Hi Marta, I completely agree with you that they are colouring but I also think the actual core of the pencils is really nice, I really enjoyed using them, its just this set had a lot of breakage. There is a very good chance that I just got a bad set, I have reviewed loads of pencils and on occasions I'll love a pencil and have someone comment that the set they bought broke all the time when sharpening. So what you commented is actually so important to other viewers of this review because it is important that they get a balanced view of them. This is why I think that you guys as viewers leaving comments is so vital to this channel in that a lot of the comments help other viewers. Thank you so much

Same for me. I have multiple Kalour sets and I’ve not had any of these issues either. To me they are the best budget pencil for the price.

There are ways of repairing pencils with a lot of breakage. Haven't seen a single coloring video mention it.....heat. sit them in a car on really ot day for 3-4 hours then into a cool place for them to kinda slowly cool off. Remelts the cores repairing the breaks. Makes sense.

The description for both on Amazon says they both are wax based. Is that information on the box.

bit.ly/3vAFgFq if you check out this video I explain what I have found out about so called wax and oil based pencils. It’s better to think of pencils as hard or soft core. There are many different waxes used is Colored pencil production, some hard and some soft, but they almost always have oil in the ingredient as well. If you check out the video I explain it. Also don’t read too much into product description on Amazon. Those products are placed there by either Amazon or third party selling them and very little of them know exactly the details of the products such as ingredients.

I think what I am going to do is test all the cheaper brand pencils I have and try to establish which pencils are the same. Obviously I would have to state at the beginning of the video that the video is only my opinion and show why I think they are the same pencil. I've just taken delivery of the Marco 80 set of Marco Tribute pencils in the Book style cases, so far I am really impressed. I know the packaging has nothing at all to do with performance, but I am really looking forward to testing and and drawing something with them.

@@TheArtGearGuide I would like to see the review you want to do on the book style case of the Marco Tribute pencils.. A review of the budget pencils In your Review, what you think.. MANY Appreciate Your reviews.. Artists Mention you A LOT in their videos.. You do hold ALOT of TUST.. & TRUTH..People LOVE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY AND SHOW you are a ARTIST.!.. I'm tired of spending money on budget and they are NOT what I have learned from OTHERS..I Have some Expert pencils.. I may save and buy like Prisma's I am learning.. No artist..for Joy I color.. SO I WATCH YOU Sir.. THANK YOU SO SO MUCH.. You DON'T sugar coat ANYTHING.. And No one tells you what to say.. I share your Reviews all the time.. Sorry unsaid so much.. THANK YOU And the Frugal Crafter Lindsay Weirich, Is ALSO, an Artist I TRUST.. Have a God Blessed day,Prayers to you and your Family..💗🙏🤟❣👏

I know it is quite randomly asking but do anybody know a good place to stream newly released tv shows online?

Hi Harry, Just found you on utube. Am binge watching your reviews!!!!! All great so far!!!! Very interested in cheaper pens, as on a budget. BUT......maybe not......although Brutfuger(can't spell🤩🤩) looking the best??? Thanks B.

Thank you so much for your wonderful comment thank you

Many warned about breakage with the Prismas, but I bought a full set in the fall of 2017. Since then I've had lead breakage with only 1 pencil. With my SF's and Star Joys I have problems with multiple pencils. You just don't know till you try a brand.

@@deba1289 ITA & what QC was doing a year ago may not be the same this year. Then there is packaging & handling in shipping, etc. that impacts what we get. My daughter had a set of Prisma that I bought her for Christmas several years ago that no matter how she sharpened ended up with bits & pieces. I finally bought a set 18 mos ago, not one bit of trouble. That's why 'current reviews' can help so much IMHO. Practices change.

@@katiekofemug You're right about that. Reviews have both helped me save money and helped me spend it. LOL. I appreciate the honest product reviews people do. Finding a good sight like this one and a couple others can make all the difference.

