THE INXPERIMENT: INK SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE BY APPELBOOM

A few month ago, Goulet Pens stopped their ink sample subscription service. It had gotten to a point where it had simply grown out of hand for them. But it didn't take long for another store to fill in the void that Goulet left behind. That store was the Netherlands-based Appelboom.

For those that aren't familiar with the concept of an ink subscription: a selection of ink samples is curated each month, and sent out on a subscription basis. It's a fun and affordable way to try and experiment with new inks, and you get to try inks that you might not have thought about before. 

Appelboom named their subscription 'The Inxperiment', and it's slightly different from what Goulet Pens did. The general idea is the same of course: you get five ink sample vials of a couple milliliters, enough to fill a pen once or twice.

But additionally, Appelboom also coupled it with a giveaway. Each month you receive a white postcard along with your Inxperiment, that you can color using the ink samples. If you send the postcard back, or post it on social media, you get the chance to win the set of full bottles from that month's Inxperiment! There's only so much one can do with a subscription like this, but I think Appelboom did a pretty good job adding an extra touch to it with this giveaway.

Appelboom strongly focused on expanding their ink selection in the recent years, and the result is definitely noticeable. They have a wide variety of ink brands, both the more traditional brands and some more exclusive 'boutique' inks like Robert Oster, KWZI and Bookbinders. So the selection of samples is varied, and sometimes comes in a certain theme. For instance, the February Inxperiment was themed around Valentine's day, and contained a couple nice red/pink inks, as well as a Valentine's themed postcard. 

The Inxperiment is the ideal subscription to get your monthly ink fix, and it allows you to try out a bunch of inks at a reasonable price. The selection of samples comes from a wide range of popular, but also some smaller brands. Of course you don't know what you'll get, so you might end up with an ink you already have, but that's the risk of the game. Or to quote Forrest Gump:

"Life is like a box of chocolates. 

You never know what you're gonna get."

Appelboom's The Inxperiment runs 12.10 EUR or 10 USD for non-EU customers, and the discount code 'friend', provided for Pencilcase Blog readers, can also be applied to further reduce the price.

Note: Appelboom is a sponsor of this blog. This product was sent free of charge so I could write this review.  I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own! This post does not contain affilate links.

BEHIND THE SCENES

A late introduction

I've been holding off on this for, well ever since I started this blog. I didn't see the need to put myself out there. In fact I started this blog with the idea of keeping it entirely anonymous. 

So here I am! My name is Dries, and if you want to read more about me, go check out the 'about' page. I updated it a bit, and even added a goofy picture (yeah that's me over there on the right!). You know, just to show that it's not just some computer algorithm running this website. 

Over the years I came to understand that a big part of the pen community is the personal interaction, making new friends. Writing reviews is the core business, but besides that there's a lot of interaction going on. Maybe you just want a friendly chat, or maybe you have an issue or a question about pens. I've learned A LOT from other bloggers, and I'm eager to share the little I know with others. 

As part of that social interaction, I started being a more active member on the Facebook FPN page. I feel like it's a good way to come in touch with (potential) readers of the blog, but it can also be a way to get in touch with me. Same goes for other social media like Twitter or Instagram. Especially the latter is definitely one I try to be very active on. Instagram offers a nice and casual way to show what I'm working on for the blog, and the pen community is very well-represented on it, with a bunch of great people to follow and interact with, definitely worth checking out if you haven't already!

But then comes the biggest challenge. You might say 'OK we know your name now, and we know what you look like, but we don't REALLY KNOW you', and that's absolutely right! Now of course I'm not going to start rambling about my personal life too much, or what I do besides playing with pens and writing this blog (apart from studying chemistry, not much, should you ask). But there are certain things I could tell that would be relevant to the blog, and how you - as a reader- experience it. I'm talking about how I got into this hobby, what my personal preferences are, what I use, why and how, etc...

Especially personal preference is a topic I'd like to touch on in one of my next posts, because there's a lot of discussion about blogger bias, and the objectiveness of reviews, and I think it should be adressed to help resolve the issue and to create a transparent community where you -as a reader- know what to expect from a blog.

So there you have it, I guess this was more of a state of the union than it is an introduction... But at least you'll know where to find me if you want to! Feel free to contact me if you have questions or remarks, you can check my contact page or all the above mentioned social media platforms to get in touch.

Thanks for reading!
Dries