The Sassy Stylophile

I did some pen cleaning last week 🖋

I had too many pens inked up, so I decided to retire some of them so they don't dry up from neglect...pluuuuusssss I have some new pens on the way 🙈

There's a Moonman S5 eyedropper completely disassembled, parts of a Jinhao X750, parts of a Monteverde Monza 3, and a Pilot Plumix.

I finally decided to convert the Plumix to an eyedropper and ditch that ghastly blue ink cartridge. There was a hole in the bottom, so I patched it up with some of my hard gel (yes, nail gel! Popped it into my LED lamp and everything 😂) and it'll be ready to go once it's dry 👌🏾

I'm on the hunt for the perfect pink for my Sailor Moon pen! This is Rose Cyclamen from J. Herbin. I chose it because it was the only ink I haven't tried yet in my arsenal aaaaand the brand's ink is known for being gentle on pens and easy to clean.... Great attributes for using with a pen of dubious quality 🖋

It's a beautiful magenta (fuchsia? Wtf is the difference between the two anyway?!?) red/pink leaning purple. I love itttttt 😍 the color is true to the above splotches on paper towel. It's bright, it's cheery, and girly as fuck! It writes well on cheap notebook paper with minimal bleed through with the F (?) nib. I don't have much fahncy paper laying around besides my journal and I don't want to share that but I can assure you that it writes well on that paper too 😂

It may not be the pink I envisioned to use with this pen, but it's so damn pretty I don't mind it for the interim. There's nothing too fancy about this ink; there's no sheen and not much shading that I've noticed. Perhaps I'll try it with a M nib to see how it behaves with a thicker nib ✒

It's a beautiful color and is the closest bottled ink to Platinum's violet cartridges that I've seen so far! Ok, I'll veer off topic here for a bit; the Platinum violet is so dope, I will continue to buy the carts instead of converting my Preppy into an eyedropper (which was my original plan). I'll have to do a side-by-side comparison of both inks one of these days. They are both super pretty and will get a lot of good use from yours truly 😊

OK, let's talk about the pen. The nib is probably a F, since it's a Chinese pen and they favor smaller nibs. With this ink it writes nice and wet though 😏 with no scratchiness or hard stops/skips. It's not postable which is fine because it's really top heavy when capped, possibly due to the glass jewel 💎

I didn't expect much quality writing-wise for the price (it being a knockoff and all...) but I'm pleasantly surprised. If it didn't work I would have just added it to my SM merch collection and kept it movin'---but now that I know it works really well, I'll keep it in my pen rotation 👌🏾 Now I need some more Sailor Moon stationary to match it... 🤔💸🤣

Ahhhhh I got my Sailor Moon disguise pen in!! 💜 It got here super fast. I ordered it after my TWSBI Eco Smoke Rose Gold pen and it got here within a few days! This is a photo heavy post, so let's jump in and take a look at the pen!

You might have guessed by now, but I'm a huuuge Sailor Moon fan! I've been obsessed with SM since the 90s. It was so great as a little girl to see a team of kickass girls saving the world! I have a modest collection of SM merchandise which I have been incessantly adding to in recent years. They made the perfect backdrop for my crappy photoshoot 👌🏾

For the uninitiated, this is a near perfect replica of Sailor Moon's disguise pen, which was an implement she used in the first season of the anime (and in the manga).

It helped her complete missions as a variety of professions (nurse, princess, flight attendant... That last one was way out of context 😂). This is based on the manga version of the pen, as the one in the 90s Anime looked a bit different (I haven't watched the reboot yet but apparently it was updated to look like this).

Anyway... Let's talk about this pen!

The pen body is made of some sort of enameled metal. It's hard to capture in a photo, but it has a beautiful pearlescent finish and is smooth with no flaws. There are gold colored accents, a gold colored nib, and is topped with a pink jewel encrusted crown 👑 inlaid with a big faceted glass jewel 💎 It's kinda on the heavy side; it's very top heavy due to the solid metal crown molding and jewel combo on the cap. This can probably hurt someone tbh, but I like things that can double as weapons hehe 😏

For a cheap knockoff, there are some impressive details paid attention to on this pen, like the 🌙 on the cap and the scrolled etching on the clip.

