After racks of Moleskines, Leuchtturms, Minimalism Arts, Rhodias, ... etc. I came across this one, and it is an unbelievable winner. It's almost card stock - the paper never bleeds or smudges, even with an over anxious and effusive medium fountain pen.
Yes, it doesn't have the colorful drama or the marketing gimmicks of those other brands, but damn its a good product.
Minimalism Arts and Rhodias are probably distant #2. The rest, don't bother.
I just got this little bullet journal a few hours ago, and I already am in LOVE with it! The bullet journal has a nice weight to it and feels very sturdy, having a slight hardcover. The black leather-ish material covering the journal is very soft and smooth and gives the journal a very professional and slick look to it. I am someone who REALLY cares about the quality of the paper though, and let me tell you, the paper quality is spot on! I am a hardcore thick paper fanatic, and this paper really is so satisfying to write on. It feels exactly like cardstock, and has a creamy archival quality to it that I really appreciate. It also lays pretty flat which is a huge deal to me. Doing a test with highlighters, ball point pens, and felt tip pens, I saw no bleed whatsoever, and almost no ghosting. Under a lamp, you could just barely make it out on the next page but it's extremely negligible. I really love the pen strap since it's a tight material that grips the pen well, and the elastic strap for the book is very nice as well. The only thing I didn't like was the bookmark ribbon which felt cheap. It's nice but still has a strange look to it. But despite that, I love this journal and I'm excited to fill it out. For this price, the quality is amazing. If you're considering other top brand journals (that are super expensive btw), then stop looking because this is the journal you're looking for.
So far so good. I bought this journal for bullet journaling and I really appreciate the thickness of the pages. There is only the faintest of ghosting when using a felt tip pen, as well as a gel pen. I haven't tried any fountain pens, so I cannot speak for those. I am noticing, however, that the fine lines sometimes blow out, so to speak. The ink doesn't bleed through the paper, but it seems to bleed along the surface of the paper a little bit.
Despite that, you can't beat this price, and I'm much happier with the density of these pages than with those of other popular bullet journal brands that cost twice as much.
I took lots of pictures since the item seems to have been rereleased and all of the previous reviews that led me to decide on this particular journal have disappeared.
I got this product to use as both a bullet journal and a college notebook. This journal is great because it gives you the freedom to make it into whatever you need. It is a thick book too! Perfect for bouncing around in a backpack! I love the paper! It feels really nice to touch. As you can tell from the photos, there really is not much bleeding! There is only one type of marker I found that shows up on the other side a little bit.
I was a little worried at first because of how other people have mentioned issues with the binding. I have not seen too much too much to cause concern on that front, but I've taken to putting scotch tape on any thread I see to ensure it doesn't move in the future. Good luck favors the prepared, as they say!
I was first introduced to the world of BUJOing last year, but sadly, my sketchbook was a horrid book to start in! So, I gave up for a while. THen, I purchased a dotted journal off one of those "cheap" sites. Alas, the paper was HORRID. Anything heavier than a regular ink pen bled through! Don't get me started on Ghosting! Now, I got a brain cell and joined a few BUJO groups, and heard the name "lemome" banded about, along with the OTHERS. Well, of course the OTHERS is what all the websites, videos, etc said to use. BUT... I found another brain cell and started investigating this thing called GSM - Paper weight by every other country BUT the US (and I trust it more than the US weight measurements, as they are RELATIVE to the paper you are looking at! GSM is STANDARDIZED across the board!). So, I researched... Name brand 1917? 80gsm, but has a special coating for fountain pens. Scribbles and K? 100gsm. Big Box Store for Everything? 80GSM, but coated. Box Store for Crafts? 100GSM. Yet... I wanted more. I heard tales of 100gsm not supporting MARKERS, and I WANTED to use MARKERS. My Bujo, My creativeness, My rules.
Then... I remembered Lemome and decided to look... The angels sang, trumpets played. I ordered ASAP... after all, 120GSM? This HAD to be a dream. AND REASONABLY PRICED??? I figured, get it before too many people discovered them and the price rose (Ahem, looking at you, o.... yeah, you.) Yet, months later, they are STILL a reasonable price!
So, I waited a few weeks... after all, I felt I was SUPPOSED to fill out that nasty thin-paged one first. BUT, hubs convinced me - quickly, I might add, to go ahead and start in it the following month. Ohhhh, the JOY. the PLEASURE. The PAPER is such high quality, you feel you are writing on a cloud. BUT, I get ahead of myself.
