Polycolor by Koh-i-Noor are also oil based. They cost much less than Polychromos (at least in the EU) and are very good for preliminary work. From what I read, oil based pencils contain some wax too. You can read more about different brands here: http://www.penciltopics.co.uk/brands%20kohinoor.htm

Polycolor by Koh-i-Noor are also oil based. They cost much less than Polychromos (at least in the EU) and are very good for preliminary work. From what I read, oil based pencils contain some wax too. You can read more about different brands here: [url]http://www.penciltopics.co.uk/brands%20kohinoor.htm[/url]

Oil and wax are same thing. More precisely.. wax is oil with an elongated carbon chain that makes it solid at lower temperatures.

The nomenclature means much less than what most people think. You can have more variation between 2 brands of “oil based”or between 2 brands of “wax based” thatn between other 2 brands, one oil other wax.

I have not tried Lyra Rembrandt, but I do have Polychromos and Koh I Noor and I prefer the Polychromos hands down. What Tiago said above is true…I find my Caran D’ache Pablos, which are wax, to be more similar to Polychromos than to Luminance, which are also wax, and Koh I Noor feel closer to Derwent Coloursoft, as in scratchy. They make me cringe a little. I think it all comes down to personal preference. I also think it may seem like a good idea at first to opt for whatever is most budget friendly, but I have found the higher the quality the more versatile the pencils. I thought I would use colored pencils for only quick and small studies but I discovered that some techniques allowed for truly unique effects that appealed to me more than anything has in the realm of paint for a long time.