This set offers an exceptional number of pencils for an extremely low price, making it a highly cost-effective choice for casual or beginner users.
Price vs. rivals
Cheaper
CheaperTypicalPricier
This set is priced well below typical mid-range alternatives, reflecting a budget-friendly position compared to popular brands with similar color counts and features.
Ease of use
Excellent 90/100
Colored pencils are intuitive and easy to use, with soft cores that blend and shade smoothly, making them suitable for both beginners and experienced users.
Overview
This KALOUR colored pencils review starts with a straight answer: for $11.99, this 72-count set is an absurdly good deal. You’re getting a massive color range and a soft, blendable core for less than the cost of a single premium pencil. It solves the problem of wanting variety without the investment risk. It’s really for beginners, casual colorists, and anyone who needs a solid backup set that won’t cause anxiety if a pencil snaps.
Don’t mistake “cheap” for “bad.” These pencils are legitimately good for shading and basic layering, holding their own against sets that cost three times as much. The KALOUR 72 count pencil set for beginners is practically the gold standard for dipping your toes into the hobby without going broke.
Key Features
Soft, thick wax-based cores: They lay down color fast and smooth. You’ll fill the large areas of a coloring page in half the time it takes with a hard pencil like a standard Crayola. The KALOUR soft core pencils for blending really do make it easier to smash two colors together without leaving a harsh line.
72 unique colors: You aren’t getting duplicates or weird, unusable neon shades. The range includes multiple greens, blues, and skin tones, which is critical for realistic shading.
Pre-sharpened in a sturdy tin: Out of the box, every pencil is ready to work, and the tin isn’t a flimsy cardboard box that falls apart. It’s a proper metal case that keeps the pencils organized and quiet during travel.
Round, lightweight barrels: They are comfortable for long sessions, though the lack of a triangular ergonomic grip means your hand might fatigue faster than with specialty pencils. The paint finish is smooth and doesn’t get sticky over time.
Vibrant pigmentation: The color payoff is surprisingly rich. You don’t have to press hard to see the color, which helps prevent the paper from indenting and allows for easier burnishing later.
Fit for You
You buy a new adult coloring book every month and need a palette big enough to shade mandalas and botanical gardens properly.
You’re a beginner who isn’t sure coloring is a long-term hobby yet. At this price, you can stop wondering and just try it.
You need a portable set for flights or coffee shops where losing or breaking a $3 pencil would actually ruin your day.
You’re a parent who is tired of replacing the generic, hard, waxy pencils that frustrate your kid because they leave white streaks.
You like testing best colored pencils for adult coloring books lists and want a budget benchmark to compare against your expensive sets.
Uses
Adult coloring books are the obvious home here. The 72 colors give you enough variety for complex mandalas or nature scenes where you need subtle shifts in tone. You can comfortably layer a yellow over a blue to get a decent green without the paper getting waxy too fast.
They also work fine for sketching and shading in a standard sketchbook. The soft core means you can get a decent range of values just by changing your hand pressure. Just be aware that they aren’t watercolor pencils—don’t expect them to dissolve nicely with a wet brush.
Gift giving is another sweet spot. Handing someone a tin of 72 vibrant pencils feels way more generous than the price tag suggests. It’s a solid “thinking of you” present for a creative friend or a kid who is starting to draw seriously.
Experience
The out-of-box experience is simple: open the tin, pick a color, start coloring. The soft core lays down pigment immediately without loud scratchy noises. You’ll notice the difference from cheap pencils within the first few strokes.
Here is where the trade-offs start showing. The soft core means you need to touch up your pencils often. Expect to sharpen frequently, and because the core is soft, you’ll lose a fair amount of pencil to shavings. If you drop one on the floor, there’s a good chance the tip will snap off entirely. It happens to almost every owner at some point.
The color on the outside of the pencil is roughly accurate, but it’s not a perfect match to the lead. A “dark green” barrel might lay down a slightly lighter, cooler green than you expect. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it forces you to test a color on scrap paper before committing to a big section of your drawing.
Blending is possible with layering or a solvent like baby oil or rubbing alcohol, but it isn’t as effortless as with a professional wax pencil like Prismacolor. You’ll get smooth transitions, just not that painterly, buttery finish without significant work.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Price per pencil: At roughly 17 cents each, you get 72 colors. You can’t find a lower barrier to entry for a broad palette.
