Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Marilyn Darling Show—today I’m reviewing a really pretty blue ink: Private Reserve Daphne Blue. It’s a light, turquoisey-ish blue with a nice little bit of shading, and I walk you through my usual lineup: writing sample, water resistance, chromatography, and then the big paper test marathon. On the water test, it actually held on a little bit, which is always nice when you’re dealing with a lighter blue. For chromatography, I did my two “toilet paper chromatographies” (one with water and one with rubbing alcohol), and honestly? All I’m seeing is blue-blue on both—no surprise funky colors sneaking out, which I appreciate. Where this ink gets a little spicy is paper behavior: it can be a really bleeding ink, and I’m not a fan of bleedy inks. On some papers it feathered, seeped, and ghosted like crazy, but on others it looked gorgeous with clean shading—HP Premium 32lb was a standout, and Tomoe River/Midori MD were also looking very cute. I also do a quick comparison to similar blues so you can decide if Daphne Blue earns a spot in your “currently inked.”