Oh you have really go my attention with your wonderful comment. First of I can completely understand why the 180 count appealed to as it did me. I have always said that depending on the pencil, the more colors you have the better, with watercolor pencils you you can get away with smaller sets given the ability to mix and create new colors. The American Kestrel or Long Wings as you call it looks just absolutely stunning. My wife and I used to take our children to lots of country fairs where there was always someone in the middle of a huge field displaying how his or her birds fly. The good thing about these events as you quite rightly pointed out, they very much discourage ordinary people from racing home and wanting one as a pet. When my son was younger the only pet he ever wanted was an Owl, still to this day aged 18 he is in love with the bird. We always told him, aged 10 and 11, he needed to be much older as they are a lot of work and responsibility. But we compromised and decided to join a Falconry club where he could learn about the birds from experts. My wife and I used to have 3 Siberian Huskies, unfortunately they passed from old age and we only have one now. But my wife got heavily involved in the Husky community, racing the dogs and showing and so we understood the importance of researching any animal to be kept as a pet and that it was vital to learn from experts. My wife was part of the Siberian Husky Welfare team and the amount of beautiful dogs we had to rehire was incredibly because kids were watching Disney movies like Eight Below and begging their parents to get one, however Huskies require an awful lot of work and understanding to give them a good life. Any way, we were so glad that we took him to the club because he is the age that we always agreed he could have an Owl at, but because he understands what is required of him now, he is putting off owning one for a very long time yet as he is about to start a 5 year University course and goodness knows where his chosen profession will take, hopefully far away from the hell hole he has grown up in because of my inability to work given my medical retirement from the Army and only my wife working. I would love to see one in the wild one day, so I best start saving for a trip to the beautiful United States and head for the rural areas and fingers crossed catch a glimpse of one. Thank you so much for your wonderful comment

