SHEEN KIM

The best stationery I've tried

I'm a huge enjoyer of pens, pencil, and paper. I also have a soft spot for cute stationery. This is a list of some of the best pens I've tried in my years, largely for writing in journals, annotating books, making daily notes, and doodling. In no particular order. The top 6 pens are currently a part of my daily rotation.

I get a lot of my pen from JetPens, so they're linked for convenience, but I don't make any money off these links. I have a love of the game.

Pens

  1. Uni-ball One P Gel Pen
    Great ink with little-to-no skipping. Really sleek and nice weight. Very cute. Note: it's very small, and some of my friends who have larger hands have found it uncomfortable to write with for a long time. I have much smaller hands, so I find it great.
  2. Lamy Nexx Fountain Pen, Left-Handed
    I didn't realize how much a left-handed nib would change my life. Comfortable grip. Lamy has great budget refillable fountain pens in general. I've really been loving how this one writes.
  3. Sakura Pigma Micron, Plastic Nib
    I'm normally not a fan of the Sakura Microns - I find that even with their archival ink, they run out far too fast and the nibs deform too fast - but the plastic nib has been a treat. Can take a beating and more.
  4. Pentel Finito
    A liquid marker pen/gel pen. Super seamless ink; very durable nib. Definitely a great step above the other felt-tip-type pens I've used in the past.
  5. Yasutomo Liquid Stylist
    Very similar to the Pentel Finito above, but with a smaller and slightly softer nib.
  6. Kaweco Classic Sport Fountain Pen
    A great travel fountain pen. Ink is great, nib is a bit large. Has a fun design where you can post it to transform it into a full-sized pen, but I find the clip gets in my way when I write at times. Still fun to use.
  7. Pilot Petit1 Mini Fountain Pen
    At some point, I was only writing with this pen for months. I don't think there's any other mini plastic budget fountain pen I'd recommend. Leagues better than the Platinum Preppy.
  8. Morning Glory Pro Mach Rollerball Pen, .03mm
    If you're going to buy one rollerball pen in your life it should be this one. These have never let me down. The ink is smooth, the nib is sturdy, and they'll last for years and years. I think I have five floating around my house alone. The only reason I can see you might not like this pen is (1) the very small incidence that ink may leak, and (2) not great for highlighting.
  9. Zebra Sarasa Clip Gel Pen, .05mm
    Another reliable pen. If you're into gels this is a classic. I've found I like the Morning Glory and Uni-ball One P better, but the Zebra's still great.

Pencils

  1. Pentel Amain Mech Pencil, 1.3mm
    A super cute and lightweight mech pencil. I write pretty hard, so I appreciate the extra size.
  2. Pilot Dr. Grip Play Border Shaker Mech Pencil, .5mm
    No different than the other Dr. Grip .5s, which are all great. But this one is very cute.