It mostly depends on what I’m working on, and how much time I want to dedicate to it. If I’m coloring skin, I like to use my oil based pencils because they layer much better. If I’m looking to blend, I usually use my wax based pencils because they’re so easy to blend together. If I don’t want to dedicate a lot of time to something, I use my wax based pencils as well, because it doesn’t take a ton of effort to lay down vibrant color. The oil based pencils need a lot of light layers which require much more time. I use markers a lot as well, but only alcohol based markers. Alcohol based markers are much smoother, and don’t tear up your paper. Water based markers leave streaks and can tear up the paper if you lay down more than 1-2 layers. When I’m looking into purchasing a set of pencils, I take a lot into consideration. One of my main factors in purchasing a set of pencils is if I can buy them individually. While I don’t mind budget pencil sets, they’re usually not offered in “singles.” So when you run out of one color, you have to buy a whole new set. That can get quite expensive over time. So I try to buy pencil sets that offer “open stock” (meaning you can buy one specific pencil at a time). Other things I take into consideration are price, and color selection. This specific set is seriously lacking in reds, so that kind of bugs me, but I have other sets that have more than enough reds so I can just supplement with those sets. Packaging is something I look into as well but it’s the least important to me. I can always store the pencil set in a case if I don’t like the box or tin that it comes in. Thanks for your question, sister! It really made reflect on what I look for.

You’re welcome!