@@TheArtGearGuide thank you for taking the time to reply. I so enjoyed your writing me. Lols...you must be very busy with all the work you do in helping artists of all levels decide in what to invest in. I think there is not a child out there who does not love owls. I was one of those children. I always wanted to be a falconer but it takes a lot of time and dedication and being a wife, mother, and out in the work force, I knew I did not have the time. When my daughter went off to college, I was able to quit work and pursue my dream of becoming a falconer and being honored in working with these magnificent but dangerous creatures. Falconry in the USA is highly regulated and even after you pass all the requirements, once a year, without notice, the game police shows up at your door to inspect your facilities and health of your bird, etc., which, to me, is fine. There are too many people buy pets on a whim and then later, the novelty wears off such as people buying parrots. This is why in falconry you apprentice for two years, have to capture your bird from the wild and train it. Birds trapped from the wild are forever wild and no matter how long you own one, when you release a bird back into the wild, in just a few short weeks, they have joined the rest of the wild birds. So if falconry and the dedication it takes to own a bird of prey is not all that it is cracked up to be, the apprentice can just release the hawk back to the wild. One cannot own an owl until they are a Master Falconer or rather have worked with birds of prey for 5 years. The USA did not have the problems that other countries had with little kids, Harry Potter and owls. To own an owl, you had to be a licensed falconer which saved many Moms and Dads from persistent begging from kids wanting a Snowy Owl. I, myself, love the Great Horned Owl which is quite ferocious, especially the females. We own a farm which includes 50 acres of forest and the forest edge runs along the edges of our farm land. One day a friend who enjoys walking along the edges where the forest and farmland meet when something buzzed his head and knocked off his hat. He looked up and saw a GHO suddenly land a few feet ahead of him holding his cap. He said the owl stared him down and let out this noise which caused him to quickly turn right around and walk back from whence he came. There must have been a nest nearby and one parent was daring any further action. However, the owls never bothered my husband or his brother as they harvested the crops nearby. For a falconer to own an owl, it is best to get an egg from the nest or wait until it has hatched. An owl needs to imprint with you asap...the sooner the better. The owls that I have owned, all were 6 weeks or younger and lived with us in our house. I would have towels and such on my furniture and such. They would jump up on a chair and watch TV or watch the Screensaver for hours. They are like cats. To get the owlette to go from one room to another, I would pull this leash and they would follow it like a cat. I have a large sunroom and they would stay in there a lot and I would go and sit in a chair and read a book. My owl would eventually fly over, land on my lap and turn chewing on the book. Once their feathers grew in and they were starting to fly, outside they would go into their own indoor facility which had an outdoor facility to go to as well. They are amazing creatures and has much more of a personality than hawks or falcons. At night, while in their own facilities, they would sometimes move things around. I have toys and small limbs in their outdoor facility to amuse them and they would move things from where I had them. I would go and move them back and darn if the next morning things were back the way they wanted things. Yes being a falconer takes time, work and dedication. If you go away for a bit, only another falconer can tend to your birds. With hawks, you do three things in a row, they expect it like that from there on out whether good or bad habit you taught them. A simple mistake of allowing a hawk to see you come into his room with food and she is not tethered and you do it 3 times, you will be having a hawk slamming into the door ready for its food. It took a year or more before the falconer could go into the room. He had to create a shoot to drop the food in and not let the hawk see him do it. Hawks do not forget. Hawks are all about routine. I thought and planned ahead of how I was going to feed a wild bird. We have a falconry meet where we go hunting at the end of the season as well as a weekend camp time and at night we sit around the fire and tell tales of awkward mishaps or funny things that happen with Accipiters/shorting hawks, who are really only the truly named hawks. They are truly aggressive and can be quite the lunatic if they miss their prey/slip and then go after you because they think you are the cause of there miss. They are highly nervous hawks. One Cooper's Hawk missed his catch and went after the falconer and the falconer had to jump in a pond to get away from his angry hawk. Now this was in early winter.. I kid you not. By the by...the Cooper's Hawk is the Hawk that raids the bird feeders while they feed from ground or at the above feeder and not the poor Redtail Hawk who gets the blame. Redtails are built for ground query like rabbits, squirrels, snakes, etc. They have broad wings and short tails causing them to be too slow for other birds. The Cooper's Hawk has short wings and a long tail enabling it to fly fast into the woods to go after little birds, doves, etc. Mother Nature designed these birds according or with how they hunt. I have seen videos of a Cooper's Hawk flying through the woods and you get to see in slow motion how it brings its wings into its body due to close trees and then open them up again. Their wings are short but tail long. Beautiful. Well I hope I have not bored you with my talk of falconry, what it takes to be a falconer, and the dedication. These guys hunt no matter how cold or snowy so you got to get out there so they can catch their food! I had to basically give falconry up because in hunting with my Redtail and going after squirrels and looking up in the trees and beating trees trying to get the squirrel to jump from one tree to another, I stepped into one too many covered up holes in the ground and twisted my ankle and leg that I needed ACL surgery because my kneecap would not stay on top but fall off causing me lots of problems. It was not fun sleeping in a hip to ankle metal brace with 8 to 9 months of healing and therapy and it is still not right. I am 69, was 65 when it happened and my orthopedic surgeon stated he never operated on a woman's knee at that age and hunting with a hawk in how she injured it, besides the point where I had the knees of a 30 year old instead of some arthritic crazy woman hunting with a hawk. You have mentioned a few times your inability to work, and I am so sorry to have learned of that. Life can throw us for a loop and it is up to us on how we handle it. You seem to have a good outlook on life and you really dig into your research. I hope that helps in your trying to fulfill your life. Life can be a challenge. My husband was 9 years old when his father was killed when a farm tractor flipped on him. My mother died of cancer when she was 48 after suffering 9 years. Our 17 year old son was killed by a drunk driver. Life can be difficult, especially with the death of our son. On a lighter note, I would love to come and visit your fair country. I love watching Irish made movies on Netflix. You have a wonderful voice and I can understand you.....lols. But Scots people....I can't understand a dang word they say. My Irish great grandmother married my Scottish great grandfather of the Johnstone clan and then came to America. I hope it is warming up there for you in Ireland. I do not know about global warming. Every winter we have below temps and in the spring, hubby cannot transplant the plants from hothouse to field because it is way too cool and frost at night. I live in the mid Atlantic region (Maryland) of the US and enjoy visiting the Atlantic Ocean in the city of Ocean City, Maryland. Maryland is not very big but we have the mountains, flatlands, and the ocean. During spring and fall golfing, we always have groups of men either from Ireland or Scotland vacation at Ocean City with its many golf courses. They stay where we stay which has a nice sizeable food and bar area. I have a time with them. Before you know it, we are all drinking, being loud, music loud and the bartender laughing and drinking with us. Ah the people we meet. One last thing and I promise I will not write anything else. My hubby calls me Chatty Cathy. This one couple who vacations from Canada twice a year to play golf in Ocean City and my husband mentioned me in conversation and he said, "I told Delores that." They asked who in the world is Delores? Rob goes....you know....Delores, my wife (now by then we had known these people from Canada for a number of years). The gal said "but I thought her name was CATHY." (cause Rob called me Chatty Cathy). He said .... no I just call her that because she talks to everyone. So here I am talking to you. Anyway....I loved your coloring of the American Kestrel. Well done. If looked like a male because they are more colorful. I loved your Superman image. Your image of Christopher Reeve was spot on.. I felt so sad for Christopher Reeves. It is eerie that the two men with last names of Reeves died young. Riding an animal with the brain of a three year old and jumping it is dangerous business. I did the three phase for 10 years and fell 15 times. I had the spookiest horse, afraid of her own shadow. Now I will leave you. Blessings to you and yours.