The nib also has a 🌙 and some fahncy scroll designs. There is no information on the size of the nib, where it was made, or the material it's made from. The tines are even (I looked under a loupe 🧐) and the nib seems like a F (fine). Does the number in the feed mean anything?? I'm not experienced enough with fountain pens (yet) to know, but thought that I should include it to be thorough ✒👌🏾

It comes with a really skinny converter for drawing ink. It has a really smoll reservoir so I wondered if a standard/universal converter would work with the pen. I dug one out from my stash and compared them. The standard one is definitely wider, BUT the holes are the same size (~3.5mm) so I figured I'd try to see if the standard one would fit/work... And it does! It's a bit of a tight fit when I put it in the barrel of the pen, but it clicked into the feed with ease, so that's great 😄

OK, so I decided to start a Wishlist Wednesday feature to highlight the pens that I’ve been pining for added to various wishlists around the web. I mentioned previously that I’ve fallen in love with the TWSBI brand, and I am looking forward to collecting different editions of the Eco. This Vac700R model caught my eye though. For WW this had to be the first pen; I mean OMFG LOOK AT THAT BEAUTIFUL RAINBOW FINISH 🤤

As soon as I saw it I was like, take alll my fucking moneyyyy but...It has been sold out for a couple of months everywhere 😭 It’s a special edition, but not necessarily a Limited Edition. I snooped around and most likely it will be restocked in March or April. I’ve signed up for the notification on several sites so I guess whoever gets it in first gets my sale 😛 

It’s a step up from the Eco model; this one uses a vacuum filler mechanism instead of the piston style used in the Eco, thereby making filling super easy and holding way more ink. It’s only $80, which I consider a decent price for the special design elements. The standard version is $15 and I may end up buying one at some point but... it’s soooooo boring looking and I promised myself I’d only collect their special colors/LE pens.

Here is most of my fountain pen collection 🖋 Can ya tell what my favorite color is?? 😱😂

From left: TWSBI Eco (M), Monteverde Monza 3 (M), Platinum Plaisir Amabie edition (F), Platinum Preppy (F), Pilot Plumix (M), and Pilot Metropolitan (F).

My favorites in order:

TWSBI Eco

The Eco is a banger 💣 it has good looks, personality, and it writes smooooth as buttah. It looks very modern but has an updated, yet old school filling mechanism which I appreciate. It's a juicy, inky pen-just the way I like 'em! It reminds me of the Pilot V7s that I have been using for YEARS (still my favorite non-fountain pen, hands down 👌🏾). I really like the piston filling mechanism vs using converters. It's definitely convenient not having to take apart the pen to fill it. It also holds a shitton more ink to boot. I'm a lazy bitch so it means that I can go longer in between fillings 😂 The M nib let's down a fat, juicy line and I'm so excited to use it with a shimmery ink ✒

I'm really obsessed with this pen model and I have decided to collect all the special edition colors that catch my eye. I already have two more Ecos on the way! Expect more in-depth reviews of the Eco soon 🤑

Platinum Plaisir

The Plaisir is such a beautiful pen that's suspiciously cheap! (I got it on sale for $17) It's actually tied for 2nd place with its even cheaper sister, the Preppy ($4) in terms of quality and bang-for-your-buck 💵 For a F nib (they have the exact same nib), they write smooth with little to no scratchiness or skips (which I appreciate) and even though I write bigger than what the nib calls for it still makes my writing look good. They also don't bleed through on cheap paper, which is mostly what I use 👌🏾

The pearlescent aluminum finish is sleek, expensive looking, and apparently scratch resistant; I appreciate the latter attribute since I'm a fucking klutz. The Platinum pens also have a special mechanism in the cap that prevents the nibs from drying out from disuse for at least a year! That's good enough reason to keep them in my rotation. The regular version has a M nib (which I prefer), so I'm going to pick it up in the future.

Platinum Preppy

The Preppy was my second fountain pen! It was the one that really made me fall in love with using them vs my rollerball/ballpoint pens! (I've talked about why that is in the Plaisir section above). It’s a cheapie, and it looks/feels like it. It stays in my pen rotation mostly because of the Violet cartridge it came with. I'm in love with the ink color! They don't make it in bottled form, sadly 😔 but I don't mind buying more violet carts for it... It's that good. The carts are also usable in the Plaisir, which is a nice bonus for me 😄 The only drawback is it only comes in either EF or F nibs, and I really prefer M to write with 😔

Pilot Metropolitan

The Metropolitan is a great pen. It's just kinda... Boring. I like the design and it writes nice and smooth, but I guess my boredom comes from the basic ass black ink in using with it. I love purple ink, but I figured I need at least one grown up ink color on hand in case I need to adult... Whenever that'll be 🤷🏾‍♀️ I do use it from time to time just to keep the ink flowing from the cart installed. I'm still debating whether to keep it my "boring ink pen" or put something more exciting in to inspire me to use it more.

Pilot Plumix

The Plumix is a pretty unique looking pen but it feels cheap. It's not a bad pen; it's just that it came with a *shudder* basic ass blue cart instead of the purple I was expecting. I'm going to turn it into an eyedropper once I get around to it, and then I'll do a more in depth review with it. I haven't used it beyond a few doodles to test and see if it worked after I installed that blasé blue cartridge.

