You know how National Bookstore just randomly throw sales here and there (even when it's the middle of the month and there's no event to make a sale for)⏤I freaking love that.
Suffice to say that I got one from their journals sale last April: the Victoria's Journals A6 Bullet Journal. Basing on the price tag, the original price was PHP 150 (But I even found a review that she got hers at PHP 350) . I got this at only PHP 75 and am heavily satisfied.
I've been using it for a while now after I've scribbled on the last page of my Owl Philippines A6. I'm excited to share my thoughts, so let's begin. ♥︎
THE LAYOUT
(I lurked for a few nights on the internet in the hopes of finding accurate details of the product, but unfortunately, I couldn't find one online [not even on their official website], so the listed features are by me and were observed manually.)
The Victoria's Journals Bullet Journal is an A6 dotted bullet journal that comes in⏤as far as I know⏤brown and dark gray. Here are some of the features it entails:
- soft-bound felt cover
- 240 dotted cream pages
- 80 GSM leaves
- elastic enclosure band
- smyth sewn, can be laid flat open
QUICK NOTES
Where to buy: National Bookstore
SAMPLE PAGES
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| I used it as my budget tracker |
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| Floral cut-outs from Magnolia Magazine ♡ |
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| ♥︎♥︎♥︎ |
THE PEN-TO-PAPER TEST
Here we are again in everyone's favorite section where we see how good a product really is.
These are the inks we used for the test:
- Tombow ABT brush pen in 528 (navy blue)
- Crayola SuperTips in olive green
- DS retractable highlighter in red
- Zebra Mildliner in beige (neutral)
- Uni Ball One 0.38
- Uni Pin Fineline 04
- Sakura Pigma Micron 03
- Zebra Sarasa Vintage gel pen in green black
- Uni-Ball Signo RT 03
- Muji gel pen 0.38
- Pilot Acroball ballpen 0.3
- Uni Shalaku S mechanical pencil 05
- This test reminded me why I love Victoria's Journals. The paper is so smooth to write on (so smooth I even mismatched the swatch to the name 😆).
- There's ghosting, but nothing too distracting. It reminds me of the Moleskine pages, and it's not too bad I think.
- The paper is thin, so I wasn't expecting it to hold up to heavier inks like the brush pen and the highlighters, but it did! The only downside is, if you have sweaty hands like me, it might be too tricky to use.
THE YELLOW LEGAL PAD TEST
pros
- I've said this before, and I'll say this again: Victoria's Journals has always had smoother pages than most journals I've had. ♡
- The dots on the paper are light and are placed just far enough from each other that they're not distracting and would allow just enough room for small handwritings.
- It's pocket-size so you can easily slid this to any bag and you're good to go.
- It's soft bound so it can easily bend to fit any space you place it.
- Because of the simplicity, this serves a very pretty cover design. It's sleek, it's simple, and it looks expensive.
- From the pen-and-paper test, it can be concluded that the sheets are impressive and can hold up to even heavier inks, which calls for value for money.
cons
- I'm partial with any notebooks that are covered in anything faux leather, and this one is felt, which I'm unsure how I feel about. The material used is easily stained, so it's a pass for me.
- I couldn't find it anywhere else. 😫After I purchased one of the four that sat prettily at National Bookstore's Journal display table, I instantly checked online for reviews but found nothing. I couldn't even find it on their website or Facebook page.
- It only checks one from my journal trifecta⏤elastic holder [✔︎], gusseted back pocket [✗], leather (synthetic or cowhide) cover page [✗].
THE VERDICT
price point
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durability
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paper quality
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design
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accessibility
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features
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final rating: 4.5
RECOMMENDATION
This is not a bad little journal to carry around every day. The size is perfect for small purses for spontaneous trips to the park or a nearby cafe. (Though as you probably already know, I always prefer leather or synthetic leather notebooks for everyday use.)
I think the the paper is good for quick note-taking but might be too flimsy for journaling, so I'll skip this if you're looking for a new journal. Good thing the Victoria's Journals brand has a variety of other wonderful notebooks. If you want an A6 that's durable with thick, smooth paper, I would recommend the Copelle Kraft ones instead.
Anyhow, if you want a bigger size, one of a standard everyday notebook, I did a review of the Victoria's Journals Smyth Flexy if that interests you. I did the review after a whole year of using the notebook as my bullet journal, so I would say that one's pretty detailed.
⚘ jls
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