PenBBS - 292 South Smoke

PenBBS - 292 South Smoke - Ink drop

Today’s ink, South Smoke, is another gorgeous shimmer ink from PenBBS. They do a nice job with their shimmer inks, and often go beyond a simple base color-shimmer combination to create a complex visual. This ink adds a contrasting sheen. South Smoke (No. 292) is quite similar to PenBBS No. 299 Green Snow, and ink I previously reviewed. The base colors are almost identical, but No. 299 uses silver shimmer, whereas here we have gold.

PenBBS - 292 South Smoke - Ink shades and shimmer

Visually, this is a lovely, complex ink. The base color is a creamy, forest green, with a strong teal influence. It shades lighter to a dark mint, and darker to a more standard forest green. Both on the splatter in areas of pooling, and in written strokes, a brassy, yellow gold shimmer is nicely distributed. Surrounding this is a textured edging of eggplant purple sheen. On written strokes, it appears as a reddish ribbon edge. The combination of the various colors and metallic textures is pleasant and festive.

PenBBS - 292 South Smoke - Ink swatch card

As a writing ink, it performed pretty well on office copy, and very well on premium papers. However, micro-feathering created a bit of blurring on office copy. Strokes were sharp and clear on the four premium papers. Sheen was strongest on Apica, but absent on office copy. Apica and Kokuyo showed the most shading, with the other four slightly less. Halo was strong on all but office copy. Drying times were from 20-35 seconds. This is a nice writing ink, particularly on premium papers.

PenBBS 292 South Smoke is a great special occasion ink, and I don’t hesitate recommending it. If possible, I especially recommend pairing it with 299 Green Snow to contrast the gold and silver shimmers against the similar base colors.