They do have a 120 set but I see what you mean, crazy thing is in my opinion they have got the hard part done reasonably well with the core, I have no idea why the wood and QC is so bad. But I see your point, if it worked I think they would have much better success.

Do you mean getting a better quality set with fewer pencils, from a different brand? If that's what you meant, in my case, I've thought about it but even a 12 set of artist quality pencils it's way more expensive than these large 'regular' ones. Don't get me wrong, I'm saving to have a set like that in the future but as someone who enjoys collecting and doesn't sell or even show most of their work, getting these sets it's a guilty pleasure. ❤ Have a great day

Hi Julia that was what I was worried about and although I was really happy with how this drawing turned out, I might try to draw another one with my Luminance or Polychromos. I am absolutely sure Julia you will do a wonderful job.

I think they are exactly the same.

Different brand same factory. What these companies is do, is they pay the factory for the pencils with their brand name on them. So there will be several different brands, with the same product, just a different name on it.

I got the red box too. I like them, they color beautifully in my hot press sketchbook.

I own two sets of Castle 120. These pencils look like garbage compaired to Castle Art. Bang for buck, Castle Art are decent for coloring books.

Thank you so much Terri, I love watching artists draw or paint wildlife and botanical, it just stuns me how beautiful these wonderful artists can portray their vision onto paper or canvas. I’m a huge fan of Alan Woolletts work, I have his book and anytime I draw a bird, his level of beauty and detail is what I am at least aiming for. My aim with regards to art achievements is definitely not as good as my aim with a rifle when I was a soldier 🤣🤣🤣 but I am getting there. Thank you so much for your wonderful comment and support

Hay there, I was really torn with these pencils because the core was fantastic, I really enjoyed the layering and blending ability, but as you seen in the video I had quite a lot of breakages. But equally as important, others have commented that they purchased the pencils and did experience the issues I showed in the video. So there is a likelihood I just got a bad set, which actually does happen from time to time.

I bought the 180 set in the red tin, not just for the tin, but the tin was a big factor. I liked the color palate and the price was under $30 around Christmas time. The pencils remind me of other budget pencils that I adore. However I didn’t like them nearly as much as say, the Schpirer Farben, and they have a terrible chemical odor. The SF had a similar odor when I first received them but I aired them out and they were fine. These still smell strongly. I haven’t been able to use them. After getting a tiny tin of Lyra Polycolor, a very well built pencil, it’s made me more critical of the woo and overall build of a pencil.

