Review: Unlimited Notebook by Rhodia

When I received these Rhodia UNLIMITED notebooks that Karen Doherty sent to me last year, I asked her why they're called UNLIMITED. Karen said the name UNLIMITED refers more to a lifestyle with no limits on activities or ideas which could be noted in a stylish pocket notebook. And I thought she's right, these notebooks are aptly named UNLIMITED. This post will tell you why.

I've always preferred big notebooks and pads because I could write more in bigger pages and they take longer to run out of pages. They are heavier, though, and when I saw the pocket-sized Rhodia UNLIMITED notebooks, I immediately took one as my 'pen and ink test notebook.'

Rhodia's UNLIMITED notebooks come in pocket size only, measuring 3.5 x 5.5 inches, just like the size of a small index card. These notebooks are available in black or orange covers, with ruled/lined or grid/graph inside pages. What I really liked about this notebook is the cover which is not just ordinary laminated board, but a soft, velvety material called Verso soft touch. 

Another feature that I liked about Rhodia UNLIMITED notebooks is their round page corners. I have always preferred round corners on my notebooks because they do not dig into my palms when I write, and I do not see frayed corners as the notebook gets used.

A bicolor (black with three orange stripes) elastic strap keeps this pocket notebook tidy, a feature that I do not often see in pocket notebooks available in the market. The strap is held tight by small grommets in the notebook's back cover.

What's clever with the elastic strap is that it covers the grommets while keeping the notebook closed. I just worry that these grommets may create bumps in the notebook pages, especially if I am near its last few pages.

Most pocket notebooks are either sewn or stapled in the spine, but Rhodia's UNLIMITED notebook has its pages glued to the spine. I tried pulling on the pages to test if they will fall off the binding but they did not. The glued binding in this notebook is definitely durable, but it prevents the notebook from lying flat.

Both ruled/lined and grid/graph notebooks are perforated so users can easily tear a page off when needed. This feature may be welcome to some, but I hardly tear a page off my notebooks, so I don't see this feature as useful to me. I still think it's thoughtful of Rhodia to include perforations in a pocket notebook.

These pocket notebooks have 60 sheets (120 pages) of 80gsm white paper. Both ruled/lined (right) and grid/graph (left) notebooks have double ruled margins at the top of the pages.

I noticed that the ruling of the UNLIMITED notebooks is gray instead of the usual purple used in most Rhodia pads. I prefer this color because it is more subdued and does not compete with the bright colors of my fountain pen inks.

Just like all the Rhodia notebooks that I've tried before, the 80gsm smooth white paper of the UNLIMITED is perfect for fountain use. I tested my daily writers on a page (left) - most of them have either medium or broad nibs filled with wet and saturated inks - and the paper held up well. Feathering has not been a concern for me when I'm using Rhodia paper, although I noticed that inks took longer time to dry.

I also tested other pens on the UNLIMITED notebook with ruled/lined pages, and again, the paper held up well. I tested a rollerball, several gel pens, felt-tipped pens, a ballpoint and highlighter, and Sharpie, of course.

The photo below shows the back sides of my pen and ink test pages. There is some bleed in the fountain pen and ink test page, and I attribute that to the medium nibs on my pen, and the BB stub nib on my Pelikan M205 filled with Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue at that time (bleed on top of the page). I believe it's understandable that wide nibs and saturated inks create messy show through and ugly bleeds, but for most of my medium nibbed pens, the paper held up well. The rest of the pens in the other test page did not bleed at all, except for the Ultra Fine Point Sharpie which bleeds on any paper.

Overall, Rhodia's UNLIMITED notebook is an excellent pocket notebook to use. It has a unique cover which comes in two colors, the elastic strap is tight and keeps the notebook together, the pages have rounded corners, and the paper is excellent for any pen type. It doesn't have a back pocket or page marker, but for such a small notebook, who needs those? I've been using my orange UNLIMITED notebook for pen and ink tests and I'm happy with it. It's a wonderful pocket notebook that can be used for different lists, fits in small pockets and bags, and it's a Rhodia. Why don't you get one for yourself?


The Rhodia UNLIMITED notebooks used in this review are from Exaclair, Inc. through Karen Doherty. The pens and inks used in this review are from my personal collection.

