Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Search in posts
Search in pages

Erin Condren Colorful Dual-Tip Markers Review

Erin Condren Colorful Dual-Tip Marker Review
This post may contain affiliate links and we will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on our link. Read the Disclosure Policy.

Disclosure: The following product(s) may have been sent to Earn Spend Live in exchange for a review. All opinions are the author’s own.

If you love to color code your planner but you’ve felt personally victimized by Erin Condren’s Gemtone pens (which they finally discontinued), then you’ll love the new Erin Condren Colorful Dual-Tip Markers. They have two sides: One is a fine tip and can be used for normal scheduling and note-taking; the other is a “medium” tip and is more of a true marker. For $15, you get a set of six markers — including magenta, dark orange, teal, cornflower, purple, and black.

Because of the Gemtone pens, which I used for 0.2 seconds back in the day and quickly pawned off onto an unsuspecting co-worker (I really do love EC, I just hated those pens), I didn’t have the highest of hopes for the Erin Condren Colorful Dual-Tip Markers. But as soon as I started writing down my new color code in my new 2017 Erin Condren Hourly LifePlanner, I was hooked. The colors are bright, the fine tip writes just like a normal pen, and the medium marker tip adds extra emphasis for the important things in my planner.

The Quality

I’m not Earn Spend Live’s resident Pen Snob (although even Meleah was oohing and ahhing when these babies arrived), but I am a loyal EC LifePlanner user and a compulsive to-do list maker. And these markers get the job done.

My main issue with the Gemtone pens was that the color wasn’t consistent (to read the old review and/or see the pics of what I’m talking about, check it out here). I would write “editorial meeting” and it would look more like “e ito ial me t ng.” I would end up having to go over each individual letter multiple times, and it was more trouble than it was worth. The Erin Condren Colorful Dual-Tip Markers, however, show up clear as day. The colors are beautiful — my favorites to use are the teal, the purple, and the pink. (It doesn’t hurt that Earn Spend Live’s main colors are teal and purple as well!) I’d personally love to see the cornflower and dark orange colors be replaced with something like jade and navy, which were actually really pretty colors included in the Gemtone pack. (See? I did like something about them!)

How I Use My Erin Condren Colorful Dual-Tip Markers

Disclaimer: This is not my true schedule. If it were, there would be a lot less gym time and a lot more TV time. I wanted to show what a “normal” person’s schedule would look like (aka someone who actually goes to the gym and has brunch with the girls instead of staying home to snuggle with her cat or write a marker review), because mine isn’t exactly picture-friendly. I use a lot of whiteout and a few EC stickers here and there — but I wanted the focus to be on the color coding for this review. So let’s just call this an “exaggerated” version of my schedule — although the podcast recording and TV times are accurate!

I swear by the Erin Condren Hourly LifePlanner. I’ve tried Day Designer, Sugar Paper, and Nicole Miller planners, and I’ve yet to find something that works better for me than an hourly layout — and Erin Condren makes the best/prettiest one IMO. I have a lot of meetings throughout the week, so the hourly layout helps me to see my weekly schedule at a bird’s eye view — and color coding with Erin Condren’s Colorful Dual-Tip Markers pulls everything together for me. (Both really help you time block, if you’re into that sort of thing.)

The main color coding categories I created:

  • Work: includes business meetings, work events, deadlines, projects, etc.
  • Social: includes anything from date nights with my boyfriend to date nights with my TV. (Plus, day dates with doctors.)
  • Fitness: includes only the word “gym” in this sample, although if you actually work out you probably have things like “leg day” or “hike with Sally.”
  • Finances: includes credit card payments, rent payments, pay day, etc.
  • Family: if you have kiddos, this is where you would include them (I just use it for my cat).

I’ve also started color coding my to-do list on the left side of my Erin Condren Hourly LifePlanner, and it really brings everything together — plus, it’s easier for my eyes to pick out what’s the most important thing to get done at work vs. the most important thing to get done at home. I used to just use a black pen for all of my planning, and I’d have to write my personal to-dos at the bottom of my list to separate them from my work to-dos. If I didn’t end up filling the entire list, it looked pretty ugly. But now with the Erin Condren Colorful Dual-Tip Markers, it’s ~*~BeAuTiFuL~*~.

Erin Condren Dual-Tip Marker Review

The Verdict

The Erin Condren Colorful Dual-Tip Markers are definitely worth the purchase. Regardless of which planner you use — or whether you’re a newbie color coder or a pro — these markers are sure to brighten up your schedule and keep you more organized.

Follow Elise on Twitter: @elisewillrikard | Instagram: @elisewillrikard

Last modified on November 18th, 2019

You Might Also Like

Follow us on Instagram @earnspendlive

[instagram-feed]