How are they failing? Most are doing decent to me. A lot of people doing coloring as a hobby aren’t gonna want to pay $100-$300 for large pencil set for expensive pencils. They are just wood and pigment wax or oil. Not worth $100 to me. I like having a lot of colored pencils in a set.

The red tin is sold as oil based pencils so I am guessing that the core ingredients are going to be different and I have found over the years the thicker cores are a little bit more robust, not always but most of the time in my experience.

@@TheArtGearGuide surely you are right about the thickness, it helps a lot the stability of the core. But I think we often make the wrong length when we sharpen them, because especially very soft pencils would need a very short and little exposed tip (like the one Prismacolor has at the time of purchase). Unfortunately, the sharpeners capable of making that point are quite rare, but they help a lot in the case of a very soft core. Obviously, if the core is off-center, or the wood has defects, there is very little we can do, but by costing so little it is a risk that we accept to run. I think any artist knows that the build quality of a Polychromos or a Caran d'Ache has to be paid dearly ^^'

You have indeed highlighted excellent points, how we sharpen our pencils and the length of point does have a bearing on breakages against the type of core it is ie soft or hard.

Yeah the black barrelled Kalour are watercolour. They have a red tin set which is supposed to be oil based pencils which also have a black barrel but they also have a 72 set which I originally thought was just Colored pencils until I noticed the black barrel and in closer inspection to the tin it says Watercolor on the tin.

@@TheArtGearGuide thank you for that information. I wasn't sure and didn't want to waste any money.

If you check out my written review of these pencils I have swatched all the colours and the names of the colours are under the swatch. This might help you out

Exactly! I think this dude's idea of "artist quality" is a set of colored pencils you spent at least $180 on. This dude is a total shill. He's complaining about the way it rolls across the table, having a slight bow even though it rolls perfectly balanced all the way down lol. "It's not artist quality" what a tool lol .

Who’s a shill Christopher? I take you know the definition of that word shill? So I’d be interested in you explaining who the shill is and why they are a shill according to the definition

@@TheArtGearGuide Shill- intransitive verb 1: to act as a shill 2: to act as a spokesperson or promoter (In this case for US companies) I.e - The youtube channel art dude... is now shilling for faber castell/prisma color (insert any US owned manufacturer here) most likely due to negative bias towards, China - "Christopher" ChrisChrz

@@chrischrz6064 Hi Chris mate I will give you the chance to review your comment before I take matters further and humiliate the life out of you which is something I’ve never done on my channel nor do I want to do. However there is a difference between someone coming to my channel and saying my art is crap, which they are totally entitled to do and I leave their comments up because balance is important. But when people call me something I am not, well that is a totally different matter my friend and a matter I am happy for you to review your comment and amend it before I head to the next step. Let me give you an example, you called me a shill and I asked you if you knew what it meant so that you couldn’t use ignorance as a defence, you absolutely know what it means or you just went to Wikipedia to copy and paste, either way, you know. You said I am a shill for US companies and I am really interested to know what US company you are referring to. Faber Castell is German, Derwent is British, Caran D’Ache is Swiss, Holbein is Japanese, Koh-I-Noor is Czech, Lyra is Italian, Bruynzeel is Dutch, to the best of my knowledge Prismacolor is based in Mexico, I know everything used to be US based but not any more. However, even if you are referring to the aforementioned companies that are not US based, you have to show how I promote them over cheaper brands, or we can keep it simple for you and just refer to this brand. What about this set did I say wrong, bearing in mind it is a review based on my own personal experience, so I am looking forward to finding out what I said wrong. I am guessing you are new to this game were you wake up in the morning and say to yourself, I’m going to spread as much hate as I can. Do your research before making claims, like the shill for US companies, big fail on your part my friend. Now if you commented and said you completely disagree with this review because the experience you had with them was very different, that would have been cool, because I would have asked you to share your experience with viewers on the channel because I have said many times on my channel, it is important to get other peoples opinion on a product and get a balance, don’t just take what one person says. Now I know you took a wee bit of issue with the barrel being warped, are you trying to tell me and other Colored pencil artists that bowed or warped barrels don’t cause sharpening the pencil an issue? Are you trying to say that a warped barrel is a good thing for a Colored pencil. Super Duper excited to hear back from you my friend.

