Van Dieman’s - Blonde Bombshell

Van Dieman’s - Blonde Bombshell - Ink drop

Blonde Bombshell, is a stunning shimmer ink from Van Dieman’s Ink from Tasmania, Australia, and a new brand to me. It’s part of their Season 2 - Hollywood Series. On their website, they describe it as “the very essence of the ultimate 1950’s Hollywood starlet pin up.”

Van Dieman’s - Blonde Bombshell - Light and Dark Shades

As the name suggests, Blonde Bombshell really is a beautiful, glamorous ink. The base color is a deep, caramel-golden mustard yellow. It provides a rich, luxurious foundation for the abundant gold shimmer that dances with the light across saturated stroke faces. Some papers (Mnemosyne and office copy) showed some lovely shading. Light, medium, and darker shades can be seen in the splatter. A dark edge surrounds areas of pooling, and carried over to written strokes as a dark, defining halo (strongest on Rhodia). Visually, this ink creates a gorgeous identity.

Van Dieman’s - Blonde Bombshell - Ink Swatch Card

As a writing ink, crisp, sharp stroke profiles were consistent and clear on all of my test papers. It performed very well on the four higher quality papers, and it was very good on office copy, as well. Halo was common on the premium papers, and shading featured on two. Drying times were from 20-30 seconds. No halo showed on office copy, but shading was quite nice, and drying was only 5 seconds. There really is nothing to complain about here. It’s a very good writing ink.

This is my first ink from Van Dieman’s, and I’m very impressed! Blonde Bombshell writes well across a wide range of papers, including office copy. Stroke profiles were sharp, and the dark halo presents beautifully. This is a gorgeous, well-behaved ink. If you’re looking for a gold shimmer ink, I definitely recommend considering this one!