Thank you for your review, I love the chromaflow, just waiting for the price to come down in the UK. £119 for the 72 set and they are make in GB. I did have the same issues with breakages so I put the lead back in the pencil and left the pencils on the windowsill in the afternoon sun and the pencils is no longer broken.

Looked at Derwent uk today and chromaflow is now available openstock in the UK and it has this to say about lightfastness : Are Derwent Chromaflow Pencils Lightfast? Derwent uses the Blue Wool test (ISO 105) to evaluate lightfastness. Lightfastness refers to the chemical stability of a pigment under long exposure to light. Derwent Chromaflow are 60% lightfast across 72 colours, LF - Lightfastness rating (6 - GOOD, 7 - VERY GOOD, 8 - EXCELLENT)

As of April 15th 2024 they are open stock on Cult Pens and 150 available in the UK thank you for this looks like you had loads of fun, Thank you for sharing xxxxxxx

Your nails are always so beautiful! And your content on colored pencils is to die for! I'm a long time watcher, first time commenter and must say, you answer all the questions I have and show all the things I want to see when thinking about what colored pencils to try! I really really appreciate your videos and just wanted to say Thank you! Thank you so much for making all of these! :D They're all wonderful!

Love your channel! Just purchased your swatch book. I have been looking for one for a while and yours was perfect.

Great video, Jennifer. Although I do like the Chromaflow, I feel they are overpriced at this point in time. Nice to know how the two brands break down in comparison. Love your content and just became a paying member today 💜🌟🌈

I'm so happy to have found your channel. It's so informative! Thankyou so much for this vid. 💓

Great video! I wasn’t surprised by the results. I also just wanted to say your thumbnails for your videos always crack me up! 🤣

Great video as always ! Thanks so much !

For me Prisma color pencils are best value. Been using them for years. No matter what other color pencils I have, always go back to Prisma.

I like your channel just because you're fun and present the info well. I like your in depth reviews, thanks so much

Thank you for doing this “battle”! It is so helpful in trying to decide whether or not to buy the Derwents.

Great job on the video!! Some great information and real time testing. I have been wondering and thinking about the Derwent Chromoflow and I think I stay with the what I have . I still love the Derwent lightfast pencils and a very good pencil company over all.

I feel like your box may have been manhandled during shipping, because mine are sturdy and even though they were clearly bumped hard in transit (the tin was dented badly) I only had 2 of 36 break during sharpening. I also got a lid that snapped shut. I felt that they weren’t as waxy and soft as the Prismacolors, and that they hold their points better. They do tolerate fewer layers, but they work super well with solvent which I use a lot when I color. They are supposed to be Derwent’s budget alternative to the Coloursoft but the exorbitant prices that people are charging because they’re new is ridiculous. Also Derwent manufactures their products in Britain so the cost of making the product is higher than Prismacolor which has a factory in Mexico. Overall, they’re a nice pencil but the price is a little steep right now.

Nice job for making this video 🎉

I sharpened mine rotating the pencil instead of the sharpener, fun to see other way of doing things hehe.Thanks for the in-depth review! Been considering to buy one of them :)

amazing review!❤

very informative! Thank you.

Another fantastic video, thank you! I have noticed that the wood used on the couple of Derwent that I own is very flakey, too …

Blick carries the larger sets now. I ordered mine on the 8th, they had them for $86+ and I used a discount, and they are currently just under $96 today. They were just delivered and I did a quick swatch and have to say I love the colors. I have yet to sharpen them and i'm hoping I dont experience any issues like you did. Oh! I also picked up the box by the edge of the lid and it didn't come off, yay!

