Tono & Lims - Pure Ibuki

Tono & Lims - Kaleidoscope Pure Ibuki - Ink drop

This is Kaleidoscope Pure Ibuki from Tono & Lims. The Kaleidoscope inks come in shimmer versions, and “Pure” non-shimmer versions. The shimmer versions were limited editions and were released in August 2020. In Japanese, the word ibuki most commonly refers to breath or to blow a breath.

Tono & Lims - Kaleidoscope Pure Ibuki - Shading and Range

This is a very unusual color, and I don’t think I have quite the same. It’s also a color-shifting ink with fluorescent properties under UV light, so it’s quite complex. The splatter shows a variety of undertones, and textured edging. As it hits the paper, it’s a sandy, grey-tan, but yellows and camel tans soon dominate. While wet, it glows a chalky, fluorescent yellow under UV light, but this property quickly fades as it dries. When dry, the ink is a lovely, pale mushroom, a greyish-light brown. It’s a fairly strong shading ink and shows edge haloing on all premium papers tested. Shading was strong on office copy, but no halo developed.

Tono & Lims - Kaleidoscope Pure Ibuki - Ink Swatch Card

As a writing ink, Ibuki performed well, especially when edge halo was strong. There wasn’t any feather or bleed on any of the six papers tested. Shading was strongest on Rhodia and office copy, and halo was strongest on Apica and Mnemosyne. I preferred the overall look on Mnemosyne. Drying was 15-20 seconds on premiums, and 5 seconds on office copy.

This is an unusual, and in some ways quite attractive ink. However, the fluorescence disappears so quickly that it really isn’t a feature. My real problem, though, is with the legibility of the color. At its lightest, this ink is quite difficult to read, and nearly fades completely in the worst cases. As an art ink, it may be of more interest and use, but I can’t recommend it for writing. Tono & Lim are one of my favorite brands, and they have so many other nice writing inks, equally interesting and unusual. I recommend it for creative projects, but maybe choose something else for your writing.