Organics Studio - Arginine

Organics Studio - Arginine - Ink drop

Arginine, is from Organics Studio’s 2018 Amino Acids series of shimmer inks. The name Arginine comes from an amino acid that the body obtains through proteins in the diet. It’s a protein building block and promotes blood flow.

I must to admit, Arginine scared me when I first looked at my sample vial. It has a murky, chalky quality when shaken, and I wondered if it was fountain pen-friendly or made for dip pens. I’m still not willing to leave it in a nice pen for too long, but I was very pleasantly surprised when I finally gave it a try. It’s a rich, vibrant, slightly peachy, deep pastel orange with stunning pink shimmer. It’s an unusual, intriguing combination. Areas of pooling form a textured brownish sheen that fills with a pillowy, pink, silken sparkle. It doesn’t shade much, but the shimmer lightly and gracefully accents written strokes in a beautiful way.

Organics Studio - Arginine - Ink swatch card

As a writing ink, Arginine performed best on Rhodia among my test papers. Strokes were crisp and clean, with no feather or bleed. Sheen and shimmer showed nicely, with some shading, as well. Drying time was 25-30 seconds. It performed well on Kokuyo and office copy paper. Sheen and shading were reduced or absent, but drying times were 5-10 seconds. On Mnemosyne and Apica, strokes were slightly less defined, but still good. It was usable on all five of my test papers.

If you’re looking for an orange that is a bit different, and you like a bit of shimmer, Arginine is a good choice. The interesting, deep, matte pastel orange, and the lovely, pink shimmer surprise is quite a beautiful combination. I’m going to be a bit careful with it, but I’m very happy to have it!