I do love my prisma colour pencils and enjoy using them but After your review of them I purchased the castle art soft touch pencils and they are my go to pencil now. I really really love them

Awesome video as always! Thank you and Steve (Sweet Rose too 🐾♥️)for all that you do!...As much as I love Derwent...I think I have every complete set now except the 72 Chromaflow...I have to agree with your results! I've been using Prismacolor Pencils since the Dark Ages..I've been a professional Artist since the late 70s upon graduating from Art Schoo/College...which means not all that much since most of what I truly have learned was from myself watching and learning from others...especially in my recent years by watching great folks like you Jen! They still don't teach a out colored pencils as much as they should in Art classes except that they are like another medium such as pastels...and you can forget about coloring...they don't teach that because it's a hobby in most Art instructors eyes....Anyway I'm going off on a tangent here...my point is asmuch as I love my Derwents and as much as I have had numerous issues with my breaking Prismas I honestly feel Derwent has many of the same breakage issues!!! I use to think the Coloursoft pencils were bad at breaking until I started using the Chromaflow set!!! I have gone thru so many pencils by sharpening until there was hardly any pencil left! And if that wasn't bad enough when I emailed Derwent they didn't even get back to me! Which really makes me want to start my own KZfaq channel more than ever now ...because if it helps others in the Art and Coloring community I'm all for that!...so my bottom line is this...Prismacolor has had .any issues in the past and still to this day...But Derwent really needs to get their act together on these pencils!!! They keep treating them like they are some mysterious product...first coming out over a year ago with the little 24 set with no other info or plans announced and now with the almost unavailable 72 set!?! What's up with that? For such an illusive pencil they sure break a lot!!! Thank you again Jennifer! You guys ROCK! God Bless.and happy belated Mother's Day....Rus from Pennsylvania ♥️🖌🐾🎨🤓

Also, I was fortunate to get my hands on a very good condition 60 set of vintage Berol Prismacolors. If you love Prismacolor a lot, I HIGHLY recommend Berols if you haven't tried them. They are definitely superior to the Premiers by a decent margin. You can instantly tell just by holding them and looking at them that they are sturdier pencils. They are like the Premiers, but better in about every way as far as performance. I don't think the Premiers are bad, and I don't think the Berols are 10000% better, but I do feel they are noticeably better.

Thanks for the interesting review! I got the Chromaflows last week and I love their pigmentation and laydown BUT: I have much higher breakage issues than with the Prismas! I would never have expected that. So Prisma is still unbeaten for me (and of course they have many more colours!)

Love your head to head videos, Jennifer!!! This one was particularly interesting to me as I have been wondering about those chromoflow pencils. It does seem like Derwent needs to create a much larger number of colors in order to compete with Prismacolor. Plus, the breakage is disappointing as that is an issue that I have repeatedly encountered with Prismas. I was hoping for an inexpensive line to compete with Prisma, but Chromoflow pencils just don't manage it - at least not yet! Thank you so much for doing this one!

What an interesting, structured comparison. I bought the 24 set in July of last year when only 24 were available. It was a whim to try something different. I picked a complicated picture with many elements and went to work. I was amazed at what a wide range of color I was able to attain. I loved how the color went down. Then I did my own side by side with prisma. I picked a mandala and did one side with each brand. While I liked how both pencils felt, I thought the Chromas were a little softer. They did not keep definition when needed like in the veining on a leaf. I have simplified my pencils and only have 3 sets out to use, Prisma, Pablo and Chromaflow. Prisma is my go to most often. I had no sharpening or breakage problems with Chromaflow (yet). Do I need all 72 Chromaflow? No, but I am tempted.

I couldn't find lightfast ratings on Prismacolor's website, but I found it on the Blick website's listing. On their prismacolor premier page, scroll down to find the 'resources' tab, and there is a downloadable PDF there to see the lightfast ratings.

Derwent 72 count Chromaflows are down 36% to $95.25 today!

Thanks for the review, I have these and really like them - strangely enough my prismacolour are always breaking to the extent I have almost given up on them!

I do enjoy watching your testing videos! I believe that you actually root for both pencils during the testing! I rather miss the company of your pup after she left because of the sharpener noise! I only have a couple of budget pencils and I usually only purchase pencils that are offered open stock! I believe that you will be hard pressed to find a set of pencils that are going to beat or better the Prismacolor pencils. Now everyone has a preference on wax or oil but all pencils do have both it just depends upon the recipes of your favorite brand! Wonderful video and a good review! See ya next time!

Thank you so much for this video.

Thank you for doing this video.

