HOLBEIN PASTELS VS. BRUTFUNER MACARON | Colored Pencil Comparison

In this video, I will do a complete comparison between the BRUTFUNER MACARON COLORED PENCILS and the HOLBEIN PASTELS COLORED PENCILS. This video is complete with TIMESTAMPS (USE THE BAR BELOW THE VIDEO) so that you can move to the parts of the video you would like to see first or rewatch.

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0:00 Introduction
01:17 Holbein Pastels vs. Brutfuner Macaron Packaging & What's Included
05:27 Side by Side Comparison of the Holbein Pastels vs. Brutfuner Macaron
10:27 Comparing Pricing of the Holbein Pastels vs. Brutfuner Macaron
15:14 Sharpener Test for the Holbein Pastels vs. Brutfuner Macaron
18:06 A Swatch Comparison of Holbein Pastels vs. Brutfuner Macaron
33:00 Swatching Color for Color from both the Holbein Pastels and Brutfuner Macaron
42:07 Blend Test of the Holbein Pastels vs. Brutfuner Macaron
51:44 Final Thoughts

#brutfunermacaron #holbeinpastels #adultcoloring

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[rbgcolors]

Great comparison and review! Although I did want to let you know that in the pastel sets of 50, they do not include the neon colors and they have replaced them with the colors the brutfuner set includes. Not sure why they did that but in the 50 pastel set of holbeins from japan the olive yellow, leaf green, mustard, chartreuse and a warm grey 2 and cool grey 2 are in the 50 pastel set of holbis. lol No neons are in the pastel 50 set from holbein. Those have to be bought separate which was part of the reason I went with the full 150 set from japan when I got mine as a mothers day present last year. I wanted all the colors lol im thinking the brutfiners do look good as a stand in set for things I don't want to use my holbi's on though after your review. Also I wonder if brutfuner mixed up the willow green and misty green, was it? Those colors looked switched to me....but anywhere love your videos and thank you for the great review on both sets! Can't wait to follow a new tutorial with these from you! So excited when you got these cuz I knew you'd have a great tutorial out at some point with them!

[Finn-qgvv]

Considering the similarities and the price difference, I think I'll stick with Brutfuner. Thks so much for your comparison.

[charityariverpixie]

So helpful, I have the Brutfuner set and if I find I’m getting through 1 or 2 colours I might replace them with Holbein 🤷‍♀️ in the UK they’re £3 open stock and I think I paid £14 on Ali express for the Bruts ….., if I buy another Bruts set I’ll end up with lots of surplus colours ( seems excessive ), but the price difference for me colouring in books for pleasure I’m so very happy with my set of Bruts . Thank you for all your hard work and honesty ☀️♥️

[cheryl]

Great comparison review Pamela! There doesn't appear to be a noticeable color difference between the two (2) brands, to warrant the huge price difference. Not unless someone just wants the entire 150 set of Holbein pencils to get the few stragglers outside of the standatd pastel range. It looked like the Brutfuner factory may have made a cross reference boo-boo in naming the Willow and Olive colors, because they look alike, just different names and barrel colors for each brand. Hey, you basically have 50 back-up pastel pencils to add to your Holbein pencils now! 😉 I'm just curious, but have you compared your other Brutfuner pencil charts, to see if they look similar to the remaining Holbein pencil set? That would be interesting to find out if they are similar too.

[melehu]

Not gonna lie, I really love it when my pencils have a touch of Engrish in the names. I find it incredibly endearing. It always makes me happy.

Pulled out my Japanese Holbein pastels (alas, the full set it far too $$$ for me right now; these were a Christmas treat) and my OP123 is Flesh. I'm going to guess that for the English speaking market it was changed for the same reason Crayola no longer calls their similar shade Flesh: it's not very inclusive. As someone who has gone pretty much nowhere but work and home during this whole pandemic, I'm sort of a very pale OP019,


ETA: Now I am wondering about the Brutfuners vs the Pastelowe colors, because as you're going through this, I seem to remember that some of these colors that are not a match for the Holbeins might be the same ones where the Pastelowes also deviated. I'm watching this video with my Pastelowe/Holbein chart and....I'm not SURE but it sure looks like the Brutfuners are following the Pastelowe colors. The only one you haven't mentioned (yet, I haven't finished the video XD) is OP277, which is a color that varied WILDLY in those two sets. I may have to pull down my Brutfruner Macarons to swatch along side, especially since I seem to have somehow failed to swatch them even though I have clear memory of doing it and fighting those plastic trays.

[aliceb]

It looks like the brutfuner set cut all the luminous colors, which to me are neon like colors, and replaced them with colors that many would find more useful. Don't get me wrong the luminous colors are so pretty, but the colors they where swapped for, for most colorists are much more useful. Smart choice in my humble opinion for the brutfuner brand.

[lisahellstrom]

I think that they are very similar but I think I would buy the cheap set first to see how much I would use them. Thank you for this test.