Opening the box, you get a waft of leather smell, and it clings to the journal lightly for a long time. The box is simple, yet elegant (and has been reused with pleasure) Pulling the book out, you feel the soft leather cover - firm enough to hold the book, soft enough to sink fingers... and nails...in. Yet, it resists most marring. Of course, after several months of heavy use, being tossed into my purse untold number of times... it did get ONE, and I mean ONE spot where the leather peeled off. ANyway, back to the paper. You open the book to a creamy delight, with a few lines for your information. And then, the pages. I got the dot journal, and was delighted to see that they were even, and didn't wander all around. (yes, i said i bought a CHEAP BOOK). THe feel of the pages to the fingers is smooth, yet it holds onto ink like a dream.
WHen I finished that journal, I fully intended to return to another Lemome, and had one in hand. However... I decided to try a DIFFERENT system. 2 months later, I have decided that the other system is perfect for WORK, but NOT for what I needed... a good solid book to hold my yearly, monthly, weekly, daily, trackers, etc in it. To HOLD MY CURRENT LIFE.
I now own and run a very successful Facebook group for beginners. FIrst thing they usually ask is, "what book should I get?" I point them to the Lemome. I stopped a couple of college students from purchasing from a box store, and pointed them here... to Lemome.
Why do I do this? Is it just that I have a love of elegant books and yet am on a ramen budget and this is the best I can afford? No... its quite literally... the BEST. The customer service is TOP NOTCH. Even months later, they STILL want you to be extremely happy with their product!
Lemome: not well known. but should be.
Lemome: Sushi on a ramen budget.
Lemome... The book DOES matter when one is chronicling one's life.
BTW... check out their awesome other products, too. I have the 24 set of Lemome art markers (brush/fineliner duo), and I love them. They have colors I have yet to find in other, more expansive non-brush and brush sets.
Feature Product
- ★ DURABLE HARDCOVER JOURNAL - Elegant black leather cover great for all kinds of occasions. The sturdy design ensures your journal will be well protected and have increased longetivity. Lemome notebooks are unique with no two being quite the same - a special keepsake for your thoughts, plans & ideas.
- ★ PREMIUM THICK PAPER - 192pages, which is 30% thicker than normal. The sheets are beautifully soft to write and draw on. Suited to most pen types, but the wettest fountain pen inks. The acid-free paper resists damage from light and Air and the paper protects your eyes from irritation (Original ecological paper, we do not add any chemical additives).
- ★ MEDIUM SIZE - 5"X8.3", Dots are spaced optimally at 5mm (0.2in), great for wide or compact handwriting, 1 RIBBON MARKER ELASTIC BAND makes easy usage. Pocket size of this dotted journal fits any small, medium bag.
- ★ MULTI-TASK ORGANIZER - Dot journaling is great as travelers notebook, cute & cool personal diary, classic recipe journal, customized habits tracker. Together with stickers it might be the best set for students & school.
- ★ SATISFACTION GUARANTEE - If you don't love it for any quality reason, Just return it and we'll replace it or send you a refund. Customers satisfaction is our greatest pursuit and high quality is always our goal.
Description
Lemome Dotted Journal
I am in love with this journal! I was inspired to purchase it after watching the Youtuber AmandaRachLee's video "Which notebook is the best for bullet journaling." This notebook has a pocket in the back, one bookmark, and a penholder on the spine (awesome location for that). The grey dots are clearly visible making this great for beginners like me, who want to practice calligraphy and doodling. It lays almost completely flat. Compared to a moleskin, this is about a centimeter longer, slightly wider (the perfect size, in my opinion), thicker, and a tad bit heavier. I appreciate the extra page space. The best aspect of this notebook is the paper thickness. It doesn't wrinkle easily. When I'm writing with a ballpoint pen, the ink is not visible on the other side of the page. There is no bleeding except with VERY liquidy highlighters. In the photos, I've written the name of each pen/marker/liquid hi-lighter used to show the ghosting effect on the other side as best as I could (my hand is framing the area with where the pens are on the other side of the page. You can see a shadow of the darker inks, but it is not offputting. The Sharpie did not bleed through!
