Kird Barken 80 Colored Pencils Review – Worth It in 2025?

Quick Verdict

The Kird Barken 80 colored pencils surprised me. I'd braced myself for the usual budget-set compromises—chalky pigments, frustrating blendability, that papery drag that makes shading feel like a chore. Two weeks and roughly 15 hours of coloring later, the verdict is simpler than I expected: this is a genuinely capable set that handles adult coloring book work without making you fight for every gradient. The 80-color range covers most palettes you'll encounter, the oil-based cores layer smoothly, and the labeled pencil system plus swatch chart add real practical value. It's not perfect, and I'll get into why below, but at this price point the Kird Barken 80 colored pencils earn a solid recommendation for anyone easing into adult coloring or working with a tighter budget.

What Is the Kird Barken 80 Colored Pencils Set?

The Kird Barken 80 colored pencils arrive in a slim, hinged gift box with a foam insert holding each pencil in its own slot. The set offers 80 distinct colors—everything from warm and cool skin tone ranges to muted earth tones, jewel-bright primaries, and softer pastels. Each pencil barrel displays the color name and a number, making it far easier to work from tutorial videos or recreate specific palettes without guessing.

The cores are oil-based, which means they lay down with less waxiness than many budget sets and blend more readily when you layer or use a blending tool. The barrel is hexagonal—not round—which gives your fingers something to grip during extended sessions. The packaging also includes a blank color swatch chart: a simple grid where you can pre-test and label each pencil, creating a personal reference guide that speeds up color selection considerably once it's filled in.

Key Features

• 80 distinct colors covering skin tones, pastels, earth tones, primaries, and metallics
• Oil-based soft cores for smooth laydown and effortless blending
• Each pencil labeled with color name and number for easy identification
• Blank swatch chart included for building a personal color reference
• Sturdy gift box with organized pencil slots
• Hexagonal barrel design reduces rolling and provides grip
• Suitable for adult coloring books, illustrations, and mixed media work

Hands-On Review

I started the way most people probably do—grabbing the nearest coloring book and filling in the first page that caught my eye. It was a botanical illustration with dense leaf patterns and fine-line petals, exactly the kind of work that exposes weak pencil cores. The Kird Barken 80 colored pencils didn't miss a beat. The darker greens went down smoothly, and I was able to build up layered shadows in the leaf recesses without the core catching or leaving gaps.

What surprised me was the blending behavior. I'm used to budget sets requiring either heavy pressure or a blending stump that eventually smears pigment into a muddy streak. Here, a light pass with a tortillon smoothed transitions noticeably. I spent a full evening on a mandala design, working through color gradients from deep purple to soft lavender, and the blend stayed clean without introducing that greyish haze that kills a gradient's punch.

The skin tone range was another pleasant surprise. I tested the warm and cool skin palettes against a portrait-style coloring page, layering progressively to build subtle shadows under a cheekbone. The transition from mid-tone to shadow required surprisingly few passes. I did notice, however, that the lightest skin tones (numbers 001-003 range) felt a touch under-pigmented when I tried to layer them over dark backgrounds—they worked fine on white paper but faded slightly when I attempted highlights on mid-tone areas.

By the second weekend, I was using the swatch chart consistently. Filling it in took about 20 minutes on a Saturday morning, but it paid off every time I needed to match a specific tone from a tutorial video. No more squinting at bare pencil cores under poor lighting. The labeled barrels work exactly as promised—quick look, grab the right pencil, get back to work.

Who Should Buy It?

The Kird Barken 80 colored pencils hit a sweet spot for adult colorists who want variety without committing to a professional-grade investment. Beginners benefit most from the labeled system and swatch chart—these tools reduce friction during the learning curve. Hobbyists working through multiple coloring books will appreciate having a broad palette in one organized box rather than swapping between half-empty sets. As a gift, the packaging is genuinely attractive; I can see this landing well for teens or friends who've mentioned wanting to try adult coloring. Artists who prefer colored pencils for quick sketching and concept work will also find the core quality adequate for most non-reproduction work.

Skip this set if you primarily work on highly detailed botanical or fashion illustration where the absolute finest point retention matters, or if you're already invested in premium brands and need pigments that push closer to professional-grade saturation. The lighter end of the palette won't satisfy anyone doing high-key illustration work where pale tones need to perform on colored paper.

Alternatives Worth Considering

Prismacolor Premier 72-Piece Set: If budget isn't a concern and you want richer pigments with even smoother blending, Prismacolor is the step up. Expect to pay roughly three times more, but the core quality difference—especially in the light and earth tone ranges—is noticeable.

Crayola Colored Pencils 48-Count: A solid budget alternative for casual colorists or younger users. The pigment payoff and blending range don't match these Kird Barken pencils, but Crayola wins on ubiquity and replacement availability.

Castle Art Supplies 72 Colored Pencils: Another oil-based budget contender with a comparable color count. Castle's cores tend to run slightly harder, which some users prefer for fine detail work, though it sacrifices a bit of the smooth laydown that makes the Kird Barken set enjoyable for shading.

FAQ

Final Verdict

After two weeks of regular use with the Kird Barken 80 colored pencils, I keep reaching for them over sets that cost twice as much. The oil-based cores deliver the smooth, blendable performance that makes adult coloring relaxing rather than frustrating. Having 80 colors accessible in one organized box eliminates the decision paralysis that comes with smaller sets, and the swatch chart turned out to be one of those thoughtful extras you don't know you need until you've filled it in.

The compromises are real but forgivable. Lighter colors could be punchier, the barrel feels chunky during ultra-fine detail work, and you'll want to source your own sharpener. None of that undermines the core experience. For anyone building their first serious colored pencil collection or replacing a worn-out starter set, this is exactly the kind of buy-you-won't-regret that justifies skipping the trial-and-error phase.