review: sailor shikiori yozakura

I promised a while ago that I would talk about the new Sailor inks, and here I am talking about them a couple of months late! I promise I was on time with getting the ink itself. Just, you know, the rest of it got a bit delayed.

So let's talk about this bottle. It's glass, and quite hefty despite its size. It has a matte bronze-gold plastic cap. The opening is very wide, so you'll have no issues putting your pens in here. I think it's a good depth for filling, at least for a little while. It has a sticker on the front with the name and color of the ink. It's not in English, though there's two stickers on the box that you can peel off and stick right on top, like Ana suggests at the Well-Apoointed Desk.

Yozakura is a very interesting color: it's a dusty, light purple with a slight hint of pink.

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The ink has a surprising amount of water resistance, particularly for a color that's this light. I was really impressed!

The ink is quite dry, so I would recommend filling a wetter pen with it. Regardless, it takes over fifteen seconds to dry on Kokuyo MIO paper.

Yozakura has good shading, and no sheen to speak of.

On Tomoe River paper, there are the slightest hints of purple-gray shading. I wouldn't consider this a "double-shader," but it is a really neat effect. I really like the way it looks, especially in broad nibs.

I compare it here to some of the colors I have in my collection, but nothing really comes close. Robert Oster Signature Purple Jazz and Robert Oster Signature Opal Mauve are both far too purple.

I can't say I would buy the ink again at this price point. It's great for a taste, but honestly, it's way too expensive for how much you get, especially when you still have the bitter reminder of what you could have still on your ink shelf.

Are there people who appreciate the smaller bottle? Absolutely. I am not one of them. The price per ml is too ridiculous to me. Even if Yozakura is a color that's hard to find (which is true!) I would much rather buy a similar color at a cheaper price than get this dinky little bottle again.

Where to buy

• JetPens: bottle
• Pen Chalet: bottle

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This post was updated on 4/5/20 to match my current review methodology.