Hard pastel, but not super hard. Nice feel. Good pastel for blending

I ordered these to try, as Nupastels are not available individually. I find them slightly harder than the Nupastels but I think they will be useful. Not for finishing touches, however; too hard to sit on softer pastel.

Like this pastel, never enough ultra blue

These are hard pastels which I use for highlights or to make hard edges on areas. They are highly pigmented and really great pastels.

I had heard great things, but I find NuPastels a far better choice both for underpaintings and surface work. The Caran d'Ache did not have the vibrancy and were ineffective for underpaintings.

Caran d'Ache are pricy (nearly twice the price of a NuPastel) but the color is lovely and does go on really nicely for edges or where you need something hard. Not sure they are worth the extra money vs a NuPastel, however.

A really nice hard pastel with great color selection, they work well for detail work.

Due to the way I work, I prefer hard pastels over soft and wish there were more colors and values to choose from in all brands. I like the Caran d'Ache brand because they have some colors nobody else does. The tinted whites are particularly interesting. I also like them because they seem to be relatively free of the "hard spots" you find in some brands. Nice consistent texture. Only drawback is they are bit pricey, but at the time of this review Dakota has about the best prices available.