Zebra Mildliner Highlighters are darlings of the journaling world…and it seems every gorgeous journal spread has Mildliners behind it. But are they an essential piece of your pen collection, or an extra you don’t really need. This Zebra Mildliner review lays out the pros and cons of these highlighter pens.
Are you itching for a way to brighten up your journal or planner with some new ink? The Zebra Mildliners are a super fun, affordable, and easy-to-find set that could do just that!
I purchased my set of 15 mildliner pastel highlighters about two months ago and have put them through some rigorous trials — so here is the ultimate Zebra Mildliner Review.
What are Zebra Mildliner Pastel Highlighters?
The Zebra Mildliner markers are marketed as a “creative marking tool”.
They are water-resistant and are meant to be highlighter pens and markers all-in-one.
The Mildliners are designed with a dual-tip— a broad chisel tip for highlighting and a bullet tip for precision work.
Zebra also recently announced the launch of their dual-tipped Midliner brush pens, that replace the chisel tip with a soft brush tip, great for hand lettering! This means you’ll be able to choose from their normal Mildliner highlighters or the brush pen mildliners going forward.
One thing that’s notable about Zebra mildliner highlighters as compared to normal highlighters: they were designed to have less abrasive highlighting colors.
They are more pastel than blindingly fluorescent, and are quite unlike the highlighters we grew up with!
What Goes into a Perfect Journaling Marker?
There is nothing more disheartening than when you create a gorgeous journaling spread, only to discover that your markers have bled to the other side of the page.
I have admittedly thrown journals out after buying them because I absolutely can not stand sloppy-looking pages. I am not proud of my BuJo OCD, especially because journaling supplies are not always cheap.
Let me save you the headache and heartbreak of ruined journaling supplies.
Here is an in-depth look at the Zebra Mildliner markers to help you decide if they are the right markers for you!
The top three things I look for when buying a new set of journal pens or art markers are:
Do they Bleed?
I just do not have space in my kit for markers that are going to bleed.
There is a difference between bleeding and being visible from the other page. I don’t love when markers are visible from the next page, but I can deal with it… if I have to.
Bleeding on the other hand is a hard no for me.
Do they Blend?
I know journaling markers and high-end art markers are marketed toward totally different users, but I do expect my markers to not look streaky when I have to fill something in.
I like to look at how aggressive the overlap color differentiation looks. I prefer my markers to have a natural-looking overlap.
Do They Have a Good Color Selection?
Do the colors look good side by side, or do they clash?
I want to be able to take one set of markers with me when I travel and not feel like I am wasting space in my bag on markers that are hard to pair side by side.
How Do the Zebra Mildliners Hold Up to These Tests?
I have tested out all 15 of my Zebra Mildliner markers in both my Moleskin and Leuchtturn 1917 journals.
For sake of transparency— my moleskin journal is my daily journal. It is so well-loved because it constantly stands the test of time. My Leuchtturn 1917 is my scrap journal. They on the surface look very similar, but the Leuchtturn pages are much thinner and most markers bleed through.
I keep the Leuchtturn nearby for doodle practice and to test out markers before I use them in my primary journal.
So here is how the markers performed in both journals!
Do They Bleed?
The Zebra Mildliners passed the paper test in my Moleskin journal – they didn’t bleed at all! In fact, if you flip to the next page, you can’t even tell that I had used markers.
This is a giant win for these markers.
The Mildliners in my Leuchtturn journal did not bleed— however, you can see the colors through the pages.
The Lechtturn journal pages are very thin, and I am not particularly fond of that. However, I am incredibly impressed that despite the thin pages, there was no bleeding. Other markers have bled so badly in the pages of my Leuchtturn journal that the whole next page was unusable.
I would say that the Zebra Mildliners passed this test with flying colors!
Do They Blend?
Unfortunately, the Zebra Mildliners did not pass this test.
These markers can easily look streaky on the page if there is any overlap of the color. This is unfortunate, but not surprising.
Another reason I find this annoying in these markers, in particular, is because the tip of the thicker end of them is still really skinny.
This means that to highlight a whole line in my Moleskin journal, it takes two swipes. This means it is quite streaky, unfortunately.
Perhaps one day I will find a journaling marker that does not do this, but until then the Zebra Mildliners still perform pretty well, and remain a staple in my kit.
Do They Have a Good Color Selection?
Yes— they absolutely do! This is perhaps the number one thing I love about the Zebra Mildliners.
These markers are so easily mixed and matched and the colors always look so fantastic next to each other.
Impressively, even colors you would not generally expect to look great together do look wonderful together in this set of markers.
People who love lots of color wouldn’t generally reach for a grey highlighter, for example, but the mildliner grey highlighter pens are kinda gorgeous!
The only two colors that feel slightly off in the collection are the yellow and orange colors.
Both colors have more of a fluorescent tone to them like traditional highlighter colors. The colors are not bad, but I do find myself reaching for them the least because I prefer the unique mild color of the pastel colors more.
My only critique of the color selection would be to make the orange and yellow less fluorescent.