Love your channel 💕

Thank you 🎉 Great video.😊

Will you do a video on all the pencil sharpeners you have and why you like them?

I have used the Chromaflow pencils on wood and on paper. I enjoy using them very much.

I bought these months ago and found the orange colour kept breaking same happened with a friend of mine who said her orange kept breaking too! I live in Australia and found a place that sells them open stock but I think the online shop is in the UK

Great review, Jennifer :) Based on your assessment, I would probably not buy a full set of Chromaflow; although I'd probably buy those open-stock pencils that are colors not in Prismacolor, FC Polycolor, or Luminance. Could you tell us which colors are unique? Also I have another question. Can clutch pencils / lead holders be used to hold the broken tips of colored pencils? My Prismacolor and Brutfuner square pencils break very frequently, so I got the idea to not waste the broken bits by using a clutch pencil to grip them. Potential problem and solution: Would leaving a piece of graphite lead inside the clutch pencil prevent the waxy colored pencil from slipping up inside the clutch pencil? Would a Faber-Castell TK9400 work? I've read that the 4B-6B range comes in a 3.15mm size, which might fit. What do you think?

Jennifer can you tell me the best Prismacolor Premier 150 set to buy, the regular soft core 150 set or I see they now have 150 set that are thick core? Thank you

Great video❤️

Have you tried the new 72 count Arrtx pencils.....and could you do a head to head arrtx vs prismacolor....they're said to be very very similar....love your head to head battles they are sooo informative. Thank you for all you do

they are both 'crummy' 🤣🤣🤣 i burst out laughing! great video. i have the prismacolor full set but i am not a color blender, color savy artist. i'm a crafter who is trying out a new way to add color to my cards. not sure why i picked the prismacolor. perhaps it was the best deal on amazon? or i liked the box better? yes its true, i sometimes make my choices by the packaging! lol i'm also not sure how, but you came up on my youtube feed and i am so grateful you did. i have learned so much about the pencils, the way to use them, and even some color combinations for pleasing blends. i did subscribe after the first couple videos. i love the way you present your channel. very professional and fair with the comparisons, but still user friendly for a newby like myself. i'm not able to join your bliss groups but i can like and share and leave comments. hopefully not all of them will be this wordy!! lol but i know that helps the algorithm so i feel i'm doing what i can to support you. thank you for deciding to be a content provider! its a very valuable resource!

I agree. I like my Derwent 24. I have small sets of most of what Derwent has to offer with a couple of full sets. They offer so much. I have the Prismacolor Premier, Verithin, Nupastel, Colerase and Watercolor to satisfy my full set syndrome.

Are Derwent "drawing pencils" basically colored pencils? I love the colors but have the whole prismacolor set. Don't have a need for the same thing. Always great content Jennifer. I live your videos.

Great video! The Chromaflow are definitely aimed for colorists, so not being lightfast is not surprising. Blick JUST came out with the 72 set this week for a lesser price than Amazon, too! I wonder if the layering/blending with the Chromaflow is the paper? maybe the chromaflow is created to work on coloring book paper instead of nice toothy paper?

Hi Jennifer, great video I agree with your testing. I don’t like the Derwent Chromaflow, the pencil break to much so thankful I only got a small set to try first.

I think I would’ve given the win to the chromaflow for the crumbs and equal for the transfer … and I am wondering whether some of the results might be slightly affected by your extreme familiarity with the Prismas … but who knows 🤷‍♀️, I could definitely be wrong! It looks, to me, like the chromaflows might be a decent substitute for prismas for those of us where the prismas are difficult to get or are quite expensive (providing the chromaflows are easier to get and not so expensive) …

Awesome video

I would like a battle of the best polychromes doupes. So the C.A.G. To Bruitfunner squares and maybe a third

Thank you and missed baby girl and Steve!

