Ink & Fountain Pen Review: Lamy AL-Star Vibrant Pink

Every year, one of the most anticipated releases is the Lamy AL-Star and Safari fountain pens and accompanying limited edition inks. It is an absolute frenzy, especially since over the last few years, there has been more interest in both the pens and the inks than there has been available supply.

So, when information was leaked at the end of 2017 about the Vibrant Pink AL-Star fountain pen (€ 22,73 € 22,73 Outside EU) and Vibrant Pink ink ( 50 ml bottle: € 10,90 € 9,01 Outside EU / T10 cartridges 5-pack € 2,00 € 1,65 Outside EU ) for 2018, how could I resist?

I mean, its pink and it’s an AL-Star! Imagine how torn I would have been if it had been the Safari? The Vibrant Pink AL-Star is actually a lovely shade of fuchsia. The color ranges from a deep raspberry when its cast in shadow to a bright, hot pink when it reflects the most light. Overall, the effect in person is a bit deeper and richer than a lot of the initial photographs portrayed the pen. It’s not as candy colored as I initially expected it to be.

When lined up along other pink pens in my collection, the Lamy Vibrant Pink is on the darkest edge of pink, darker than my Sailor Pink Love so it’s not as “kiddie” looking as I feared it might look.

I was only able to get cartridges at this point so I dipped a paint brush into the cartridge to do my swab. I did get sheen and evidence of the gold. It was more evident when wet. When dry, the shimmery quality is less evident but the ink maintains a good deal of shading.

In my painted title, the gold halo is super evident. I think it bodes well if you write with a wide nib or plan to use the ink for calligraphy. Fancy fun!

Comparing swatches, my instinct is to say that Lamy Vibrant Pink is closest to Sailor Jentle Peche but I think Peche is a little bit warmer pink and Vibrant Pink is a little bit cooler pink. I do think if you want a spot-on match to the overall Vibrant Pink AL-Star, Callifolio Andrinople is still a great choice.

As for the Vibrant Pink ink, all I can say is that I am thrilled that Lamy made a genuinely usable pink ink with a luscious golden sheen that sells for reasonable price. Now, the hope is that they can actually deliver enough bottles to sate the appetites of the rabid ink fans out there.

Addendum:

There were some comments on The Pen Addict slack and on Instagram for more comparisons with other pinks so I’m uploading some additional pink swatch comparisons.

Some folks were interested to see Vibrant Pink compared to Pilot Iroshizuku Yama Budo, J. Herbin Rose Cyclamen and Kobe #41. In all instances, Vibrant Pink is more pink where the other inks are more bluish/violet in hue.

Comparing Vibrant Pink to all the Pilot Iroshizuku pink options, Vibrant Pink falls between Kosumosu and Tsutsuji in the spectrum. It’s cooler in tone than Kosumosu but a little warmer than Tsutsuji.

Above, is J. Herbin Rouge Opera which is a little more red than Vibrant Pink and the only swatches I own of Platinum Cyclamen Pink and Diamine Hope Pink (such old swatches!). Both Cyclamen Pink and Hope Pink look to be about the same hue but the cards I used don’t show any sheen so I’m not sure the full variation of the inks. I’m going to have to get new samples of these inks!

I hope this addendum helps.

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