I bought this little set to see how these pastels in this brand would behave before committing to a larger/ more expensive set. After trying them, I was satisfied with how they felt in the hand and the smoothness in which the pigment could be applied to paper. In hindsight, however, I should have not been so cautious and just bought a larger set. This would have saved me money in the long run as the small set limited what I could do.