I was so excited for these pencils to arrive, but have sadly been disappointed by their quality. They do not have a soft core at all, and are in fact very hard and waxy. I have to push down very hard to get any pigment and then it indents into my paper leaving inconsistent color and making it impossible to do any layering.well I'm not even sure if these are oil pencils. I gave them to a kid. That's who they are made for. Don't buy for an adult. they are very very waxy and not oily at all Can’t sharpen them because it is constantly breaking. Not just one or 2 but 78% of them