Soft, pigmented core: The color payoff is genuinely good for the price. You don’t have to press hard, making it easier to avoid hand cramps.
Excellent color range: The set includes a solid variety of earth tones, blues, and pinks—enough to make realistic shadows and highlights without mixing.
Nice storage tin: The metal case keeps everything organized and looks good sitting on a shelf.
Cons
Fragile tips: Drop one, and you’ll likely snap the lead. It’s a consequence of the soft core. Be gentle with them.
Color matching issues: The barrel color doesn’t always match the actual pigment on the paper. It’s usually close, but not exact.
Sharpening waste: The soft core and thick lead means you lose a noticeable amount to the sharpener. Cheap sharpeners can also chew up the wood.
Limited lightfastness: These aren’t archival. If you display your art in a sunny window, expect the colors to fade over time.
Advantages
The main advantage of the KALOUR set is the sheer value. When you look at KALOUR vs Prismacolor colored pencils, the difference in price is staggering. One Prismacolor Premier pencil costs more than six KALOUR pencils. Do Prismacolors blend better and feel more buttery? Yes. But the KALOUR set lets you build a 72-color palette for the cost of a single Prismacolor 12-pack.
Vs. Crayola: It’s not even a contest. KALOUR is softer, more pigmented, and offers way more colors. Crayola wins on durability, but that’s it.
Vs. Faber-Castell: The Faber-Castell Goldfaber is more consistent and durable, but you get fewer colors for the same money. KALOUR is better for experimenting with color theory.
Vs. Off-brands: KALOUR is consistently better reviewed than generic no-name sets on Amazom. The soft core and color selection are reliable.
Who Should Buy
Beginners: If you are looking at KALOUR 72 count pencil set for beginners, stop hesitating. This is the right move. It’s enough quality to learn on, but cheap enough that mistakes don’t hurt.
Budget-minded hobbyists: Casual colorists who want a big palette for adult coloring books will love this set. It saves you money for more coloring books.
Kids (10+) and students: Perfect for a young artist who wants to move beyond basic 24-color sets. The soft core is forgiving for heavy-handed kids.
Skip if: You are a professional illustrator needing museum-grade lightfastness and zero percentage lead breakage. Look at Prismacolor or Polluchromos instead.
FAQ
Is the KALOUR 72 colored pencils worth it?
Yes, absolutely. For $11.99, you get a massive 72-color range with a soft, pigmented core that is perfect for beginners and casual coloring. It’s the best value proposition in the budget colored pencil category right now.
How do these compare to Prismacolor pencils?
Prismacolor are superior in blendability and lightfastness, but they cost six times more. KALOUR offers 85% of the experience for 15% of the price. They are a fantastic budget alternative if you can’t afford the premium brand.
Are these pencils good for blending?
Yes, for the money. The soft core allows for basic layering and blending with a solvent. Expect smooth transitions, but don’t expect the buttery, effortless blend of a professional wax pencil without some extra work.
Do thse pencils break easily?
The tips are fragile because the core is soft. Dropping a pencil will likely snap the lead. Sharpening roughly can also cause breakage. Be gentle and use a good sharpener that grabs the wood cleanly.
Are thse pencils watercolor?
No. These are standard wax-based colored pencils. They are not watercolor pencils and will not dissolve or spread with water. Using water over them will just smudge the wax and ruin the paper surface.
Final Verdict: The Honest KALOUR Colored Pencils Review
This KALOUR colored pencils review lands on a simple truth: you will not find a better 72-color set for $11.99. It’s the perfect tool for anyone who wants a huge color palette without the huge price tag. The trade-offs are real—breakage and color matching—but they are easy to live with given the value.
Buy this if you want to color, learn, and explore without financial guilt. Just be gentle when sharpening them.
KALOUR 72 Colored Pencils vs the Competition in 2026
Right now, the KALOUR 72 Colored Pencils sit in a sweet spot that didn’t really exist five years ago—under $15 for a 72-count set with soft cores that actually blend. They’re not trying to be Prismacolor, and they’re not pretending to be Faber-Castell. They’re the set that makes you wonder why you ever spent $50 on a smaller box. But that doesn’t mean they’re for everyone. Here’s how they stack up against the real players in the “best colored pencils for adult coloring books” argument.
