Working with Schmincke's finest extra soft pastels leads you back to the origin of colour and is a real painting experience rather than simple drawing.They contain only the purest medium fine ground artists' pigments, which are in the highest possible concentration. Contrastingly, the binding agent content, is kept to a minimum, which ensures a stable compound. In order to guarantee the highest quality it is necessary to manufacture Schmincke pastels using special recipes which avoid the use of machinery during manufacture.The complete assortment includes 400 colours classified in 80 rows with 5 colours each. The range contains also 5 additional pearl lustre effect colours. Pastel paintings will always remain sensitive. Therefore, they should only be treated with a special fixative - like Schmincke fixative for pastels (No. 50 402) - to be used sparingly.