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Ink Review: Sailor Jentle Grenade

O drops of me! trickle, slow drops,
candid, from me falling — drip, bleeding drops,

~ From "Trickle, Drops" by Walt Whitman

One of the joys from using fountain pens is the wide choice of ink colors for everyone to choose from. When I switched to full fountain pen use, I realized that there wasn't just one red or blue ink that I could use—there are a lot! In the last four years, I have built a collection of fountain pen inks including 13 red-based ink colors, and I'm still craving for more!

When Scribe Writing Essentials launched the arrival of Sailor products in the Philippines last September, I knew I had to test their ink offerings, and what better color to start the Sailor ink taste test—I chose red! Scribe sent me a bottle of Sailor Jentle Grenade to review, and I tested it on two different pens with regular and italic nibs, and on different paper types. Grenade did not disappoint, it gave me a blast!

My bottle of Grenade holds 50ml (1.7oz) of water-based ink and costs Php695 from Scribe Writing Essentials (for Philippine readers of this blog), while Goulet Pens (for international readers) sells it for US$12.50. This ink is a bit expensive, but it's worth the price.

Each bottle of Sailor Jentle inks comes with a plastic tube that serves as an internal reservoir to make filling pens easier. When the plastic tube is empty, just turn the bottle upside down and then right up again to let the ink into the plastic tube. Just make sure that the bottle's cap is tight and secure before flipping it to avoid spilling ink. The plastic tube is helpful especially when the ink level in the bottle is very low.

Grenade is a deep, dark red/purple/burgundy ink that is highly saturated, but has good lubrication and flows very well. It is smooth on all the paper samples I tried, and the shading is just amazing! While wet, it appears as dark red, but becomes dark purplish red when it dries. It is not difficult to read and looks beautiful either on white or non-white paper samples (ecru, beige, etc.)

For a saturated ink, Grenade dries fast (8mins) on the 90gsm Canson sketchpad and Kokuyo paper, but a little slower (12mins) on Rhodia paper from the Reverse Notebook I used in the written review above.

I did not have feathering and bleed through issues in the three paper types I mentioned, but Grenade bled heavily when I tried it on 70gsm copy paper.

Grenade shows unique shading when written from a wide-nibbed pen. The sample above shows Grenade (upper swatch) with J. Herbin's Rouge Hematite (lower swatch), or 1670 Anniversary ink, the only ink that I can compare Grenade to, for obvious reasons. Grenade has dark green shading, in a similar way to the 1670's gold flecks. The green shading is the reason I chose Grenade over Epinard.

Well, my red ink collection is growing, and though Grenade is only the first Sailor ink I reviewed, it is my 14th red ink. It will surely be on my top five favorite red inks because of its deep, dark purplish red color and amazing shading. Grenade is an excellent ink and I will get more of it when I finish the bottle.

Sailor Jentle ink is available in nine colors: black, blue, blue-black, ultra marine, sky high, epinard, grenade, apricot, and pêche. Sailor also offers two pigment inks, Kiwaguro (black) and Seiboku (blue-black), both  quick drying and water proof inks.

The bottle of Sailor Jentle Grenade used in this review is courtesy of Scribe Writing Essentials, the leading contributor of high-end reading and writing accesories in the Philippines. The red Lamy Safari and Rhodia notebook are from my personal collection.

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Notepad Review: Rhodia dotPad

Sometime in spring last year, Rhodia introduced a new addition to their line of notepads, and they called it the dotPad. dotPads are "functional black stapled notepads with a dot grid." Yes, the dotPad has dots – not lines, just dots – tiny, subtle purple dots spaced 5mm apart. According to Rhodia, the dotPads are brilliant alternative to traditional lines and boxes found in other notepads, including some of Rhodia's own, and the dot grid is a favorite for graphic designers, architects, artists and everyone looking for a subtle grid.

When Exaclair VP for Marketing Karen Doherty sent me the J. Herbin 1670 Anniversary ink last November, she included a No. 19 Rhodia dotPad which I called Dottie.

