I guess what I’m trying to say is that while Paperchase is a great place to buy stationery. Some of their products are better than others. In the past, I’ve written about the Paperchase study planner which was so strangely designed I couldn’t figure out how or who would use it.

The entire Mildliner range are dual tipped highlighters. The brush pens have a large brush nib and a fine point nib. This fine point nib is slightly finer than what you find on the regular Mildliners. The brush pens possibly have a better design because of the illustrations on the body of the pen showing which end is the brush nib and which end is the fine nib. The stationery retail sector is rife with competition from general retailers such as John Lewis and Flying Tiger to more specialists like WHSmith, Ryman, Smiggle, Card Factory and The Works. All 106 Paperchase stores will close Before I go any further I need to confess. Paperchase is a shop I talk about a lot. But in all honesty, I don’t like their own branded stationery. This isn’t to say I hate Paperchase. Some of their seasonal ranges are nice. But they also make a lot of cutesy stationery with unicorns and rainbows and way more fluff than what I think is necessary. I really like the Mildliner pens. They have become an essential part of my planning system. Maybe one day I will share how I use colour coding in my bullet journal. Its hard to say for certain if I will get more use out of the brush pens compared to the regular Mildliners.I also loved the pastel binder clips. I know it might come across as being a random item to include in an advent calendar box but they are nice. This is also one thing I use regularly at university for bookbinding. I’ve been meaning to buy more so I’m very happy that I don’t have to now. Customers will believe they can get Paperchase products for a lower price, especially with the Tesco Clubcard.” I think what I like about Paperchase is the branded items they sell in-store. I used to buy my Moleskine notebooks from Paperchase. I’ve stopped doing that now more because of Moleskine rather than Paperchase. I also recently came across the Mildliner highlighters in a local Paperchase store. Something I didn’t think was available in the UK. I should warn everyone right now that this won’t be an unbiased review of the Zebra Mildliner Brush Pen. I already know that I love the Mildliner range. These pens have a nice design with a white body and some minimal markings on the side of the pen.

For those who want a compact diary but still the space to go into detail, this simple brown faux-leather A6 diary is perfect. Its day-to-view layout has lines for an hourly breakdown of your schedule, from 9am to 6pm; great for students with a complicated timetable or multiple extra-curricular commitments. I loved the metallic silver washi tape. A few years ago I bought a very similar copper washi tape from Typo. I’ve only just recently came across it again but I used that washi tape constantly while I was in college. Sometimes you have to be careful with Paperchase because they sell paper tape rather than washi tape (yes there is a difference) but this silver tape is really nice. What was once a unique proposition – design led stationery – became a crowded market segment with a plethora of new entrants, often at a lower price point,” she argues.

This creates a great opportunity for Tesco to boost spend, drive footfall and offer something distinct to its customers. As much as its nice to try something different. I don’t think I will use them as much compared to regular Mildliners. But the problem is more that I legitimately use the regular Mildliners all the time.

Retail Gazette looks at what exactly went wrong at Paperchase, and what led a once-thriving retailer to disappear from the high street Stiff competition Although Paperchase has found a home with the UK’s largest retailer, the acquisition is expected to lead to mass store closures as the supermarket has only bought the IP and brand.You certainly pay for personalisation when it comes to diaries, but if you’re looking for style and don’t mind splashing out then the Pirongs diary is for you. For all-round organisation and usefulness, however, Weyers and McMillian’s Student Planner is a fantastic value for money. One of the main reasons I originally bought the Mildliners was because of the colour choices. The Mildliners are technically a range of highlighters. But for the most part they don’t come in traditional highlighter colours. Zebra have released a set of regular Mildliners in fluro colours. But for the most part the Mildliners all have more muted or pastel shades. I’ve found the Mildliner ink works well on pretty much any kind of paper. The ink will feather slightly on regular printer paper. But it works well in Leuchtturm1917 notebooks and the MD Paper notebooks. The actual ink seems to come out better if you use a smooth paper. So it looks slightly better on MD paper compared to Leuchtturm. But this is a tiny detail. Mildliner Brush Pen Price