I’m always on the hunt for new pens to try and stumbled across Ooly. I’ll admit it, some almost all of my pen purchasing decisions are based on how pretty the pen itself is, which was the case with most of the Ooly pens. I can’t say no to pretty rainbow colors!
In the past I’ve ended up being disappointed with how the pens actually wrote – bleed through, smearing etc. so if you’ve come across this brand too and want to see the quality before purchasing, be prepared for lots of pen testing photos in this post 🙂
This is not a sponsored post, I just like cute rainbow pens!
Gel Pens
I almost didn’t get these pens since I’d already added other ballpoint pens to my cart… but I really liked the patterns and the fact that the pen lids connect together so it’s easier to keep track of them.
The colors are really nice and the yellow is one of the very few pen brands I’ve come across that you can actually see the yellow ink on the page.
None of the pens bled through the page but there was some heavy ghosting.
Related: Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding
Ballpoint
Ballpoint pens can be hit and miss. The ink skips on some, on others you have to push down really hard to see the ink, some dry out quickly etc. These ‘bright writers’ are indeed bright and include 2 shades of purple in the pack (which is rare) and 3 shades of blue (ombre color coding anyone?) and no yellow (since most people don’t tend to use that color anyway) – so sensible 🙂
No bleed through or ghosting! 🙂
Gel Pens
The look of the pens is very similar to the ‘write in rainbow’ pens from Kikki K however the ooly pens write smoother. The yellow ink is also slightly easier to see.
I normally prefer a 0.7mm pen tip but the 0.4mm was actually a really good size.
Needle Tip Gel Pens
While cute, these pens are needle tip style so if you write on an angle like I do you’ll need to be conscious to write more vertical otherwise the ink will skip.
Love the variety of colors – light and dark shades of green, blue, pink and purple!
Related: How to choose the right planner pens: what to look for when buying planner pens
Erasable highlighters
These erasable highlighters were how I intially stumbled across the ooly brand. I love ersasable pens and highlighters but they don’t tend to come in many colors. So when I saw a pack of 6 I had to have them. The yellow is super bright and the blue is more of a pretty teal color 🙂
They erase in the same way as Typo’s erasable highlighters with a white tip on the end which is faster than erasing by friction like the Frixion erasers. I think I’ve found my new fav erasable highlighters!
I’ve also seen calligraphy brush lettering dual tip pens on the ooly website which I’m keen to try! and Erasable crayons which would be great for color coding. I use zooms (twistable crayons) from time to time but you have to push hard with an eraser to get the color to come off. Hmm.. might be time to go to shopping again…
Not an ooly pen but another recent find, the Creative Devotion / American Crafts erasable pens. I’m a huge fan of the Frixion erasable so was keen to try these! They’re meant to not rip the pages of your bible if you wanted to use them for that.
Don’t be deterred by the pen that looks dark green on the outside (like I was) – the ink is actually a really pretty blue!
More pen reviews
- Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding
- Best pens for writing on washi tape
- Planner pens I don’t recommend (prone to smearing, bleed through etc.)
- Favorite pens for writing headings in my planner
- Favorite places to buy planner pens (online)
Susan says
Hi Rachael,
Just wondering if you purchased the Ooly online or at a store?
Great review by the way, they look really good.
Cheers 🙂
Susan
Rachael says
Hi Susan, I purchased them via Zulilly (they were on sale), but ooly also have an online store if you’re in the USA.
Kim says
Oh, I don’t need more pens.
(wildly Googles for ooly pens)
Sigh.
Rachael says
#plannerproblems #dailystruggle haha