The dotPad's ruling system is new to me. I have never tried paper with dot grid before as I always used lined/ruled paper. My Journal is ruled, the notebooks and notepads I've used in my ink reviews are either lined/ruled or squared. The reason why I've always avoided blank paper is that I find it uncomfortable to write on. Now with Dottie, I can write, do calligraphy, and even draw (and color!) without worrying about my handwriting going to wrong directions, or with lines getting in the way of my calligraphy and drawings.

dotPads, like other Rhodia pads, are staple-bound. But unlike its siblings, dotPads have black covers instead of the traditional Rhodia orange. The top of the inside cover is scored so that it will fold back easily towards the back cover, but what it reveals once folded is something so cool to me - the Rhodia logo. A thicker board is placed at the back of the pad, aside from its back cover, to provide it with stronger support.

Dottie has the same smooth, white, acid-free, ph-neutral 80gsm Clairefontaine paper that I have enjoyed using in my previous ink reviews. The pages are microperforated and very easy to tear off. Like many fountain pen users, I prefer using Rhodia pads and notebooks as they are very, very friendly to fountain pen use. It's the perfect paper to use in my ink reviews!

The photo below shows all of the J. Herbin inks I got in my ink stash right now. I used an Herbin glass dip pen to test all 14 inks on a page off my Dottie.

Below are more pen and ink tests on Dottie.

A selection of fountain pens and inks...

Some of my gel pens...

A pencil and a Sharpie.

Look! No bleed! Except for the ultra-fine Sharpie that bleeds on almost anything.

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Below are some macro shots of different inks on the dotPad's paper. I realized that this is the perfect paper to test inks because most of the 'featherers' and 'bleeders' on my ink collection behaved beautifully on this paper.

Lovely Herbin inks! See how smooth Rouge Opera and Vert Pré are on the dotPad.

I'm happy to see the red undertones of Diamine Majestic Blue here because it does not always show - my guess is that the paper/pen/ink combination determines such.

Caran d'Ache is sooooo smooth.

And Noodlers too! I told you they all behaved well - no feathering, no bleeds! Yay!

The dotPad that Karen sent to me is the No. 19, measuring 8¼ × 12½. It is available in four sizes, though: 3 3/8" × 4¾", 6" × 8¼", 8¼" × 12½" and 16½" x 12 ½";  in a number of Rhodia and Exaclair retailers worldwide. Coming up in 2011: a dotted Webbie! Can't wait!

And now for a bit of experiment and fun. Here is a Stegosaurus I drew and colored on a page of my Dottie. I got it from About.com's cartooning for kids section for my niece. I just love the cute smile on this dino's face that I drew one myself. I used a Sharpie ultra-fine pen for dino's outline. Though I have not tried any of my inks for coloring, I used J. Herbin Bleu Pervenche for its body, Orange Indien for the first row of armor plates and tail spikes, and Terre de Feu for the remaining armor plates and its toe nails. I enjoyed coloring this cute dino so much! I felt like a kindergarten kid again!

Rhodia dotPads are available in different sizes to fit everyone's lifestyle. Use it for note-taking, writing lists, doing calligraphy, sketching, drawing, painting, and so on. The possibilities with these pads are endless!

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Ink Review: J. Herbin 1670 Ink

Red was your colour.
If not red, then white. But red
Was what you wrapped around you.
Blood-red. Was it blood?
Was it red-ochre, for warming the dead?
Haematite to make immortal
The precious heirloom bones, the family bones.

- Ted Hughes, 'Red'

Karen Doherty, Exaclair's Marketing VP, surprised me with a box last September. It was completely unexpected, and I jumped like a little kid when I saw the 1670 Anniversary ink, a large Rhodia dotPad, and an anise green blank Habana inside the box all swathed in seemingly endless piece of bubble wrap. I felt very lucky to receive a bottle of this ink because it is a limited edition ink, released early this year to specifically commemorate J. Herbin's 340th founding anniversary.

The J. Herbin Anniversary ink is named 1670 after the year the company was founded. It is also called Rouge Hematite for its color, taken after the mineral hematite (blood ore), which is also the Greek word for blood.

I like the unique design and packaging of this ink. Unlike the other J. Herbin inks, the 1670 Anniversary ink arrived in a new bottle inside a new box. The 1670 comes in square 50ml bottles, with 1670 simply embossed on gold wax to tell its name.

The 1670 Anniversary ink's clear square bottle reminds me a lot of Caran d'Ache ink bottles, but the gold string on the bottle's neck caught under the gold sealing wax (which Stephanie of Biffybeans blog wrote as glue gun wax) adds a touch of elegance into its simplicity.

