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- Verified Buyer
Absolutely beautiful colors! Glides smoothly across paper. My only complaint, is that the tips of the pencil break VERY easily and leaves nothing with which to continue coloring. So, you use a good amount of time having to sharpen them just to get lead visible enough to continue. A regular pencil sharpener does not work well with these soft lead…you’ll end up sharpening forever and end up with a short, mess of a pencil. Look for a sharpener specifically designed for soft lead. But again, the colors ARE beautiful in use.They do not show up well on black paper. I wanted a better variety in colors. I was looking for more metalic and these are more pastel color pencils. I am using these but I won't buy any more.Tried out my new pencils but they don't sharpen well. Point broke three times so far. Disappointed with the product so far.Not as good as crayola.I can't believe for the money they are as good as they are. I bought derwent and it was expensive and sorely disappointing! But these are crazy! Get some for your collection!❤This is my first set of Faber-Castell Color Pencils. I chose to begin with the 12 Metallics set because of looking for new metallic media for Steampunk projects.Overall I was very pleased with my experience with the brand. These pencils have a very creamy and smooth texture to them. There is no scratching or dragging on the various papers I have used them on. In comparison they remind me of eyebrow pencils , this isn't to say that they rub off easily.Just in the way you don't need to bear down to apply color to your projectWhile I do give 5 stars to products that I really like and know that I'm going to buy more of; I try not to say that I love an item. However in this case I was very happy with the way my finished projects looked. The ability to blend these pencils so effortlessly , as well as combining them with watercolor pencils (dry), markers, gel pens. That I did actually find myself using the words I love these Faber-Castell pencils to my friends and family.I consider myself a colorist, it is my favorite hobby. Personally I have shied away from certain name brands that I knew we're used predominantly in art colleges etc... As I always thought of them as for the professional artists and that is how I viewed this brand. This set is marketed towards children and, why I started here also. After this experience I have plans to explore this brand further. If you are like me and are on the fence about trying a brand you see as for serious artists. Give these pencils a try.There is only one drawback and I really didn't think it was fair to remove a star because it really isn't a part of the product as much as it is with some of the reviews I read while contemplating my purchase. A couple of reviewers list detailed names for this pack of 12 pencils. I however, couldn't find any bases for this listing. It isn't part of the product page nor is it on the packaging or on the barrels of the pencils themselves. So this was a misleading detail that I had expected to be apart of the product.Final Conclusion: This is a very good metallic media. That enhances various projects . The results are more dramatic on a black background and subtle on a white background. I definitely recommend this product to others.* Note: These pencils are semi- hexagon shape and don't fit inside a round pencil sharpener. Some Faber- Castell sets come with a sharper. This set does not.I purchased the Faber-Castell Red Line Metallic Pencils because I wanted some mineral and metal shades for adult coloring books:1. Coloring gears and metal knickknacks in Daria Song's The Time Chamber (gorgeous and charming, buy it! or the similar The Time Garden -- both available on Amazon);2. Adding dimension to stellar objects in the NASA Earth & Space coloring book (buy it! it's beautiful, unique and gender neutral -- available on Amazon or Blick); and3. Creating a dew-like look to flora in books like Fantastic Planet (unique and fun) or Hokusai: Birds, Flowers and Nature (perfect if you love gradients) -- (both available on Amazon or Blick).I find they're kinda "meh" for these purposes.COMPARISON: I have 3 different brands of metallic pencils: Derwent, Spectrum Noir and Faber-Castell (in order of preference.) The Faber-Castell metallic pencils are my least favorite. I find they are the least pigmented and the least shimmery. The Faber-Castell metallics are also the hardest of the 3 brands, which makes them less useful for blending and more useful for tiny spaces. For the least expensive of the 3, you kinda get what you pay for.COLORS: There is very little difference between the 2 pinks, 2 blues, or 2 greens offered. **NOTE:** The Faber-Castell metallic pencils are NOT labeled by color and there are NO color names on the box even, which I found infuriating. I had to first go online to find out the names of the colors and then mark them with a label maker to tell them apart.Here are the color names:(The names are not that helpful in identifying the different pencils; I did my best.)SilverAsteroid Gray (dark grey)GoldCopper (orange)Solar Flare Red (red)Comet Red (magenta)Starlight (light pink)Purple Cosmos (dark purple)Blue Stratosphere (darker blue)Moonbeam Blue (lighter blue)Martian Green (darker green)Stardust Teal (lighter green)PACKAGING: The Faber-Castell metallic pencils come in a paper box. There is NO perforation that would have allowed you to fold it into an easel. Both the Derwernt and the Spectrum Noir metallic pencils come in metal tins with plastic trays.SHINE: These are metallic TONED, not super glittery-shiny. Like all metallic pencils, they're metall-*ic* not metal; don't expect high-gloss. Personally, I find that the obvious shiny metallics have very limited use anyway. If I want something to actually look like shiny metal I'll achieve that with shading and blending. Instead, I use the shiny metallics (like Prismacolor Verithin or Premier Soft Core Metallic Gold) when I want a gold foil or stamped look to a design. However, it's worth noting that you can also layer the Faber-Castell metallics on top of the Prismacolor metallics to add more shine to the Faber-Castells if needed, while still keeping the main Faber-Castell metallic hue.These will be fun to use. Nice colors. One pencil came slightly broken I was able to sharpen but sad I lost part of it.I was first struck with the variety of colours. Of course being metallic these are coloured pencils that aren't usually found in standard sets.I found them easy to work with. The pigments are deep and shiny, some colours are shinier than others.Layering was good, I didn't do much blending but what I did do I would say the results were okay, nothing amazing but achievable to a point.These colours will work well on the right kind of black paper and I still achieved nice results on white paper.I am very happy with my purchase and would recommend these pencils.I love these pencils, they are easy to use and sharpen, they came packaged in a bubble wrap envelope which kept them safe, I love the wide range of colours which has helped me when colouring overall. Would certainly buy from this seller in the future.Really lovely and soft application compared to other metallic pencils. Haven't tried them on a full picture yet, but I think they will be great for adding a subtle bit of shimmer on top of regular coloured pencils. I've never been dissapointed with anything from Faber Castell.Great delivery from the USA. Arrived speedily and they are lovely! Fantastic quality and well worth buying. I gave four stars due to some of the colours looking a little similar, but hey, for the price and quality I would buy again. In fact I will be when i have used my current onesOrdered these to add a bit of shimmer. Ok not too shimmerry (is that a word????) but such lovely colours I dont mind. Very soft goving a good lay down for colour and blend well with other Faber Castell pencils, even Crayola.
