Leather Journal Writing Notebook, Vintage Handmade Bound Notepad for Men Women - Write in Plain Thick Paper, 7x5 Inch Small Blank Pages, MOONSTER® Drawing Sketchbook, Travel Diary, Unlined Note Book

This journal is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I was in the market for something that looked rustic or handmade and this was exactly what I wanted! There was a bit of a chalky residue on the leather when I first received it, but a quick once over with a slightly damp paper towel eliminated any trace of the residue. It smells like nice leather and it's the perfect size to carry around or slip into a bag.Update: I've tested four different pens on the journal page and as well as a regular piece of computer paper for comparison. All of these were written while the pages were sitting on top of another piece of the journal paper. I did my best to use the same amount of pressure for each pen across both paper types. The close-up pictures are all on the journal paper.Overall, writing on the journal's paper feels like it has more a waxy glide than normal paper. It isn't like actual wax paper or difficult to write on - there is just a better glide with all of the pens.----- On How the Pens Write -----The ballpoint pen is what I normally write with on a day-to-day basis. It was just fine on the journal paper, but I do prefer the look of the ink on the computer paper. It glided nicely over the journal page and I didn't have to press hard to get a good ink flow, but it did leave more splits in the ink than on the computer paper.The Staples' Brand Gel was hands-down the best pen on this paper. The ink looks dark and flowed smoothly, but there was the occasional break in the line. It was a brand new pen so that may account for some of the breaking, but it wasn't annoying enough for me to stray from wanting to write with this one. To be fair: I liked using these on the computer paper as well, but it felt equally as good as writing with it on the journal paper.The Jetstream pen was the most disappointing. I'm not a huge fan of the ink color from these pens, but I know a lot of people like the way they write so I included them. Somehow these felt like the bad kind of scratchy on the journal pages, but not so much on the computer paper. I know it looks great in the pictures, but there was something missing with it for me. It just kind of looks and writes like a cheap pen on the journal pages.The fountain pen was a hit or miss depending on your own feelings about the ink. There was a lot of minimal bleeding both away from the line and through to the other side, which can be seen in the close-up and the back pictures. Writing with the fountain pen on this paper felt great tactically; it had that great quill-like scratch without being rough on the paper. I personally am not a fan of how the ink behaves on the paper, so this won't be my main writing tool for this journal.----- On Bleeding and Ghosting -----This is where the computer paper comparison comes in handy!You can see on the computer paper that all of the pens have some ghosting, but not any bleed through. In contrast, the first three pens on the journal page have little to no ghosting while the fountain pen has average ghosting and minimal bleeding.----- Conclusion -----If you are thinking about buying this - don't hesitate! No one asked me to write this review, I just love this journal so much that I want everyone else to love it, too!Happy Writing!

This is seriously THE most beautiful notebook I have ever seen in my life. The leather is undoubtedly real and is so soft to the touch. It has a subtle earthy, leather scent that sets the mood for your journaling or writing time! The wrap around closure string on this notebook gives off really retro vibes. Just looking at the notebook makes me want to write! The pictures don't do it enough justice.The paper on this journal is of unbelievable quality. They are thick and borderline cloth like, and writing in them makes me feel so inspired. They are a more cream color than straight up white like the pictures show, which I personally prefer because it looks so much more vintage and romantic.The pages are NOT refillable as they are bound into the spine, but that just makes you treasure every page of the book even more than you already will. However, if you make lots of mistakes when writing and you're a bit of a perfectionist like me, you should write in pencil first before writing everything down in pen.The leather does stain the pages (and probably your belongings if you shove them all in your bag), so be aware of that. I will probably find a cloth to wrap around this when I travel so I don't stain my bag haha.This journal was so beautiful that when i first opened it, I couldn't bring myself to write on the paper because my hands kept shaking.I did buy this on sale at around $23, but even if this goes back to full price I would not hesitate to buy it. It is SO worth the price and is much higher quality than other even more expensive journals that I've seen. It's no wonder why it has a 5 star rating with over 300 reviews.The size (7x5) is the perfect size to take on your travels or on the go without limiting your soace and creativity. If anything, I would be scared to put this in my suitcase in fear of it getting scratched somehow. >\\< If you like bigger notebooks though, they have a size up!Because the leather is soft and pliable, the flaps don't get in your way at all when you write.I admit I was a little hesitant on buying this because of the pages being bound in the book, and because I thought it wasn't very pretty from the pictures, but trust me. Whatever you see on the pictures isn't even a tenth of the beauty you see in person.The only con I can think of is that now, I will never be able to purchase any other journal because it will never compare to this one. I'll probably end up with a bookshelf of these by the time I retire :3If I could marry an object, I would marry this notebook.

It’s beautiful, smells good, and it pens glide on the paper. Feels vintage with a modern twist. Love.