[kyliescolouringindownunder]

I love ❤️ the Holbein pencils ages ago I purchased the 12 set of pastel colours I love them and cause my 40th birthday is on the 29 th April and for my birthday I’m getting the 150 Holbein set I can’t wait they are just beautiful pencils

[bethzolin]

Thank you for this excellent video. I have bought the Holbein pastels set, and loved it so much, I ended up buying the complete set. I love the range of colours which is fabulous and even better than Prismas in my opinion. I love that they are so creamy to use. However I do not like the way I have to keep sharpening away my very expensive pencils, in order to keep a point on them. I also don’t like the way they don’t always give the coverage I like - it seems to depend on the paper that is used. I’ve had to use blenders or non colourless blenders at time (something I rarely use) to get the coverage I want, or have even switched to Prismas or Faber Castell. Nevertheless they lovely, though I’m not convinced that for the price they are as good as they think they are. At least they are now available on open stock here in the UK, (which wasn’t the case when first bought) though again are very expensive - just under the £5 mark each.
When I saw the Brutfuner Macaron, it was a no brainier to send for them from Ali. They took a while to arrive but what a delight they were to open. They looked identical to the Holbeins at first glance, though yes, I had the ‘ice green’ issue too. I picked up the coral pencil and coloured half a rose with it, then picked up the Holbein coral - and the difference was immediately apparently. The Holbeins laid down effortlessly and creamily, and the colour was so much more rich and vibrant- as you would expect, there was far more pigment there. The side done in the Brutfuner just looked paler and more pinky grey. Nevertheless I do think the macarons are a great set, especially if on a budget. I do use mine, and for the money they are amazing and great value, if like me you are colouring as a hobby and not selling your work - and oh that pack looks so luscious!

[neilallen]

My Holbein are imported from Japan. I bought the 150 set before they were sold in retailers in the U.S. The packaging is a navy blue and white box that, to my eye, doesn't look as nice as the U.S. packaging. OP 123 is called Flesh in my set,

[ThatLazyStray]

i wonder if hobein pencils can be found open stock? It might be an idea to buy the cheaper set, then as you use up you're favourite colours, buy the better quality open stock. They'll be more expensive per pencil naturally, but spending $4 on a single pencil you love now and then is a lot easier than dropping $150-400 in one go.

[Suzite]

Both sets have beautiful colors and appear similar

[twingytwango]

I just recently purchased a set of Brutfuner pastels from Amazon.

[eagrinstead]

Take a screenshot and desaturated the image to see if there are color differences. It works. It's also a great way to check color values of you're uncertain.

[CLong-xoww]

This was very informative, only I bought the 72 count thinking that I would get the 50 colors and then 22 extra colors. No, there are several colors missing (which I don’t understand)

[kestrelshobbies]

Yes, Flesh and Sand are the same color. My Caran d'Ache Luminance colored pencils also had a name change here in the US; Light Flesh and the Dark Flesh trio have been changed to Butternut and Warm Earth respectively. So it probably has something to do with trying to be more PC about not naming pencils after a specific skin tone.

[nancyloomis]

Thanks for this great review! In your blending test, I’d say there “might” be a slight edge to Holbein, but just slight. I have the Brutfuner pastel set and like it a lot. I’m considering getting one of the “super premium” color pencil sets…maybe for Christmas. I won’t be getting the full set of any one of them. I’m looking at Holbein, Luminance (Caran de’Ache, ) and Derwent Lightfast. Honestly, at that level, there’s probably not much difference in quality, just softness/hardness and some color choices. I’ll see if there are gonna be any Black Friday sales for them…probably not. 🫤 I already have decent sets of Polychromous (harder) & Prismacolor (softer…which I prefer, ) and they’re both very good. 👍

[jjsmakeupobsession]

Maybe OP is the abbreviation for the pigment brand they use? Just guessing cuz I have no idea, lol.From watching your video, the Holbein has a thicker core.

[louizelimepips]

I have the Brutfuner Macarons 50. Came in same box as yours. But 5 colours are different in my set. B0156 blazing yellow (cream), B0341 goldfingh (naples yellow), B0009 confetti (coral), B0233 norse blue (aqua), B0112 green flesh (lettuce green) The colours are very similar to the ones you have in the Brutfuner set that I put in bracets behind the name. So I don’t mind. They make a good addition to my Prismacolor set.

[Dorie]

Great review and comparison!!! Thank you!
FYI: I have the Holbein set from Japan and the OP123 pencil is called Flesh in my set.
I loved seeing the different colors next to each other from the two sets. The colors are very similar, but different enough that I would not be sad to have both. LOL 
It seems that there was a mix up with the Olive Yellow and the Willow Green by Brutfuner when they named their pencils. It will be interesting to see if they fix that to line up with the Holbeins in future editions.
I agree that the Holbeins blended just a tiny bit better, but for the price those Brutfuners are definitely a winner! (One question that I still have is: Do the Holbeins work well with the Brutfuners? Would you be able to use pencils from the two brands in one piece?)