The gold wax on the bottle, according to the J. Herbin website, is "reminiscent of the wax used for the 'grand cru' wines of France," and all gold wax seals on all 1670 ink bottles are handmade. PaperAndCo.com has a video of this process and it's amusing to see how it's being done: the person assigned to this task puts the gold string on the bottle's neck, pumps the glue gun wax onto the gold string and the bottle, stamps the 1670 on the glue gun wax, cuts the gold string to desired length, and does the whole process again. Cool!

The red wax on the ink bottle's cap is made of official wax cherry, and strongly reminds me of the wax used in cheeses, especially the big queso de bola (Edam cheese) we see in supermarkets around Christmas time here, and get either as gifts from friends or as part of our Christmas grocery package. According to the inital set of reviews, the red wax used for the earlier batch of inks was brittle and crumbled easily, but I received a newer version with a more flexible wax. But all the same, I am very careful when I cap and uncap the bottle. I don't want to destroy the beauty of this ink yet. 

This ink's bottle cap is made of aluminum, and I wished they used the usual hard plastic caps. Then again, wax may not stick to the plastic very well, and so they decided to use aluminum.

The 1670's box is another J. Herbin work of wonder. It has been carefully designed to represent the life of J. Herbin, who was a sailor. The ship, anchor and palm tree represent navigation and discovery; while the crown is a reference to the red sealing wax color used in the royal courts of Europe.

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Rouge Hematite is a unique ink color in the red/orange/brown range, which is my favorite. It has an intense, vibrant, earthy and blood-red color that is reminiscent of the historical J. Herbin logo and the sealing wax used in the royal courts of previous eras.
 
The 1670 ink has the same qualities of J. Herbin inks I have tried in the past. It has smooth flow, good lubrication, shading and of course, excellent color. However, it is very, very saturated compared to other J. Herbin inks.

For a larger photo click here.

I used a Rotring ArtPen with 1.5 italic nib for the calligraphy, and my white Schneider Base with a firm medium nib for my written review. The grid notebook is from Saizen, which took the inking very well. There is no feathering and bleed for both of the pens I used. Notice the difference in color and shading for the two pens.

The poem I wrote using the 1.5 italic nib looks a brighter red, with more evident orange hues.

The text I wrote using the medium nib looks a darker red, though.

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And now here are some macro shots. I hope the images below captured the gold in the letters I wrote, especially where more ink was placed on paper.  

Below is the 1670 ink in comparison with other red inks: Diamine Poppy Red (dries a bright red), Camel Scarlet Red (dries a pinkish red), Parker Super Quink Red (dries a pale red), J. Herbin Rouge Opera (not a true red, but dries a beautiful rose red), and Diamine Oxblood (a dark, dark blood-red color). The 1670 ink is the stand-out color in the group, its reddish somewhat brownish-earthy-golden color is a winner!

I mentioned earlier that the 1670 ink is a highly saturated ink. This may be a problem among left-hand writers because this property makes it such a slow-drying ink. I used the Base pen on Rhodia paper for this test, and though several factors may have contributed to drying time, the 1670 is undeniably a slow-drying ink to be 'almost dry' at 1 minute 30 seconds.

I tried writing with the 1670 ink on different papers from several notebooks I got. Below are several pictures of them.

I am so in love with this ink I have been using it on three different pens since I got it. I love the color, shading and the tiny gold flecks I see when I look closely at the dried ink on paper. But this is a limited edition ink, said to be produced only this year, and I hope that J. Herbin will include this ink into their regular production.

Aside from the 1670 Anniversary ink, J. Herbin also offers 30 more inks in beautiful colors. These water-based inks are non-toxic, have neutral pH and manufactured using natural dyes. Dowload a printable PDF of the J. Herbin fountain pen ink swatches here.

A 50ml bottle of the 1670 Anniversary ink sells for US$20 at the Goulet Pen Company, and will soon be available at Scribe Writing Essentials here in the Philippines. (I have no affiliation with either companies, though.)

The 1670 Anniversary ink used in this review is courtesy of Exaclair, Inc. through Karen Doherty, as well as the Rhodia pad. Daycraft notebook courtesy of Foreal Lee of Daycraft, and Reecovid notepad courtesy of Ingrid Savill of Reecovid. The Pukka notebook and two pens used in this review all belong to my personal collection.

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