Review on Multicolor Sennelier Extra-Soft Full Stick Pastel Set - 24 Count (Pack of 1) by Shantel Griffin

I use Sennelier a lot but I have some very good Unison sticks from the Dark set. When I decided to buy a whole set darker I was thinking of the Unison set but it has fewer colors than the Sennelier dark set and is a bit more expensive. The weird thing is that I didn't buy the dark Sennelier shades because I tried a few on a visit to my local art store and some of them seemed a bit hard and crunchy to me (very strange for a Sennelier). I thought they just sat and did nothing for maybe twenty years. However, that's a lot of money to spend to find out that you only have hard, hard sticks to show off. I finally made up my mind when I received a gift certificate. The dark shades I got were just as soft as the unisons I used, but they're a little lighter. The bottom line is this: if you want a quality set of really soft dark pastels, your options are limited and often very expensive; The Unisons were the cheapest compared to the Senneliers, costing about thirty dollars more for fewer sticks. I suppose you may be thinking of Terry Ludwig's "Intense Darks I" and "Intense Darks ll", but now you're talking about $160 for thirty sticks (but let me tell you, they're great). What you get with Sennelier's dark set is a box of stunning fade-resistant colors that are just as soft or softer than ultra-expensive handmade pastels, but cost around sixty dollars. Not bad, not bad at all.