I am very happy with both the product and the service from this company. When I messed up the order, they were patient and understanding and made sure everything was right. As for the Caran d'Ache pastel pencils, they are the softest, most spreadable pastels in pencil form I have ever used. And some of the colors are subtle mixtures not found elsewhere.

Great

Great service! Dakota pastels is the place to get what you need if you are a pastel artist. I loved the choice of pencils! It arrived quick and safe- separate thanks for the secure wrapping.

Wonderful product and they arrived quickly and safely packaged.

Carson D’Ache pastel pencils are very soft and breakable compared to Faber and Stabilio. Colors are great but will see if I can sharpener them with a blade without breaking them.

Another Art Hobbyist let me try these before buying, and so glad she did. Creamy, beautiful colors. A real complement to quality soft pastel painting.

Excellent quality and delivery

This is my first order of Caran d'Ache pastel pencils and I was pleasantly surprised with this purchase. My previous set was Derwent, which are okay, but this grouping of 4 portrait pencils are a bit heavier to hold and the pastel is much thicker than Derwent. Colors apply smoothly. Good choice.

As a newbie to pastels, I listen to recommendations from real artists…and I’m glad that I do! These pastels are great…soft, buttery and full of color. Love them!

Love these pastel pencils!

Caran d'Ache soft pastel pencils are definitely a challenge to sharpen. I've tried so many sharpeners that "guarantee" success, but I find the best option is to lay the pencil on a flat surface, and very carefully, slowly sharpen with a very sharp exacto knife. Do NOT hold the pencil, the pastel will break. Slow and careful will work and the results are worth it!

Love them

The best of the pastel pencils Dakota you are the best

These pencils lay down thick and creamy. Truly a joy to use! Do wish they had more shades of pinks.

In addition to soft pastels, I also use Faber Castel Pitt, Conte and Carbothello pastel pencils and like all of them. Since different pencils produce different results, I decided to try Caran d'Ache. I like them! Only challenge is sharpening. I'm trying the round brass sharpener since straight edge blades just break off the pastel. If I'm really careful it's working for me.

Caran d'Ache pastel pencils are excellent. As pastel pencils go, they are softer than most, but the colors are vibrant and are an excellent addition to my pencil choices. They are on the expensive side.

These are the most expensive pastel pencil out there, but they are also heftier, have a lovely hexagonal shape (no rolling off your work table and breaking), and I love the fact they print the color name and number on the pencil. All the other pastel pencils I have are great (Faber-Castel, Stabilo Carbothello, Conte) are good and much less expensive ... but they don't have the features that Caran d'Ache has IMO.

When using pastel pencils with pastel sticks, these are the best! They glide on more easily for detail work than any other out there. Well worth the investment!

I really like Caran d’Ache- they are the highest quality pastel pencil in my opinion. I’m gradually replacing my pastel pencils with them, so appreciate the availability as open stock

These pencils are the best. I hesitated at first getting them because of some bad reviews but I love them. They are a great addtion to my pastel arsenal.

The only reason I didn’t give a five is they tend to be difficult to sharpen. That said it could be just me.

I find myself buying more of this brand as I come upon situations in my paintings where I’m wishing for that in between color, the ones that are not so sharp and brilliant but more subdued. The pastel blends well on every paper surface.

Back to the reliable and versatile Caran d'Ache pastel pencils for me. I've tried others, but these are primo. Wonderful for preliminary sketching, underpainting, blend well, or stand out in drawing styles, and good for those finishing touches.

They are great!

Dakota is a great company to buy from. They have quality art supplies and friendly efficient and knowledgeable staff. I have been buying art materials from Dakota for years.

These pastel pencils are terrific. They are soft and provide beautiful colors.

I have never been disappointed with this brand! These are worth every penny, and I encourage everyone to try a few first, as I did. Their smoothe consistency, and wonderful shading, blending are keeping me coming back for more and more!

I have other sets of Pastel Pencils, but because I considered the cost of the Caran D'Arch to be a bit pricey, I chose to only try a few of the colours, to see if I liked them. Bottom Line? I will order the entire set asap! That is how much I love these pencils. Not that the others aren't good-but the white-well there is nothing like the lay down of that colour for whiskers, or very fine detail on animal or human!

This is probably the best pastel pencil for sketching. The "smudginess" is what makes this ideal for blending outdoors. Actually, on white paper it can be "tinted" to reveal more of the white paper underneath. Some online reviewers do like this pencil on "toothy" pastel paper. They say it skips, it is hit and miss. The idea though, is to use Caran d' Ache on less toothy paper, and blend with a stomp, it is the only pastel pencil I use for plein air. Realistically, you cannot easily transport and use regular pastels outdoors. They present transport issues in rubbing against one another, they mess your fingers at the drawing site. Only Caran d'Ache present the optimum experience, and Dakota Pastel offers these at ideal prices.

I REALLY like the colors! Though I have a couple of full sets (Carbathello, Faber Castel Pitt Pastel) they do not offer the very light or very muted. Great Price too! I will most definitely be buying more of these thru Dakota Pastel

I have always loved using this brand. Have sets but needed some singles I use most. This is the way to meet that need.

Everything I expected

On application, these pastel pencils are very soft and smooth. They are especially effective on painting animal fur. They are expensive but there is a lot of pastel in the pencils.

1. I wanted a magenta pastel pencil that was not quite as harsh as CarbOthello 335. Goconda 5 was recommended. Good choice. 2. Caran d'Arche 245 and 530 are good. I think they must have the best colour blend of all the pastel pencils. Only drawback is they are harder to sharpen to a fine point than some of the other pencils. 3.So pleased that I finally bought the Schminke handmade colour chart. I already have one for Sennelier and CaranD'Arche. I find them extremely useful.

Caran d’Ache pastel pencils are one of my favorites. I love the colors and the softness of the pigment. I use them along with my pastels.

They lay down so well. Feel very soft.

The most concentrated, vividly pigmented pastel pencil I have found to date. I'm now able to apply stokes over areas with many built-up layers where other pastel pencils could not. Especially great for final touches and line work, again, back into heavy, "resistant" applications (where only soft pastel would work previously), but with the advantage of pastel pencil precision.

Caran d'ache pencils are soft and creamy. They lay down really well and are some of my favorites.

Caran d'Ache pencils are the best for what I do. The richness and softness of these pastels lend a great deal of depth and vibrancy to my pastel portraits on a velour support. They are expensive but so worth it to get the look that I want.

These pencils will put in fine details even on the last layer when my other pastel pencil brands just scratch it off.

Just as expected. Have not used yet

Best