The Archer & Olive Blackout! Book Review — Unlocking this Mysterious Journal
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Been curious to try a black-page journal? Check out my honest Archer & Olive Blackout! Book review to see exactly what this novel journal is all about!
This post is sponsored by Archer & Olive. Although I am receiving compensation for this post, all comments and reviews of products received are mine and mine alone. I strive only to promote products that I think are excellent.
I Like a Challenge
There is nothing more striking or surprising than pure black journals. They are so dark and mysterious like you might crack one open and find ancient runes or beautiful poetry. I’ve seen them pop up all over Instagram, and I’ve been curious to try one for myself. That’s why I was so thrilled when Archer & Olive reached out and offered to let me take their Blackout! Book for a spin! So now that I’ve had a chance to test it out, allow me to share my full Archer & Olive Blackout! Book review.
My Archer & Olive Blackout! Book Review
I had a blast playing and experimenting with these gorgeous black paper journals, and there are a lot of fun features that I want to point out. Here is my honest Archer & Olive Blackout! Book review.
What I Loved
This Archer & Olive Blackout! Books completely took me by surprise when I unwrapped it for the first time. It continued to surprise me as I wrote, doodled, and experimented with my toughest pens and paints. Here are the elements that I adored about the Blackout! Books!
The Dramatic Covers
I received two colors of the Blackout! Books and my heart nearly stopped when I pulled them out of the packaging. The covers are fabric but for a single metallic element. The black covered journal boasts a silver display of the moon in her various phases. The deep green journal had a gold leafy design on the cover. I normally go for a blank cover because I’m not a fan of how many journals come with loud, over-the-top designs. However, both journals bore simple, elegant, but striking cover designs that add something special to the notebooks without being a distraction.
The Gilded Edges
The metallic accents don’t stop with just the covers. Archer & Olive took it a step further by gilding the edges of the Blackout! books. This produces an outrageously luxurious feel to these journals that makes my heart go boom boom. When I unwrapped these journals and took in those gilded edges, it felt like Christmas. Gilded edges are lovely on white paper, but they are entirely something else on black paper.
The Paper Thickness
When I get a new product for the first time, I put it through the wringer. The Archer & Olive Blackout! Books were no different. I put the advertised ultra-thick paper to the test by hammering it with the wettest pens, paints, and inks that I own. And guess what? The Blackout! Books passed with flying colors! I went to town layering heavy gold watercolors in an autumnal wreath, and the paper stood up beautifully. I even created a whole weekly spread on the flip side of that watercolor art, and you can hardly notice any ripples or bumps in the paper.
The True Darkness
As I opened up the Archer & Olive Blackout! Books for the first time, I expected the paper to be a deep grey. Or if it was black, I expected the dot grid to be either white and utterly obnoxious or too dark to see. Somehow, Archer & Olive was able to walk the line and give us paper that is truly black with a totally useable dot grid.
The Flatness
One small thing I enjoyed was that the Blackout! Books layed flat when opened. This is always nice in any journal, but it’s especially important when you are using slow drying gel pens like the ones you need in a black paper journal.
The Company
Archer & Olive is an amazing company whose values line right up with my own. They create extremely high-quality products, yes. But they are so much more than that. Archer & Olive is a woman-owned business, and you gotta know I want to support my business sisters! Archer & Olive also believes in supporting the journaling and artistic community by actually paying artists for work — which sounds simple enough, but you’d be amazed how often businesses want to fleece small creators and not pay. And one of the biggest things that I love about Archer & Olive is how much they support mental health as a business. The world needs more companies to prioritize the health and well-being of their employees and customers. So the journals are incredible, but it’s worth pointing out how inspiring and positive the company is behind all those amazing products.
Some Criticisms
The Archer & Olive Blackout! Books are fabulous, but they aren’t totally perfect. Here are a few things worth noting.
The Gilded Pages Residue
One minor complaint that I had with these journals is that the gilded pages leave a tiny bit of sparkly residue when you first touch it. I noticed that after running my fingers up and down the beautiful pages with wonder there was a slight golden sparkle on my fingers. However, this doesn’t appear to be an ongoing problem. After touching the gilded edges a bit more, I seem to have rubbed off whatever golden dust remained. So this is a temporary problem that isn’t much of a problem at all, but I wanted to point it out.
The Gilded Pages Stick
Another tiny criticism of the Archer & Olive Blackout! Books is that the pages stuck together a bit on the golden edges. It seems to be a result of the gilding process. Regularly throughout the pages, two or three stuck together just on the edge. To separate them, I simply slid my finger between them and they gave up without a fight — no ripping or tearing away the gold. So again, this is a minor issue. But it was a bit of a surprise, so I wanted to mention it here in my review! It only occurred on the deep green Blackout! Book, so it seems to be an inconsistent problem, anyway.
Come to the Dark Side
There’s no question — my Archer & Olive Blackout! Books review can be boiled down to “this journal is amazing!” If you are interested in trying a black journal, go with this amazingly high-quality journal to make sure you can enjoy it fully. Treat yourself to some gilded pages and thick paper! You won’t regret getting such a stunning piece of stationery, and you’ll wonder why you hadn’t tried it sooner.
Hello! I was wondering if you knew what pens could be used that wouldn’t transfer to the opposite page over time? So far the Sakura Gelly Roll (white) and the one’s the turn silver (mine don’t seem to do a coloured outline) leave a faint mark on the opposite page after I close the book.
Hmm, I’m not sure! I’ll have to play around with pens and pay closer attention to see how they behave over time. I haven’t had any issues with the Kelly Creates jewel brush pens so far, but I’m not entirely certain. I hope to have a better idea soon!
What pen did you use for the October page? It looks lovely!
Thank you! It’s actually not a pen, but Colirocolor gold watercolors applied with a Pentel Aquash Water Brush Pen! You can see my review of the gold watercolors here.