Faber-Castell CREATIVE ST HALFSTK 24/SF PSTL

Blocks are so small, didn’t expect it this small.

Never buy itIt not like the attached picture its the small box in real

Purchased as a beginner to soft pastels, therefore, unwilling to splurge on superior product in case it was a total mis-spend. These pastels were incredibly well priced at £20 for 72 and offer a decent range of colours (apart from the light greys, which are quite 'muddy'). It's provided a great benchmark for deciding which colours I like to use and allowed for appropriate selection for the more pricey pastels. As I've loved the medium, I'll be requesting "grown up chalk" from Father Amazon this Christmas.I'd definitely recommend these for students taking GCSE art and beginners looking to see if they like using pastels. One recommendation - buy a more expensive white (bright and regular white), it makes a difference.

Faber Castell are a renowned brand and these student-grade pastels are fine for what they are. But that said, there are only six colours (68 as I'm not including the two white and two black sticks) more than the largest Inscribe set (62, not including a white and black) and having both, I cannot see a difference between them regarding their quality, yet Inscribe is less expensive. (Also, it should be noted that both sets contain nigh on identical colours, which feels like a swizz. In this set, these are Light Yellow Ochre, Naples Yellow and Dark Naples Ochre, whereas in the Inscribe set there are three very similar light greens.) They feel semi hard, just as Inscribe do, they are bright, but then so are Inscribe. I wish I had saved my money and put it towards some of Faber Castell artist grade pastels - Polychromos - instead...That said, similarly to Inscribe, this is an easy set to travel with and if you want as many colours as possible for what is still an economic price, they would serve, although I would say the set is short of useful neutral tones. The sticks are barely an inch long, but they are well packaged and would be conveniently compact in a suitcase. (The box is just 25 cms x 18 cms and less than a couple of centimetres deep, with a protective sleeve that prevents the lid from inadvertently opening.)

This is the first time I have ever used pastels so I didn't really know what to expect. This pack has a really nice range of colours + they're not too messy. I do find that with the lighter colours, you have to put quite a lot of colour onto the paper to be able to see it properly especially when taking a photo of what you've used them on. I bought them to use for backgrounds in my colouring books. I initially had been rubbing them on tissue + then wiping the tissue on the paper but I have now found that using my finger is more effective.

Great quality set, with colours that blend well and stick well to the paper. As for every other set I've used, it lacks some common colours for landscapes though: there aren't enough greens, blues and purples and the ones on offer are too bright to look natural, so you have to blend 2 colours together to get a tone to be happy with.

These are excellent pastels. I had been using a cheaper brand which seemed to just disintegrate into powder on the page which made them quite hard to use delicately. These don’t do that at all, they stay whole and are easy to use more precisely. I love them and would recommend to anyone new to pastels don’t waste money on cheapies treat yourself!