And come 2021, I thought I'd switch things up and got myself a red soft-bound bullet journal, a Victoria's Journals Smyth Flexy. I got mine at around PHP350 (original price around PHP 700+) with a 50% discount from the National Bookstore New Year sale.

It's been my bujo for a little over 9 months now, so it's safe to say I've experienced it enough to give a concrete review. Let's begin! :) 

THE LAYOUT

The Victoria's Journals Smyth Flexy is a standard A5 size bullet journal with an undated planner version and a regular dotted notebook variant—mine's the latter. And this journal features the following: 

• Soft-bound vegan leather, slightly texutred
• Clean front look; debossed logo located on the back, bottom center
• 96 leaves, or 192 pages, of 80 GSM ivory wood-free paper
• 1 ribbon bookmark
• elastic enclosure band
• smyth sewn, making it possible to be laid flat open
• available in red, baby pink, brown, and navy blue
• come in dotted pages only

BACK SIDE FEATURING DEBOSSED LOGO

SAMPLE PAGES

Please note that the sample above is the very first page of the journal, so naturally, it won't be aligned with the rest of the other pages. For your reference, I used the Pilot G2 0.5 pen here. 😊

THE PEN-TO-PAPER TEST

In this segment, let's test how the paper performs against different pens. We'll mainly check ghosting and bleeding, and we will be using the following:

• Pilot G2 0.38
• Zebra Sarasa Clip 0.3
• Zebra Sarasa Vintage 0.5
• Muji gel pen 0.3
• Dong-A Hexaplus fineliner 0.4
• Tombow dual brush pen ABT
• Stabilo Boss highlighter
• Snowhite highlighter

Findings:

1. The right photo does not justify the ghosting that well, but take my word for it, there's definitely ghosting in most of them. And there's definitely more evident ghosting for thicker inks like the Stabilo Boss highlighter. 
2. Only Tombow ABT dual brush pen and Snowhite highlighter didn't have any ghosting problems.

THE YELLOW LEGAL PAD TEST

1. The Victoria's Journals brand has always had the smoother pages. All the pens I've used simply glided as I scribble in, even though some of those pens aren't particularly that smooth to begin with. And I personally like the ivory paper compared to a bright white one. 
2. I love how lightweight it is. In comparison to the bulky Rafi one, Smyth Flexy can be easily carried around and will sit nicely even in casual canvas bags.
3. It can be laid open flat (180 degrees). This is a plus point especially for those who do bullet journaling because creating spreads are made easier.
4. The light gray dots are not distracting at all, and this is important to point out because dots on dotted notebooks are meant to be guides, not unnecessary designs. And some dotted notebooks have dots that are either too big or too dark, which can be distracting. 
5. The expert binding is worth mentioning. It must be a VJ standard or something, but all the VJ notebooks I've used from cover to cover did not easily shed its pages, and some not at all.
6. I've noticed that it's almost always included in every National Bookstore sales. Even if it may be a bit pricier for the unit, you can still buy it at a cheaper retail price. Rejoice, my PH-living friends. :)

cons

1. The soft leather cover's flexibility makes it susceptible to curling on the edges and denting, so it requires extra care especially around sharp objects, say a card or a pen to keep the cover in its smoothest possible condition. I'd also recommend placing it in your bag spine first to keep it from curling. 
2. It doesn't have a gusseted back compartment, and I personally think back compartments are helpful in keeping ephemera or sentimental mementos.
3. The colors are limited. If you prefer a different color, you might want to consider a different design then—they have a ton. 
4. Ghosting can be expected, as the sheets are only 80 GSM. So try to be careful when using felt-tip pens or makers. The good news though is that I haven't experienced bleeding so far. :) 
5. It's not very accessible. They're not always available in NBS (though they're usually on sale when they are). You can check out from their official website; although, I've noticed they're pricier than when sold at NBS. But they do have a flat rate of $5 for all orders below 100USD. Perhaps you can take a chance on Lazada and Shopee, though I might've missed the shops that sold Smyth Flexys when I checked.

THE VERDICT 

RECOMMENDATION

Overall, my VJ Smyth Flexy has been a good companion for the year so far, and every VJ journal I've ever had has been a good experience. The paper is really smooth and what I feel makes the brand stand out. 

Since I'm no stranger to the brand anymore, this places the Smyth Flexy in a bit of disadvantage as I wasn't that impressed at all. If you ask me, I'd recommend trying out their Copelle or Venzi (this is a beauty too!) first so you don't start on the wrong foot when getting to know the brand. Give them a chance, and you might just discover a new favorite. ♡

Check it in low lighting, unstyled fashion.

WHERE TO BUY