KALOUR 72 Count Colored Pencils Review: A Versatile Budget Set for Adult Coloring and Beginners

Overview

The KALOUR 72 Count Colored Pencils for Adult Coloring Books is a large-format color set aimed at hobbyists, adult coloring enthusiasts, and beginners who want more variety than a typical school pack offers. The pencils feature soft, highly pigmented cores in a broad spectrum of 72 hues, from skin tones and earth colors to bright primaries and pastels.

Housed in a cardboard box with an internal tray system, the set is relatively lightweight (about 1 lb) and compact enough to store in a desk drawer or art tote. Each pencil is numbered and labeled with a color name, which is helpful for tracking favorite shades or following coloring tutorials.

Positioned in the affordable segment at around $11.69 on Amazon, this set competes with other budget-friendly colored pencils but offers a more extensive color count and a softer core than basic school-grade pencils.

Standout Features

1. 72 Distinct Colors

Having 72 colors dramatically reduces the need for constant layering just to reach a basic shade. The range includes:

Multiple reds, oranges, and yellows for florals and sunsets
Blues and greens that cover both natural landscapes and fantasy palettes
Browns, grays, and skin-adjacent tones suitable for portraits and animals
A mix of muted and bright colors to handle both subtle shading and bold accents

For adult coloring books, this breadth means you can often match the artwork’s suggested palette without heavy color mixing.

2. Soft Core for Blending and Shading

The core is advertised as soft and velvety, and in practice it leans toward the waxy/creamy side rather than hard and scratchy. This character is well-suited for:

Smooth gradients in backgrounds
Layered shading on skin, fabric, and botanicals
Burnishing (pressing harder to create a polished, saturated finish)

The softness also makes it easier for beginners or children to get visible color without having to press hard, which reduces hand fatigue in longer coloring sessions.

3. Numbered and Named Barrels

Each pencil barrel is printed with a color name and number, which is a small but important usability advantage:

Easier to recreate effects from YouTube tutorials or step-by-step guides
Simple to log favorite colors or make your own swatch chart
Quick to reorder or replace if you move to other Kalour ranges later

4. Break-Resistant Cores

While not as robust as top-tier artist pencils, the cores are marketed as break-resistant, and the basswood casing sharpens cleanly with most handheld sharpeners. When properly sharpened (preferably with a helical sharpener), users report fewer breaks than with ultra-cheap, no-name pencils.

Supporting Features

Beyond the headline features, several supporting details make this set more practical for everyday use:

High-pigment formulation: Colors appear reasonably vivid on standard and smooth coloring-book paper.
Basswood barrels: The wood is relatively soft, making the pencils easy to sharpen to a fine point without excessive splintering.
Non-toxic formulation: The set conforms to common safety standards (ASTM D-4236 & EN71-3), making it suitable for kids ages 5 and up under supervision.
Classroom- and family-friendly: The 72-count range works well for shared environments—classrooms, family craft tables, or art clubs—where multiple people may be drawing at once.

While the cardboard packaging is not as durable as a metal tin or zipper case, it is functional for storage if handled with basic care. Many users eventually transfer the pencils into a pencil case or organizer as they use the set more heavily.

Usability

For Adult Coloring Books

For adult coloring books, the KALOUR 72 set hits a practical balance between color variety, smooth laydown, and ease of use:

The soft cores glide well over the lightly toothy paper typically used in popular coloring books.
The 72 colors mean you can often reserve specific shades for skin, hair, foliage, and background effects without constant re-blending.
Light layering is intuitive: you can build value gradually rather than committing to a dark tone immediately.

For Kids and Beginners

Beginners and children benefit from the forgiving nature of the pencils:

Low pressure, good payoff: Colors show up clearly even with moderate pressure.
Simple color organization: Names and numbers help adults guide kids (“use 24 for the sky, 34 for the grass”, etc.).
Non-toxic composition adds peace of mind for home and school environments.

Ergonomics and Handling

Standard round barrels fit typical grips without feeling bulky.
The finish offers adequate friction to avoid slipping, though it’s not rubberized.
Because the cores are soft, it’s best to avoid overly sharp needle points for heavy pressure work; a slightly rounded point is ideal for everyday coloring.

Performance

Color Vibrancy and Coverage

On typical coloring-book paper, the KALOUR pencils provide good vibrancy for a budget set:

Light to medium pressure gives translucent layers that can be built up.
Medium to heavy pressure can achieve near-opaque coverage, especially with darker tones.
Whites and lighter shades do better as highlight and blending tools than as standalone coverage colors.

The set performs best on smooth or lightly textured paper. On very rough or heavily textured art papers, you may need extra layers to fill the tooth.

Blending and Layering

Thanks to the soft cores, these pencils handle:

Layering: 3–5 layers are generally achievable before the paper starts to resist more pigment.
Blending: Colors blend reasonably well into each other, particularly within analogous ranges (e.g., yellow–orange–red, blue–green).
Burnishing: Using a light-colored pencil or a colorless blender over the top can produce smooth gradients suitable for backgrounds or large areas.

They do not match the buttery smoothness or pigment density of high-end artist brands, but they are impressive in their price tier.

Point Strength and Sharpening

The basswood casings sharpen smoothly in most quality sharpeners. To minimize breakage:

Use a helical or high-quality handheld sharpener rather than very cheap plastic sharpeners.
Avoid long, needle-fine points for heavy pressure coloring.

Some users have reported occasional off-center cores in budget Kalour sets, which can lead to uneven sharpening and more frequent breakage. This is a known trade-off at this price bracket and something to watch for when you first inspect your set.

Longevity

Because the cores are relatively soft, heavily used colors (skin tones, popular blues/greens, black) will wear down faster than in harder, school-grade pencils. For casual hobby use and adult coloring sessions of a few hours a week, a set should last a reasonable amount of time before the most-used colors become very short.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Wide 72-color range suitable for adult coloring, sketching, and beginner artwork
Soft, smooth cores that blend and shade more easily than typical school-grade pencils
Numbered and named barrels for easy color tracking and tutorial use
Good value at around $11.69, making it accessible to most hobbyists and families
Non-toxic and kid-friendly, appropriate for ages 5+ under supervision
Basswood casings sharpen relatively cleanly with a decent sharpener

Cons

Cardboard packaging is not very durable; many users will want a separate case
Occasional off-center cores or finish inconsistencies may appear in some sets
Not as lightfast or richly pigmented as higher-end, professional artist pencils
Very soft cores mean points wear down faster, especially with heavy pressure
No included sharpener or case, unlike some competing kits

Summary

The KALOUR 72 Count Colored Pencils set occupies a sweet spot between basic school supplies and premium artist-grade tools. With its broad color selection, soft and blendable cores, and numbered barrels, it is particularly well-suited to adult coloring books, casual illustration, and family art projects.

Artists who need archival lightfastness or maximum pigment load will still prefer higher-end brands, but for most hobby colorists, students, and beginners, this set offers strong everyday performance at an approachable price point. If you want to expand beyond a 24- or 36-color starter pack without a major investment, the KALOUR 72 set is a practical, budget-conscious upgrade that can handle a wide range of coloring and drawing tasks.