Worth noting, I have the “normal” Zebra Mildliners, but they also have special packs of colors, such as the Zebra Mildliner Neutral Earth Tones. You can see the range of selection on Amazon’s Mildliner Home Page.
Other Things to Note About The Zebra Mildliner Markers
Another highlight of the Zebra Mildliner creative markers is that they are dual-tipped.
There is a thicker highlighter end and a fine bullet tip end. Truthfully, I have not found myself using the fine tip much at all though.
I do appreciate that the dual tip is included because it makes the mildliners more versatile, and that’s not to say I’ll never use the fine point tip, such as doodles or other artwork.
Another thing to note about these markers is that they do not smear your pen when you highlight.
Of course, you have to be careful to let wet ink dry first, but overall, smearing has not been an issue.
Do They Have Good Packaging?
I absolutely love the packaging of the Zebra Mildliners! I have kept them all in their original packaging because it is sturdy, compact, and closes tightly.
Another very clever packaging design is that the front flap flips back and stands the markers up for quick access.
The packaging was as thoughtfully designed as the markers themselves, and I am a sucker for good packaging.
Where Can I Find Mild Liners?
I bought my mildliners at Target.
They only had the 15-pack assortment available, but there are several different packs available for purchase on Amazon.
These markers are available to purchase at several different stores such as Michaels, Target, Barns & Noble, Walmart, and Staples.
They are not hard to find, which is a huge win!
15 Pack vs 25 Pack of Mildliners
I have the 15-pack, which I chose because space is at a premium for me. However, if I were to go back and buy again, I’d probably buy the 25-pack. Here are the color differences between the two sizes.
The 15-pack of Mildliner Highlighters Contains the following 15 colors of highlighter pens:
- Mild Brown
- Mild Vermillion
- Mild Gold
- Mild Magenta
- Mild Smoke Blue
- Mild Red
- Mild Violet
- Mild Gray
- Mild Dark Blue
- Mild Green
- Mild Blue
- Mild Blue Green
- Mild Yellow
- Mild Orange
- Mild Pink
The Mildliner Highlighter 25-packs contain all the same Mildliner palettes as the 15-pack, plus the following additional colors:
- Mild cyan
- Mild lemon yellow
- Mild coral pink
- Mild apricot
- Mild dark gray
- Mild lavender
- Mild fuchsia
- Mild marigold
- Mild summer green
- Mild citrus green
Would I Buy These Markers Again?
I would buy these markers again in a heartbeat!
My only regret is that I only picked up the pack of 15. If I could go back I would absolutely have picked up the full set of 25 instead.
I am living on the road full time and traveling around the country and they are the perfect marker to bring along with me.
Space is tight, so I have to be picky about which supplies I choose to bring along with me.
The Zebra Mildliners have earned their spot in my suitcase time and time again.
Between the thoughtful packaging, the versatility of the dual tip, the careful color selection, and the fact that they do not bleed— the Zebra Mildliners are a staple in my bullet journaling kit and I would (and do) recommend them to everyone!
Frequently Asked Questions About Zebra Mildliner Highlighter Pens
IMO, Zebra Mildliners are worth the price. While they are sold as highlighters, they work as markers for doodles and art in your journal or planner. Mildliners also come in a huge range of beautiful colors, and the mild color palette looks beautiful in most journals, or even for taking notes. They don’t bleed through the pages we tested them on, and have great reusable packaging, making them easy to through in your purse or backpack to work with them on on the go. 
Mildliners are popular because of the wide range of beautiful color choices, plus the fact that they’re easy to hold and use, and look great on paper. While they are more expensive than some more traditional (fluorescent) highlighters, they are quite affordable as an art marker for doodling and highlighting in a journal or planner.
Mildliner Highlighters come in a total of 25 different colors, which Zebra further breaks down into 5 different color palettes, consisting of 5 colors each: Mild and Fluorescent; Cool and Refined; Warm and Deep; Friendly (Mild Lemon Yellow, Mild Apricot, Mild Coral Pink, Mild Cyan, Mild Dark Gray); and Refresh (Mild Fuchsia, Mild Marigold, Mild Citrus Green, Mild Spring Green, Mild Lavender). The colors are available to purchase in sets of 5, 8, 10, 15 or all 25. 
No, Mildliners generally do not bleed through pages. We tested Mildliners on our Moleskin and Lechtturn journal pages. They performed excellently on the Moleskin, and while they didn’t bleed through the Lechtturn pages, you could see them on the other side (ghosting). Users have reported they do not bleed through bible pages or Archer & Olive journals. However, if you are using very thin and cheap paper, they may bleed slightly. 
Yes, Zebra mildliners use water based and non toxic ink.
Yes, Mildliners are made by Zebra, a high end pen and marker manufacturing company from Japan. Zebra also makes Sarasa gel pens, which are also very popular for journaling and planning.
Lindsay loves documenting her travels and adventures through photography, videography and bullet journaling.
She is an avid traveler and has been to 13 different countries- with many more to come! You can follow her adventures on her tiktok (@lindsayamanphotography), youtube (coming soon), instagram (@lindsayamanphotography ), and her website.
