Review - Handmade Vintage Traveler's Notebook Genuine Leather Cowhide diary spiral looes leaf journal

Today I am reviewing a Fauxdori I purchased from Alice's Sweet Castle on Aliexpress. I selected the 22x12cm Standard size in Red Brown for US $24.90.

I was really impressed with how fast the shipping was, I ordered on the 22nd and it arrived on the 31st. The parcel was well packaged in a padded envelope with extra padding inside. The deal I got included extras which aren't always included with a fauxdori. There were a lot of options go go through before finalizing the order.
1. select the size you want,
2. pick one of 7 colour choices, Order and then in notes indicate the following:
3. pick which notebooks you want, there are 4 options for passport size and 9 choices for standard size.
4. select which of 3 folder options
5. choose one of 12 pendant/charm.

The company also sent some extra elastic for repairs, a brass pen holder, and a leather bookmark. I selected 2 dot grid notebooks and a blank monthly notebook along with a pvc zipper pouch, and a clock charm.

The notebook is quite nice, the leather is stiff but will soften with use and some rolling. I did notice a very strong leather smell with a slight chemical tinge to it. I had to air the cover out for a few hours before  completely moving in.I really like this warm brown colour and the tab on the closing elastic is growing on me. The 'dori has the closure elastic on the spine which I prefer and come with 1 internal elastic so it's good that they sent it will all 3 inserts and the folder pre-inserted along with extra joining elastic. The charms at the bottom of the booklets are attached to the extra elastic loop. I found that the closure elastic was very tight and pulling in the edges of the notebook so I untied it and loosened it after I took these pictures.

The leather is sturdy enough to hold itself flat when empty but you can see how tight the elastic is when you take off the tension and allow it to curl, So far it seems to be the correct amount of tension for the notebook. I will need to find some leather conditioner to give this cover some moisture as it seems quite dry and is taking scratches and scrapes very easily. It will definitely show the journey I take it on through life and the dangers of my purse will be obvious. Over all I am quite pleased with this purchase. It is my first Midori style traveler's notebook and I think I made a good choice for my starter cover. My homemade inserts and kraft folder look pretty good inside it too.


 

Edited Aug 2, 2015 to add more pictures.