They, in my opinion, offer incredible value for the money. The components are decent and comparable to those in pencils that cost more money (I looked up each one on the safe cosmetics database). In addition, the colours are stunning. While I prefer the chilled brandy hue, which is burgundy, my niece, a redhead, prefers the cider colour, which is sort of a deep brownish red. Both of these hues are richer, yet they also have bare hues (they were all sold out when I was shopping at the dollar store). Try the Deep Nude, please. It could just be necessary to place an online order since a dozen of these would be worth the $15 Canadian shipping fee.