Caran d'Ache formulates these oil pastels for the kind of buttery application that lets you work fast without fighting your materials. High pigment concentration delivers saturated, opaque color that covers dark papers and toned grounds in single strokes, while the soft consistency enables smooth blending and layering without crumbling or creating waxy buildup. The formulation maintains enough body to hold crisp edges for sgraffito techniques, scratch through layers to reveal underlying colors without the top layer smearing or lifting messily.

These pastels adapt across surfaces that would reject harder formulations: canvas, wood, glass, leather, and various papers all accept the color reliably. The oil-based binder resists water, making Neopastels effective as resist layers for batik work or as stable underpainting beneath water-based media. You can also layer them under oils and acrylics when building complex mixed-media compositions, since the pastel layer won't lift or migrate once subsequent layers go down.

Box sets provide curated color ranges rather than forcing you to build collections stick by stick. Colors maintain consistent intensity across the range, eliminating the frustration of weak tints that disappear when layered against fuller-bodied hues.