Soothi Aquarius Journal

I love trying out new notebooks, so I was excited when Soothi sent me their Aquarius Zodiac Handmade Leather Journal to try. The notebook measures 5 by 7 inches, and includes 100 pages of white 125 gsm cotton paper. Their website states that their paper is "bleed-resistant and fountain pen friendly.”

The cover is made of leather and stamped with the constellations and has a tie closure. I love the cover-it holds up well and has some great details.

The paper isn’t stark white, but isn’t cream either-I would call it an ivory. The paper feels thick (125 gsm) and has some texture to it. Even with binder clips, the notebook does not lay flat. The paper is thread-bound with two stitches, one toward the top and one toward the bottom. I did have some pages separate from the binding during testing.

Fountain Pens:

Every fountain pen I tried feathered and bled. I don’t think I could ever use fountain pens on this paper.

Pencils and Gel Pens:

Pencils did well, some of the pens bled through. I enjoyed this paper most with gel pens.

Best use:

I plan to stick to gel pens only for the rest of the notebook.

Overall, I really love the design of the leather cover, but frankly I don’t like the paper. It bled and feathered too much with fountain pens and even some gel pens, and I had some trouble with the pages tearing out from the binding.

Disclaimer: This product was provided by Soothi Journals for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page and this post is not sponsored in any way.