@@chrischrz6064 oh I forgot about your comment on the negative biases towards China. I and a few other much higher profiled reviewers than I, have mentioned on our channels and reviews that regardless what is going on in China Politically, it will not affect or stop us from reviewing the cheaper Chinese brands. I personally have mentioned this of two of my videos, which really should be enough. Again this is what I mean about researching before making comments that make you look ignorant and silly. I had a young girl get really cross with me because she thought I was reviewing Russian products and she was Ukrainian. I could completely understand her anger and frustration, but I pointed out that the product belonged to a company based in Ukraine but they did sell their product in Russia. But I also pointed out I was not running a political channel, there are millions of those channels out there but this is not one of them. All I want to do is review art supplies and create art in my own time, that is it. I am not getting embroiled in political issues when reviewing a Colored pencil, it is a pencil, not a weapon of war. I know the difference very well as I served in the British Army for 13 years. So unfortunately wrong on that issue as well, watching a few other videos would have shown you this, but that might have been too much work for you to do when all you wanted to do was cause problems.

Totally agree. Prismas are not so good (and not sold open stock in my country). I prefer Caran d'Ache and Derwent pencils.

Hay Angela I seen your comment and so I ordered the Square 120 set to review, I have seen mixed reviews about them only in comments, not video reviews, so I want to do my own review and put them through the various tests I do. Thank you for the recommendation

@@TheArtGearGuide I'm waiting for Brutfuner's review because I don't know wich set to buy: Square or round black barrell? Love your reviews. Cheers from Italy.

@@ladyelerwen Buy square it veey pretty just need a big hole sharpener tgaal sharpener destroys coat on pencil. To keep things simple get the 180 or get both. Add to your collection.

Hi Jeanette, I’ve not actually got round to testing or even trying the Brutfuner Red tin, I ordered that and there is like an Aqua Color tin that I ordered but because of all the other stuff I have going on at Christmas the giveaways and the Christmas List I’ve fallen a wee bit behind on the actual reviews, but I have loads of items to review. And will get round to them eventually. P

@@TheArtGearGuide Thank you so much for responding. Will look forward to your review on the different sets of Kalour color pencils. Also would appreciate if you could mention in your review how the Kalours compare to the other brands e.g. Brutfuners, Castle Arts etc. Thank you in advance.

If you are looking for a really cheap set of colored pencils for sketching with, you should try the Faber Castell Classic Color amzn.to/2HzFdlB they are only £13 for 60 colors and the pencils are actually really nice. I done a review of them bit.ly/2ryrxfK which you can see here. The biggest issue is that 60 is the largest set they sell, they are such a really nice pencil that I wish they sold a 120 set like the Polychromos.

@@TheArtGearGuide Thanks so much! Pity they dont have more colors, but I can make do. I have them added to my cart. Thanks again! ♡

The red set are supposed to be more of an oil based pencil, but I haven’t tried them yet. I ordered them a few days ago or perhaps a week ago now so as soon as I get them and review them I’ll let you know the difference.

@@TheArtGearGuide thank you i would much appreciate that. So if they were more oil based would that mean they are like a prisma or a brutfuner? I am new to this. Learning about the wax and oil pencils. I have recently purchased the black widows and thought they were the best pencils i have ever experienced.

I think they are in fact oil based, I have ordered a set myself to add to the reviews and then compare them but when I was doing this review, I seen a Watercolor set in a red tin but I think the art work was different on the front. But once I get the set in my hands I will make the review and then comparison review between and the black and red set. Sorry for the confusion, I am also going to order the Watercolor set in the interest of clarity. Sometimes these cheaper sets all look so similar

Where can I get the watercolor set?

