Which inks to invest in?

I have some Altenew and some hero arts minis- they are ok.
I just invested in a full set of pinkfresh minis because I love love their colours.
I seem to buy most of their releases as I love their aesthetic
So then it seemed “sensible” to invest in their inks!!!
They just arrived today so I haven’t really had time to play but the colours are great and I like the fact they are packed in sets of 4 from each colour family so they will work well with layering stamps.
I particularly like the blues .

I follow a couple of people who primarily use the Catherine Pooler inks and they seem very versatile and the colors are great (for my tastes). Ardyth Percy-Robb on YouTube uses them for swiping, pouncing through stencils, ink blending, spritzes water or shimmer spray on them. They also work really well with bigger solid stamps because they are very juicy (Justine Hovey has videos about that). I’m in the process of collecting the minis. I like that they’re not cubes, which I find awkwardly small.

Depending on how you use inks they might be a good fit. Ardyth doesn’t worry about matching cardstock - she just blends or swipes ink direct to white cardstock to create a matching piece/frame.

She also demonstrated blending them together to create secondary and tertiary colors. I think she also showed how you can use them for layering stamps - if I’m remembering correctly you can overstamp and get a darker tone without needing another ink pad. I’d have to check that to be certain, but I think that’s right. I don’t use layering stamps much so that’s less important to me, but nice if it does work that way.

I have Concord & 9th and Altenew. The  Altenew do seem a bit dry but are good for layering stamps.  I like the Concord & 9th for stamping but there aren’t enough color variations to make them good for layering.  I also have a few GinaK minis which I really like.  

I have Gina K, The Stamp Market and the Concord & 9th inks. I use them all—the stamp market and Concord &9th inks are foam, similar to the Catherine Pooler inks but I think the CP inks have thicker foam. There was a bit of a learning curve for me with the foam inks, but it wasn’t too hard for me to get used to using them.

I have the full set of concord/9th with the paper packs to match - and LOVE THEM!
The colors are so vibrant, although not enough in one color family to do mono-chromatic stamping...

Which is why I just bought the full set of PinkFresh. They don't have matching paper though.
I have only used the blue set so far (as I literally just got them), but so far, they are working great for me.

I like Concord and 9th ink pads because they have matching card stock but the card stock is a little thin. I also like Altenew because they have a lot of colors. I think they are a hybrid pad. I also like Gina K. ink. Her card stock matches and it's heavier and she also has envelopes to match. I watched her live yesterday and she has a coupon code for 15% off ink. The code is liveink15 and I finished up my collection last night. There is so many to choose from.

This is true of Concord/9th cardstock, but it’s what I like about it as I use it as card fronts and dies, not the cards itself, so it doesn’t add a ton of bulk.

Most of the inks are made by the same manufaturer so I go by color not brand. There are a few brands I prefer over others however. For layering stamps I prefer Altenew. I have a lot of MFT inks, Lawn Fawn inks, etc. I don't care for catherine pooler inks because they are too juicy and make a mess for me but i do like her colors. I do have a list of my fave inks here if you are interested: kathleendriggers.com/kats-favorite-inks-inking-tools-products/