Cont&eacute; &agrave; Paris Pastel Pencils with 6 Count Portrait Colors The exceptional diameter of theConte a Paris pastel pencil(5 mm) lead gives genuine freedom of creation and has an unrivalled feel The pastel is perfect pencil companion to soft pastel because its lead is slightly harder with less pigment It is preferable to Conte soft pastels and crayons when details is required for small and medium sized formats