Thanks for a brilliant review. I really wanted the Derwent be a good alternative but alas another one bites the dust😣😂 Thanks for saving me money 👍

I have recently bought the Chromaflow. I love to mix all my pencil brands for different effects, whether I blend or layer. So I think they're a good addition to my stash :)

Very interesting. I'd agree they seem close. I've been a fan of Black Widow for adult coloring since your review of them, but chromaflow was on my radar. I think the sharpening issue is a problem I can't get past. To me they looked like pine and sure enough a review from Artgearguide confirmed that when they called Derwent and were told that it is a light grade of pine wood. My husband does woodworking when he has free time so I learned early on pine wood is not ideal for anything except projects you want to be light weight. As a wood it isn't durable and it splinters easier which explains the sharpening problems. It's the wood not your sharpener. I can't imagine why they'd use a soft pine in the first place and they're a bit pricey for the materials. I don't have prismacolour but it looks like it would be the better investment at this time. Thankyou for reviewing them. It was fun watching, and very enlightening.

Your dog is adorable but I just kept thinking that she looked lime she had a karen haircut 😅😅😅

Have these and like them (not as much as Castle Art soft touch) they are available open stock in the uk now.

This is an absolutely superb review, thank you so much! As a hobbyist rather than artist, I think the Chromaflow will be great for me, especially as I'm in the UK and we can now get open stock. Quick qn for anyone who can answer, who is Jennifer for the blending thirds technique please? 🙂

I recently started my art journey and I am binge watching your videos. Thank you so very much for your time and effort, I am learning a lot from your channel. But I have to say that what I love the most is your beautiful Rose. I have two little white poodles and I love them, but they are not so well behaved as the little 🌹Rose, probably because of me. I want to thank you again. Kisses from Italy, Rita

I have the same set of Chromaflow colored pencil set. I had a lot of issues with broken leads. One of the pencils I think the lead is broken all the way down the pencil shaft. Do you have a recommendation on how to mend the leads? I think the Derwent Chromaflow colored pencils are overpriced for what you get.

This video saved me from going out and buying more pencils that would not produce significantly different results from what I currently have. Thank you.

I've tried both and the chromaflows are not a dupe. Personally I prefer them much more to the prismacolor.

I really like the Chromaflow pencils. I feel the wood is just a little too thin and a little too dry. I have had lots of breakage. I think if they were thicker like the coloursoft it wouldn't be a problem.

can you do prisma color water pencils vs polychromos Please

I was undecided i think I'd go for prismacolor now thankyou

What about polychromes vs...?

Thank you.

I agree with you, you are very fair minded, but like you, I was surprised at the vibrancy of the Chromaflow and also that it didn’t bleed at all when wet!

I bought the 24 set last year. I do not like them enough to buy a larger set. I prefer Coloursoft, Procolours, and Lightfast pencils.

I just brought my 150 prismacolor set, it's excellent.

ty

I found the chromaflows to be so fragile that I went out and bought an electric sharpener to try and solve it. It helps some, but having the pencil shift from side to side at all in the sharpener guarantees a break. A manual sharpener has to be very very sharp (new blade) to have much sucess at all- though there is variation from pencil to pencil. The wood quality it terrible. I also found the chromaflow to be almost uncomfortably small- the little difference is noticeable. The rounded end, on the other hand, is a big advantage over Prismacolor's sharp edge. I have arthritis and am a bit thin skinned. Short Prismacolors hurt. Blunting the end corner by taking one quick swipe with a sharpener helps.

I agree and continue to love my prismacolor.

I have a 24 set of ChromaFlow. I think they're nice, but expensive. I already have a 72 Derwent Coloursoft set. I think Derwent would have been better off adding more vivid colors; instead of adding a whole new more expensive, smaller core line. I still love Prismacolors. I've bought several sets over the years and I'm fortunate that I've never received a bad box with broken pencils or damaged cores.

It's just a newly released product so it isn't mass produced in the quantities that prismacolor are so the price is different but still reasonable. They will always add open stock and more colours in the future. They are just seeing if they are liked just now. They were never competing against prismacolor so this is a little unfair. I have used Derwent products from being 7 years old and i'm 52. I have almost everything they've ever made and my stuff has always been top quality, never had a single issue tbh. I like both products, but chromaflow was advertised that it's vibrancy on black paper was it's main quality. I only have a set of 6 from a Scrawlrbox subscription and I haven't had time to use them. I never compare my products though as they are all different and have pros and cons. I will buy them all in the future but I still have to buy the extra set of colours for their last lot of coloured pencils first. Living expenses are getting so high now, there's barely anything left for art supplies 😭😭

I love your dog!