I decided to purchase this notebook because of the higher page count and thicker paper. It comes with six stickers to use on the sides of important pages, all different colors for easy visual searching. The dots seemed a little dark when I first opened the notebook, but once I add lines and text (using nothing more than a hotel room ballpoint pen), they're not distracting at all. There is some ghosting with my metallic Sakura gelly roll pens, and if I'm filling in a bigger design or going over a skip, occasional bleed-through (see my March mini calendar)--this is why I took off a star, because I love these pens to death and it kind of disappoints me to see the pen marks from the other side. Otherwise, it's super solid. Every pen writes smoothly on the surface, no bumps on the paper, and it's a nice ivory color that's easy on the eyes. The folder in the back is perfect for holding loose sheets of paper, templates, sticker sheets, small rulers, etc. The ribbon bookmark has no frayed edges. The pen loop is sewn on tightly, and I don't anticipate it pulling free anytime soon. When the elastic loop is pulled over the front cover, it's enough pressure that the journal doesn't open and fly anywhere, even in my backpack.
Before this, I was using an old ruled journal I had lying around to bullet journal, not wanting to waste it. As useful as my systems were (habit tracking, one line a day, etc), though, it was so irritating to manually measure out my boxes that I finally called it quits and abandoned that notebook. Having a dot grid journal is game changing. Even when I don't make any boxes or sections, just write in between the dots like lines, it's so much visually cleaner. I can't express how happy I am to finally have a dot journal that I love. For the price, this can't be beaten.
This is my second time purchasing this journal, and it has stuck with me through thick and thin. I use mine as a bullet journal and have used it successfully with tombows, crayolas, mildliners, and many other brush and gel pens as well without having any sort of bleeding (minor exception for the tombows). It lays very flat, as advertised, which I personally enjoy since it allows for the most use of the page without having to try and get it into crevices. However, a consequence of the extreme flatness is that you can see and feel the stitching in many places throughout the journal. I have come across the problem where I'm trying to erase things and the stitches became a little bit annoying and puff up even more at the slightest disturbance. I used my previous journal for about a year and the cover did not sustain any damage, however, the pen loop did fray after about 7 months of daily use. Another thing I noticed over time was that the dots are a little bit darker than most other journals, which doesn't bother me, but it may be bothersome to others. Overall it is an amazing journal and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a journal with very thick paper (120gsm) that has minimal ghosting and bleeding with most pens.
PROS:
-very thick paper (120gsm)
-lays especially flat
-comes with a bookmark+pen loop
-has an elastic encloser
-pocket in back
-sturdy spine and cover
-very minimal ghosting (close to none)
-bleeds minimally
-comes with a small sheet of dividing tab stickers
-very durable, can withstand daily use without any spine or cover damage
CONS:
-ink bleeds through when blending two markers (and sharpies but that is to be expected)
-dots are very visible
-stitching may puff up if touched in certain places
-stitching can be very visible in certain places
-although it lays flat, some of the pages "spike up" because of their thickness (not too much of an annoyance)
-pen loop does tend to fray after long term use
I’ve gone through so many other bullet journals and have always been disappointed by the thin pages, bleeding and ghosting, and poor all around quality. I really wanted a bullet journal with thick pages that would hold up to daily use and watercolor art without breaking the bank. I’m SO glad I came across Lemome and took a chance. This is hands down the best quality journal I’ve used, and you truly can’t beat it for the price. The pages are thick and amazing. I can watercolor in it with ease with minimal buckling, and there’s little to no ghosting unless I layer on my Tombow markers too much, which is totally a user error anyways.
I love that it includes a pen loop on the spine so I don’t have to dig in my bag for a pen whenever I want to jot something down. It’s a small detail, but it makes a huge difference!
Another thing to note is that the pages aren’t a super crisp, true white. They are more of an off-white color. It’s not very noticeable unless you compare it side-by-side with regular printer paper. It truly doesn’t bother me, but I can understand that this may be a factor in some people’s purchasing decision.
Additionally, I was able to powder emboss a simple design onto the cover, and the fake leather material held up wonderfully to the heat. The metallic gold design adds the perfect amount of pop while keeping the whole look very sleek. I’m obsessed with the result and it was very easy to do.
And to add to all this, customer service is A+. My first notebook came slightly damaged, probably due to shipping, so I reached out and they sent me a new one, completely free of charge.
This note book looks good, and seems to be well-assembled; I expect it will hold up. I've been using another brand of notebook for a while, in this size and in a smaller "reporter" style that I keep in my back pocket. I wanted to try another brand for journaling, as I have a bad habit of bearing down when I wright, and it was showing through when I tried to use both sides of the paper. This Lemome notebook uses 120 gsm paper, whereas the old brand used only 70 gsm so it seems this will be less of a problem.
I also like the pen loop on the binding; I typically have a pen with me always, but it's good to be able to carry a spare.
If I could recommend one addition, it would be pre-numbered pages.
