Tono & Lims x nocco. Mushroom Image Ink Benitengutake Shimmer - 4ml Fountain Pen Ink Sample

Hue: A bright, warm scarlet red, the colour of a fly agaric cap. No official colour description is published. The bottle art shows a pinkish-crimson cap, but my swatches are a truer, warmer red with no pink lean. Heavier pools deepen towards crimson.

Shading: Moderate. Light-to-dark variation shows in the swab and in wider strokes. Fine writing is fairly even.

Sheen: None observed.

Shimmer: Yes. A fine pinkish shimmer, clearly visible in pools and swabs and subtle in writing. 

Flow: Medium

The interesting bit: Benitengutake is the Japanese name for the fly agaric (Amanita muscaria), the red-and-white spotted toadstool of fairy tales. The name breaks down as beni (crimson), tengu (the long-nosed goblin of Japanese folklore) and take (mushroom). The ink is a collaboration between Tono & Lims and nocco., a mushroom-inspired textile and goods brand run by Japanese artist Yui Kubo. Each mushroom in the collection was made in two versions, plain and shimmer. This is the shimmer one.

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.