Monteverde Monza 3

Last, but not least... The Monza is a decent pen. It came with 3 nib pieces (F, M, Omniflex) that you can install so it's like having 3 pens in one, which is definitely unique. It currently has the M nib installed ✒ It's a smooth wet writer that I actually enjoy using. My problem with the pen?

I was cheated, tricked, bamboozled.

Apparently it's just a rebranded Jinhao 992 with the additional nibs/converters thrown in and marked up 12x the price. I didn't find that out until after I got the pen and I was hunting for in depth tips and tricks 😤 Maaaan I was so upset! I literally could have bought a 6 pack of them for $12 on Amazon, and even cheaper on Alibaba or eBay! Ugh 😥 But it taught me a valuable lesson: do 👏🏾 your 👏🏾 research 👏🏾 diligently before buying a new fountain pen. I'm lucky I've had no issues with it, but the betrayal has left a bad taste in my mouth so I don't think I'll ever buy another Monteverde pen.

Curiosity got the best of me and I decided to look for a Sailor Moon fountain pen. I found two: a LE one from Sailor Pens that's currently hard to find aaaaand expensive as fuck if you do find it (it's definitely on my holy grail Wishlist though 😅) and a Chinese knockoff of said pen from a brand called Little Fruit for way less 💵. This is that knockoff.

Isn't it beautiful?? It looks a bit better than the original version (it's all in the small details... Like the design on the fancy clip).

They even have the other 4 Sailor Scout's transformation pen AND a blue version! 💜

As a dedicated Sailor Moon fan, I decided to get Usagi's transformation pen. For science.... In the name of the moon! 🌙 Depending on the quality of said pen, I may get the other 4 pens to complete the collection and continue to drool over the OG one 🤩

I got it from an eBay seller for $37! They shipped super quickly and apparently had stock in the USA as it's already on its way via California! I'm super excited to get her in! Now I just need to find the perfect pink ink for it...

This ink has been so hard to hunt down! Probably due to the same reason I was looking for it: it's (potentially) a perfect merch for the TWSBI Eco Smoke Rose Gold pen that just came out... And it's so fucking luxe. Plus... Rose gold ink?? FUCK yeah I neeeeed it #basicassbitch 😂

I managed to snag a bottle from Lemur Pens, a small pen seller who seems to be cruising under the pen community's radar. The best part is they have free shipping for orders over $20 so you can buy just this and not worry about a shipping fee! They also have the TWSBI Eco Smoke Rose Gold in stock, so in case the bigger sites sell out, you can pick it up there along with the ink!

As of this post, it's still available if you've all but given up finding it in stock.

Hey 👋🏾 my name is Deena and I am obsessed with fountain pens 🖋 I've always been a fan of pens/stationary, but after starting my fountain pen love affair last month... it's like I found a piece of myself that was missing.

I've been a stationary hoarder since middle school. Gel pens, "inky" pens (s/o to the Pilot V5/V7!!💜), cute stationary sets, stickers, etc... I love it all. I was a Lisa Frank fan as a young girl in the 90s, and that definitely didn't contribute to my stationary hoarding tendencies.

I escalated into stationary hoarding again when I was in my late 20s, when I (briefly) got interested in the planner/bujo community. I still have dozens of (better quality) gel and ballpoint pens in my arsenal to this day....and a bunch of planners I don't use 🙈 I'll be sure to share my collection of my extensive collection of stationary goodies here too 🥰

I've always been aware of fountain pens, but I didn't know there had been a modern resurgence of them until a few years ago, but I wasn't interested; I was too busy hunting down Japanese-exclusive Pilot gel pen sets 😂 Fast forward to the great 2020 Quarantine™, where I started writing snail mail to friends and family. I started seeing fountain pens on a lot of Pinterest boards related to analog writing interests and they finally piqued my interest.

For a few months, I read blogs, wishlisted pens, and had pens waiting in shopping carts all over the internet. I promised myself that I would try to write more this year, so as motivation I finally settled on a cheap Moonman eyedropper and purple ink for my first fountain pen. I got it, inked it up and wrote in my journal... And mentally kicked myself for not caving into temptation sooner. They write like buttah! They make ballpoint pens feel like writing with chalk on a chalkboard! Plus you can choose your own ink color for your favorite pen(s)! The fact that they're environmentally friendly is a nice plus 👌🏾

This is a picture of my current collection; I have 9 fountain pens (there are only 8 here... ) with a few moar on the way 🙈 My wallet might not be happy, but I am so fuck it ☺️