Just checked….right now Amazon has the 72 set for $94.26. Blick art has the 72 set for $86.40

chromaflows are some of my favorite

I’ve got a yellow like the orange you have…the broken nib is quite a big chunk to lose every sharpening…I only have the set of 12 Chroma and have the full set of Prismas…Honestly I’m not a fan of either they feel slimy…each to their own but at least you encouraged me to use the Chromas…🤣🥰🥰p.s…The Chromas are going to be sold open stock according to Derwent…🥰

I have the 24 set of Chromaflow, i use the Dahle 133 sharpener....did very well...i agree the other sharpeners did not do well. I did order the 72 set, i enjoy this set of 24 so well and FSS set in ....AHHHHHH.....

Rose is so well trained and adorable to boot!

I had the Blue in the 24 set that broke and broke and broke till it was less than half the size of the rest and has continued to not just break but crumble. I sent a photo and complained to Amazon and they sent me a whole new set. Later I bought the 74. The other blue pencils were ok but that one crumbled away no hope of gluing the broken lead back in.

Wow so were the Darwin's a wax base pencil and if so couldn't you or shouldn't you just heat them up like we do with our prismas when we first get them and or when pencil points keep breaking I reheat mine hi using microwave at about 5 to 7 seconds per pencil I have also left mine in the trunk of my car in the San Francisco Bay area for a day in the summer and that worked perfect also I have heard people put them in the oven although I have not tried the oven yet the microwave works just fine hope that helps some newbies

I checked the price in my country Indonesia and for set of 36, Prisma is sold at 1.200.000 idr and Chromaflow at 1.260.000. So in my local, it is not actually a dupe pricewise but a competitor of the same price. Maybe because the import tax i dont know.

I LOVE my full set of Prismacolor pencils. Hands down.

I just bought a set of 24, price in Australia was $49.95 .

For good quality pencils try Caran dache luminance or Faber polychromos... Enough said

I love Rose so much !

