Notebook Therapy

Disclaimer: Before I start, I’d like to point out that I search for information about the company, test the journal and prepare my review before reading any journal reviews by other users and creators. I base my opinion on my experience of ordering and receiving and using the journal, so if I get a poorly constructed journal and everyone else says they’ve had a good one and I should exchange it, I still base my review on my initial experience, because that was my experience as a genuine buyer of a product. Because of shipping costs from Australia, I tend not to return products unless they are unusable anyway!

Review: I’m not sure what to think of Notebook Therapy (the company), but I do like their journals. This one is my main bullet journal from October 2023 through to early 2024, and before this review, I had tested it and set up the introductory pages like the future log and collections.

The thing that bugs me is that all their marketing, including the way they name their journals (eg. Tsuki, Hinoki), makes you think they are a Japanese stationer, when in fact the company is based in the UK (they claim to also have a Tokyo office, however I’ve been unable to verify this) and the journals are made in, and ship directly from, China (I think). I had a similar issue with Tekukor. I like companies to be more transparent about where they are based and where their product is from. They also claim FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification on some of their products, but I haven’t been able to find their registration on the FSC website, and because they don’t say where their paper is from, I can’t follow that up. Notebook Therapy do not say this particular journal has FSC paper. As a comparison, Scribbles that Matter can be found on the FSC website and show their certification on their own website.

The shopping experience was smooth and shipping was excellent and fast, with everything arriving in good condition.

The journal has ribbons, an elastic closure, a pocket and no pen loop. It has a return to owner page, but no other marked pages and no page numbers. You get a few free gifts – stickers and a cute bookmark. The paper feels lovely and performs well with no ghosting, bleed or even much crinkle with light watercolour use. The construction also looks good so far.

Take a look at the detailed specifications, and watch the unboxing video for a first look.

My in-depth review video looks at the construction of the journal, the quality of the paper, the environmental sustainability of the journal, interesting information about the company, and includes a pen test of a full range of pens and watercolour paints. See my pen test page for an explanation of each test.

I went crazy with dutch doors in this journal and the flip-through is worth watching – I think so anyway 🙂