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Belle de Jour Power Planner 2018 Review


My Belle De Jour Power Planner 2018 is here.

I’ve always wanted to own a BDJ Planner. Since college days I’ve been obsessing with the planner whenever I go to bookstores.  It was the planner for every power woman. 

The layout is super nice plus it comes with a lifestyle card that gives you discounts and promos to partner stores of Belle De Jour.


But in 2015, I got introduced to the bullet journal system and fell in love with it. Unlike a regular planner, the bullet journal systems works with any notebook whether it is new, used or abused. It doesn’t follow pre-built layout or template.

You have to do-it-yourself everything giving you all the freedom in the world as to how you would want to use it. 

I’ve been doing the bullet journal system for two years straight and I honestly love it. It increased my productivity to a whole new level. You may find all of my past layouts in this link.

Last Sunday, my cousin Shannen surprised me with a new BDJ Power Planner 2018 as a birthday gift. I never expected to receive a gift from her, not to mention a brand new Belle de Jour Planner for 2018, which we all know costs more than Php 500. (Shannen if you are reading this post, thank you!)

Today I will be sharing what’s inside the 2018 BDJ or Belle De Jour Planner.


What’s inside the new Belle de Jour Planner for 2018?

Cover

The 2018 BDJ Power Planner I have comes in a beautiful velvet leather cover with words I am a Beauty of One engraved in the front. If you buy online at ilovebdj.com you can actually customize the cover with your name also engraved which is always a nice option.

2018 Belle de Jour Power Planner Cover Page

2018 Belle de Jour Power Planner Back Page



Color Theme

I consider myself minimalist when it comes to my bullet journal set up. I don’t design the pages with washi tapes, water color etc. I am good with the neutral look and feel. 

The 2018 BDJ Power Planner on the other hand comes with a colorful theme inside. Although I am used to having a monochromatic planner, a touch of color won’t hurt. I love that Belle de Jour made the colors lighter compared to previous releases.  



Featured Pages

There are around five featured pages at the beginning of the Belle de Jour 2018 Planner to help you plan for next year. These pages are my favorite!

Each planner contains the following worksheets:

  • 2018 Goals and Checklist - part of the planner to set your goals for the New Year.
  • My Mood Meter - color the dream catcher to have a view at a glance of your mood. 
  • Dream Board - put a collection of photos or magazine clippings of your vision for the next dreams.
  • 2018 Checklist - pre-built list of challenges to try out for the coming year.
  • Live Your Story - you can create your own story of how you will be a better version of yourself this 2018.
  • Ikigai - a worksheet to discover your reason for getting up every morning.
  • The Beauty of One - list down what makes your life fulfilled and complete.
  • Moments to Remember - photos of your memorable moments each month.
  • Menstrual Tracker - keep track of your menstrual pattern.
  • Let Your Feathers Soar - write down your mantra for the New Year.
2018 Checklist

2018 Dream Board

2018 Goals and Mood Tracker

2018 Moments to Remember




The above are just some of the best features of the 2018 BDJ Planner. You can watch this video reveal for page-by-page walkthrough of the planner.

At the back there are bill and budget trackers for the whole 2018. I love this idea because I can really keep up with how I budget my money on the monthly basis.



Monthly Page Layout

The month at a glance pages comes in one whole spread. One side for the calendar and the other side for monthly planning. I must say the boxes for the calendar is pretty small. I wish it would have been bigger so I can really plan down everything in a monthly basis. 

I do love the monthly planning side because there are prompts available for you to fill up. Each month you are given a specific task to do or to master which gives you a positive vision.






Weekly Page Layout

The weekly pages are something I’m both scared and excited to use. The vertical layout comes with a time ladder that starts at 8am and ends in 8pm. 

In my current bullet journal set up I don’t really use a vertical layout and not even a time ladder for my to-do’s so this is something I have to adjust with. I hope the hourly layout will help me manage my time better in 2018. 

Each week has a specific affirmation too.

Accessories

Each 2018 Belle de Jour Planner comes with fun and functional accessories. Aside from the two ribbon bookmarks available, BDJ 2018 added a magnetic bookmark to help you navigate with the pages even better. 

There is also a back flap where your 2018 Perks of Bella Booklet is readily available along with your BDJ LifestyleCard. I find the back flap handy to store receipts and important notes or documents. 








Before I move on with the other accessories I’d like to quickly talk about the 2018 Perks of Bella Booklet and the BDJ Lifestyle Card. This is my first Belle de Jour planner so I have zero idea how these two complimentary gifts work. 

According to my research the BDJ Lifestyle Card works like other rewards card although it isn’t a point-system one. With the card at hand you will get over Php 40,000 worth of discount coupons from partner brands of Belle de Jour.

The Perks of Bella Booklet on the other hand contains all the discount vouchers and gift certificates you must present to the partner brand. To put simply, you will be needing both the lifestyle card and the Perks of Bella Booklet every time you want to use your vouchers. 


Also take note that you have to activate your card first. Actually, this is the part where I am currently having trouble. I need to contact BDJ to help me activate my 2018 BDJ Lifestyle Card, haha. 

Overall, I can’t wait to use my perks because most of the partner brands are personally my go-to brands like Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (buy 1, take 1, free upgrades, etc.), Parisian (four 20% discount vouchers on regularly priced bags and shoes) and

Also included in the back flap is a set of pretty stickers created to give better design on your monthly calendar.

2018 Belle de Jour Planner Review

To end this post I will be giving my overall review with the BDJ Planner 2018. I do feel like this year’s edition is the best so far. I love the feel of the leather cover, very classic and elegant. The planner is light enough to bring every day.


All the worksheets are A-MAZ-ING. They are all good prompts to review 2017 and get ready for 2018. Aside from the boxes in the calendar section being too small for my liking, I am absolutely in love in the 2018 Belle de Jour Power Planner.  

I did  a flip-through video on what's inside the 2018 BDJ Planner, if you want to have a better grasp of what the new planner offers watch this:





2 comments

  1. Great review! I am planning to have one thanks for this post sis!

    Ina
    http://www.nanaykikay.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. well i am glad that i dont have to worry about homework as i left it for ukbestessay. and now i can freely check out this absolutely amazing planner. keep posting m ore

    ReplyDelete