As someone new to colouring, I've really been enjoying this channel and your videos. It's helped teach me a lot. I wasn't at all surprised by this result though, but only because it's obvious that there's a definite bias towards Prismacolor. You clearly have loved these pencils for many years, so any new alternative was never going to score as highly, no matter how amazing it was. I do appreciate you taking the time to do these videos, and I know it must be hard to compare, but I think your bias was just too strong here and I feel the need to say something. In a number of the tests, I thought Chromaflow should have won, like the On Black and Crumb test. As for the feel of them being preferable, that makes sense for you as I'm sure they would always win based on familarity. But that is a very personal preference. I think this would all have been fine, everyone is always going to have their favourites, but you basically end the video saying people should buy Prismacolor and not Chromaflow. Yet I see no real reason other than your love of Prismacolor and not actually in keeping at all with the test results or your commentary throughout, especially as it felt some points were unfairly given to Prismacolor. Most summaries of videos, including those I've watched of yours, properly way up the pros and cons of both. This one just seemed to jump straight to Buy Prismacolor, not Chromaflow. I would like to say that as a new colourist, I've been trying a lot of different coloured pencils - many of which I've enjoyed watching your videos on. I have no bias as I'm not really used to anything - it's all new to me. But for me, Chromaflow wins hands down now. I bought the 24 set and was delighted the moment I used them - creamy and silky and almost luxurious to use. In comparison, I found Prismacolor far too soft and smushy. That is, of course, my personal preference, but I just love the feel of Chromaflow, not Prismacolor. As for sharpening, I had trouble with one of mine, but a day on the radiator solved that issue. I've read a lot of bad reviews about breakage issues (and seen examples on KZfaq) for Prismacolor. In fact, it was someone commenting on another video somewhere on KZfaq, in response to a complaint about Prismacolors breaking so often, that I found out this tip. I've not yet tried sharpening my Prismacolors, I'm a bit afraid to in fact, so I'll have to see how they go. It's also interesting that you talk about how careful you are with sharpening your Prismacolors - again, the familiarity factor I think affects things here. You didn't seem to show that same TLC when sharpening the Chromaflow though! Perhaps it's just a case of getting used to how that pencil needs sharpening, another thing I'm discovering comparing the different pencils I've recently bought. Availability is also a BIG thing for me and the top half of the scoring is the complete opposite - either dodgy sets of Prismacolors from Amazon here in the UK (the reviews are shocking), or very expensive openstock from a few rare websites, which seem mostly run by other colourists/artist. As I am in the UK, I can easily buy the Chromaflow and I picked up the 24 pack pretty cheap (£24.99) from a local store and can order open stock direct from Derwent's website. I'm sure this will be even more widely available too. Based on availability alone, Chromaflow would always win, but when I factor in how much I preferred to use them, I will not be extending my stock of Prismacolors from the 12 I bought. (They cost me £30 openstock, more than my 24 Chromaflow, but I just didn't want to risk the lottery sounding luck of sets off Amazon). In contrast, I ordered the full 72 set of Chromaflows on Saturday (they're coming tomorrow, I feel like it's Christmas Eve I'm so excited!), after trying them against Prismacolor in a good few colouring books. They're expensive, but I just enjoyed using them so much, but not so much the Prismas. I do love your channel and will continue to watch your new videos, but I just felt the need to say something here. Chromaflow, in my very humble opinion, are amazing and are just a delight to use. Of course, I am new to colouring, so I'm not at all holding my own opinion against yours. It was just the ending was so unfairly stacked towards Prismacolor, and I see no reason for this in your actual test results and the rest of the video. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I think anyone watching these sort of videos should very much take into account how familiar someone already is with a product and that there are so many factors to take into account. Best advice I've read, and tried myself, is just get a few open stock or a small tin of pencils and actually try them yourself.

So a reveiw of an long standing brand against a newly released pencil from Derwent. Now there are 150 sets of Chroma flow and the colour fastness information is available. Finally I would rather by an English brand than a Mexican one.

I was gona try these but after watching this I think there’s not much point in trying because i have prismas and if these are not really that different or better then I think I’ll just try another set instead 😁 I want to try too many sets so I have to eliminate some off the list somehow 🤣

The light fast is labeled on each pencil.....as a star.

😲😲🤯🤯

As of April 2024, they are on Amazon $62 for 72 colors.

My experience with Prisma is constantly broken cores and poor quality control. I hesitate to use them for anything big since I can't stand needing to use a colour and having it sharpened up to a nub with no useable results. If Derwint is using this line up to compete with Premier, that's a hard pass for me as the QC issues seem to be the same. I'm happy so far with ColourSoft. Better in every way if a bit pricey.

What is dicflix? Good show today really like the black paper. What's your alternative to prism if you can't get it in your area Where did you buy the chromo pencil Because when you were opening the Box for it look like it was beaten up so maybe that caused same It also helped with the breaking when it shipping

great video Jennifer you're a peach 🥰

Off topic: Save the pencil breakings if you can. I saw a video where someone took the near end of her pencils and turned then into a colored pencil based paint using solvent.

Very interesting about the breakage. Prismacolor breakage is deplorable so if the break more than Prismacolor then it's a problem. I used one prismacolor pencil once and that was it so I'm not too impressed with prismacolor.

I hate to say it, but Derwent's pencils are often made of low-quality wood, it seems. Also, the lacquer/paint (?) on my Inktense pencils started to flake almost immediately. I wouldn't mind if they were cheap pencils, however, Derwent pencils are anything BUT cheap. Nevertheless, I quite enjoy the Chromaflows. I have a 24 set and intend to buy the full 72 set.

Any pencil(s) will break if it is dropped repeatedly (or banged around) Just dropping them from a slight height will break the lead inside without us knowing it.

Glad I didn't buy chromaflow because I did buy Derwent 20 metallic set which I love but I am looking to buy a nice set of regular colored pencils and now I will be buying the Prisma.