The Bruynzeel Pastel Pencil sports a bursting with pigment, 3.8mm creamy soft core, the core is protected with a beautiful Cedar Wood casing weighing in at an average 7.4mm. For me personally, I love the pencils that are predominately natural wood casings, exposing the beautiful grain of the wood, I guess it provides a natural aesthetic to it, occasionally reminding us of the pencils original life form.