Behind door number five, we find the night sky adorned with the Northern Lights.

Nightfall is a very dark blue, chameleon ink, with blue-green shimmer and a touch of copper or red sheen in wet areas. It appears almost black on paper, and there is little to no shading to be seen. The ink seems very wet, and the shimmer flows quite well.

Nightfall also strongly reminds me of another Inkvent ink, namely Stargazer from 2021—except Stargazer has a slightly greener hue, a bit less shimmer, and MUCH more sheen.

Finally, let’s take a quick, overall look at the first five inks from this year’s Inkvent. Among these, I think I like Nightfall and Early Dusk the best. Nightfall because it’s such a dramatic, over the top ink, and Early Dusk because it’s versatile and seemingly simple, yet has some cool variations (a distinct halo, nice shading, and a hint of pink-purple undertones).

Cashmere Rose is a nice enough ink, albeit a bit dull, while Fortune’s Gold and Masquerade both are a bit too dry for my liking. Shimmer inks where I have to struggle to get the shimmer out make me lose interest quickly, although they might be quite fun with a dip pen!

Liv Mogstad Strickert is a regular contributor to Pennen er mektigere and will be posting daily ink reviews of Diamine’s Inkvent 2023 in December.