I think that is an excellent point but as a reviewer I have to tell every part of the review, good and bad. If you don’t mind me asking, how much did your set cost and where did you purchase them from? The only reason I am asking is because so many of the reviews I done in the past two years, especially the sets like Kalor have increased significantly. When I reviewed them, they were quite new and so relatively inexpensive, but I’ve noticed a few different sets, even on Ali Express have increased quite a bit in cost, sometimes doubled and I’m wondering if I should make a video about that. Thank you so much for your comment and I hope you love them and they make you happy creating.

​@TheArtGearGuide I just bought Kalours new 300 piece set..... I haven't received it yet but when I do I can't let u know what I think and if u need to make a new video

Olá. Obrigado por seu review . Recebi kalour 180 hj . E vou cancelar minha conta no aliexpress .

Hi Addie mate, I have indeed ordered the Soft Touch 180 set. I don't know why, but when I ordered the set I have just reviewed I though the red set was watercolor pencils. I was in a lot of pain during that time and just had a medication change so it might have been messing with my head a wee bit, but it doesn't say anything at all on the tin about them being watercolor pencils so only the lord knows where I came up with this idea. I have few more reviews to upload before while I wait for the Red set to arrive which will be about 6 or 7 working days, but I have a few other reviews to upload as well. As soon as the review is ready I will let you know my friend and as always thank you so much for the recommendation. I love it when viewers of the channel ask me to review a product because I know then that the review is going to be of use to at the very least one person and that is what matters most to me. I have been asked by a few companies lately to review their products and I have been offered all sort of incentives which I have turned down with exception of any incentives they can provide to the viewers of the channel such as % off the price or free giveaways. Without the viewers this channel would be nothing at all.

@@TheArtGearGuide sorry to hear about your health mate. I hope you feel better now. Looking forward to see your review, and any others you are going to provide in the meantime. I really like your channel and your personal integrity. I have made few good art supply purchases based on your reviews and I am happy with every single one. BIG THANKS to you mate. May I as you a favour? Once you come down to review Kalour Soft Touch (red tin) could you please let us know how do they compare to PRISMACOLOR in terms of general usage, bending, layering etc.? I think that would be very important for anybody who is looking for PRISMA replacement. I myself am on the market for soft pencils but nothing so far can compare to Prismas. Well I did order Derwent Chromaflow to test but shipping from US takes ages. However even if their quality turns up to be better than Prismas, I think they would have a hard time standing against 150 count. :) Have a great day mate and take care!

That is an excellent point and I think you are probably right, expert could be construed as Expert in comparison to kids Colored pencils so hypothetically they would be okay to say that. I see what you are saying, really excellent comment and thank you so much, this is why you guys are so invaluable to the reviews.

Thanks

I have to say my first encounter with Ali express was excellent I was a little bit worried when I first ordered from them because I have never done so but the service was excellent this set that arrived was also well packaged and well protected. If I had of ordered from amazon.com it would’ve been the same situation in terms of shipping because I live in the UK the set is not available on Amazon UK so it was either Ali express or amazon.com.

Like I said in the review it is such a shame that the build quality is so bad because the core of the pencil is actually really nice.

That is a brilliant analogy and I am sure many have painted the Mona Lisa or other great pieces of art with their own excrement, although goodness knows why they would want to. There is Artist Quality and Artist Grade. Artist quality is a product, be it paper, colored pencil, watercolours etc that you can use which will deliver rich pigments or the paper will take the watercolour without buckling and warping etc. Artist Grade is much different, the same type of products I listed would deliver gorgeous pigments etc but the pigments in Artist Grade will stay bright and vibrant for 100 plus years as opposed to perhaps 10 or 15 years from a student or artist quality product. Artist Grade paper for example will be 100% cotton, fully archival, ensuring that the paper does not yellow over time from exposure to sun light. Papers that are cheaper and not Artist grade will yellow over time, they will not be made from 100% cotton and so will not be the strong resilient paper an Artist Graded paper will offer. There is a bit more to it than the brief overview above, but hopefully I have laid out the general principles. But when a company plasters all over their products and packaging that their product is something it may not actually be, that causes issues and problems for the people handing over their hard earned money, perhaps based on the advertising of said product.