Holbein Artists' Colored Pencil - White, OP500

Yes, this pencil is pricey. In fact it is the most expensive color pencil I've ever purchased, more than double the price of the holy grail Caran d' ache Luminance. Is Holbein as a color pencil line vastly superior than any other color pencil line out there? I couldn't tell you one way or another because this particular pencil is the only one that I've purchased from the line. What I can tell you is that this white pencil is extremely soft - in fact it says on the pencil to sharpen with a knife. It's also extremely opaque and will go on top of the most heavily burnished layers of color pencils to create highlights unlike any other pencil I've ever used. Prismacolor has a good white, Derwent's Chinese white is another, and the Stabilo All white have been the whites I've used and relied on in the past and they have all done well. But nothing holds a candle to the Holbein Soft White OP.It has 3 stars stamped on the barrel to indicate lightfastness. I am assuming it is a titanium white and therefore highly lightfast, but do your research if lightfast is important to you. I guess that was a redundant statement because it if is important to you, you will already have done the research on it.Is it worth the $8 I spent on the single pencil? Absolutely! Can you get it a lower price? Likely so at one of the big box art stores when you make a larger order than a single pencil. All I wanted to purchase was this pencil so I purchased it here on Amazon. Will I try other Holbein color pencils? Likely not any time soon, well at least until I've run through my pencils I have now. I have a lot of Prismacolor and Faber Castell Polychromos. Holbein as a line is far too expensive for me. I am on a no-buy for all of 2024 but I made an exception for this pencil when I nothing I had gave me the results I wanted. This was my one exception to my no-buy. I will buy this pencil again when I've used it up. I will save it though, for when nothing else works because I do need to use up my other heavy hitter whites as well. What I do know is that I won't be buying any more Prismacolor (except maybe the white). I love their softness but their quality is horrible. Far too many pencils are lost by sharpening through a broken core or an off-center core. But that is a different review all-together. In the meantime, they will vanish this year as quickly as I can use them up - or throw them away in frustration. Wish me luck!

Very smooth with great opacity

This is by far the best white pencil I've ever purchased. I have quite a few brands but none of them really work like this. My favorite.

Even my daughter said they are with the price and she’s conservative with $$$!