean Blue and Peppermint Drop — a set of carnival-confectionery colours from a Canadian brand whose whole identity blends fairground nostalgia with an old print shop. Lady Rose is the outlier in that lineup: no sweet-shop name, no sweet-shop brightness, just a faded antique rose that looks more like pressed flowers in a Victorian album than anything from a summer midway. It's since become one of the brand's more quietly collected everyday shades, and the one people reach for when they want a pink that doesn't announce itself.

This is a hand-decanted 4ml sample vial from my own bottle.

Photos are my own swatches on Tomoe River Paper.

I'm a collector and I'm always happy to talk ink, so please message me if you have any questions.