Product
Price Range
Key Strength
Key Weakness
Best For
KALOUR 72 Colored Pencils
Budget ($12)
Impressive blendability for the price; soft, thick cores
Occasional tip breakage; lightfastness unknown
Budget-conscious beginners and adult coloring book fans who layer
Prismacolor Premier (72)
Premium ($70–$90)
Buttery-soft laydown; wax-based blending is legendary
Wax bloom; tips snap if you look at them wrong; expensive
Artists who need rich, creamy color and don’t mind replacements
Faber-Castell Polychromos (60)
Premium ($120+)
Oil-based core holds a fine point; lightfast; works on toned paper
Pricey; less “melt” for shading large areas
Illustrators and detailed portrait work
Crayola Colored Pencils (64)
Ultra-budget ($7–$10)
Cheap and widely available; hard cores reduce breakage
Kids and casual doodlers who won’t stress about losing a pencil
KALOUR 72 Colored Pencils vs Prismacolor Premier
This is the conversation that keeps popping up when someone searches “is KALOUR 72 colored pencils worth it” next to “Prismacolor alternatives.” The KALOUR soft core pencils for blending honestly come closer to the Prismacolor experience than anything else at this price. The Prismacolors are still creamier—that first stroke feels like drawing with butter left out on the counter. But you pay for that butter. A single Prismacolor pencil costs about what two KALOUR pencils do. And Prismacolors? They break. You’ve heard the complaint. The core snaps inside the wood if you drop the pencil, and the tips chip off when you sharpen aggressively. The KALOUR 72 Colored Pencils have thicker cores and a slightly harder wax, so you get fewer heartbreaks. The trade-off: that signature Prismacolor “melt” into the paper grain is a little less intense. But for adult coloring books with thick black outlines, the KALOUR set delivers rich, blendable color without the $70 sticker shock.
KALOUR 72 Colored Pencils vs Faber-Castell Polychromos
Now we’re talking about a different class of pencil. Polychromos are oil-based, not wax-based. That means they hold a needle-sharp point without crumbling, they layer beautifully without getting that waxy buildup, and they won’t fade in a sunny room after a few years. The KALOUR soft core pencils for blending feel completely different—less precise, more giving. If you’re doing detailed botanical drawings or architectural sketches, Polychromos are the better tool. But if you’re filling in a mandala and want to graduate from one color to the next with a quick layer of white over the top, the KALOUR 72 Count Pencil Set for Beginners does that for a fraction of the price. Polychromos are also heavier in the hand, which some people like and others find tiring. One specific annoyance with the KALOURs: the pale yellows and pinks sometimes leave a streaky first pass—you need two layers to get a solid block of pastel. Polychromos don’t do that. So the question is whether you care about archival quality and pinpoint detail, or whether you just want to sit down and blend sunset colors on a Wednesday night. That’s the real difference.
KALOUR 72 Colored Pencils vs Crayola Colored Pencils
Let’s get this out of the way: the Crayola 64-pack is perfectly fine for kids who lose pencils under the couch or draw on the kitchen table. But if you’ve ever tried to do shading with a Crayola pencil, you know the frustration—it’s hard, waxy, and basically refuses to deposit more than a thin, shiny layer no matter how hard you push. The KALOUR 72 set is a legitimate step up. The cores are noticeably softer, so you can actually build up a gradient from dark to light, something “cheap colored pencils for shading” usually fail at. Crayola also doesn’t offer the same color range—their 64-pack lacks the subtle earth tones and muted blues that make an adult coloring page look like it was done with artist-grade supplies. Is KALOUR 72 colored pencils worth it over a $7 Crayola set? For a teenager or casual hobbyist, absolutely. The extra five bucks buys you pencils that respond to pressure, that blend when you burnish, and that don’t leave that oily sheen. The Crayolas are still the better choice for a child who chews on the erasers or a teacher buying a class set where nothing needs to look professional.
The short version: Choose the KALOUR 72 Colored Pencils if you want adult-coloring-book-friendly results without spending more than $15, or if you’re a beginner who wants to learn blending and shading without buying premium pencils first. Avoid them if you need lightfast colors for sellable artwork—then pick Faber-Castell Polychromos. And if you already have a Prismacolor habit and can afford the replacements, stick with Prismacolor because nothing else matches that buttery first stroke. But for the “best colored pencils for adult coloring books” search on a reasonable budget? The KALOURs win, hands down.
Ready to decide on the KALOUR 72 Colored Pencils?
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