SMOOV Gel Pens Product Review

Whether you prefer to color with colored pencils or  markers, chances are, you have a set of gel pens in your stash for coloring accent.

Or if you’re like me, you find the vibrant colors and ease of use of gel pens irresistible. Not to mention all the different looks you can create with it  with the different types available — the regular kind, metallic, neon, creamy, and my favorite, glitter gel pens.

This variety is one of the things I like about SMOOV gel pens. Each set of 36 unique gel pens (no repeats) consists of:

• 12 Vibrant Glitter
• 10 Metallic Shine
• 6 Neon Highlighter
• 6 Pure Pastel
• 2 Deep & Bold

I got to know SMOOV’s owner Scott Kelley in one of the Facebook coloring events we both participated in last year. I was excited to receive the SMOOV gel pens in this fancy box. It was a nice touch. It’s also practical because the sturdy container keeps the gel pens intact during shipment.

The 36-piece SMOOV gel pen set comes as is or with a carry pouch. I received the set that includes a handy carry pouch. The pouch has three holes on the side so you can put it in your coloring pages binder.

There are two compartments — a zipper in front and one zipper in the middle. A cool thing about this pouch is what I call its secret pocket, the one in the middle, where I like to keep the gel pens I’m currently using for a certain coloring page. Here’s a sample of my work-in-progress (WIP) from our upcoming book Color My Moods Mandala Wood Carvings.

What about the most important part? How are the SMOOV gel pens themselves?

At first glance, SMOOV gel pens look like the other gel pens sold in big sets. Once you start coloring with them, you’ll notice the difference.

I have a couple of other big set brands and almost always, when I’m getting ready to use them, I have to “prime” them by writing on a scratch paper first to get the ink flowing. Even after several tries, I find that several of the pens skip or I’m having to exert more effort to “keep the ink going” that I strain my hand.

SMOOV gel pens, as the name implies, gives a SMOOther overall experience.

I even did some coloring at an angle while waiting in the car (which is not advisable because it disrupts the flow of the ink) and to my surprise, SMOOV kept going.

SMOOV gel pens are creamy. Colors are vibrant. Coloring goes SMOOthly. And with the variety, it’s a nice manageable set to take with you when you go on vacation or even during doctor’s appointments when you want to  pass time with coloring. You’ll have just enough colors to keep you busy.

The only thing is, I wish SMOOV gel pens are available in bigger sets with more colors. I’m hoping for white gel pen, maybe some more neutrals. Owner Scott Kelley did mention they’re looking into these customer requests.

SMOOV gel pens can be more expensive than some gel pen sets. It starts at $34.99 for the pen set. However, you know what they say about quality — you get what you pay for. If you like coloring with gel pens, you may want to invest on a quality set like SMOOV.

One tip I have for you is to follow SMOOV on Facebook,  join their Elite Colorist Mastermind Facebook group or visit their website often because they have great promotions periodically. In fact, for the month of April, you can get 40% off by using the code APRILGEL on Amazon.

I’ve enjoyed coloring with SMOOV gel pens. I especially like using them against black background because they make the coloring pop.

Here’s a sample from Color My Moods Spheres of Inspiration. I used these creamy pastel colors which are some of my favorites from the set.

Have you also tried blending with gel pens? It’s a lot of fun as you can see from this Wood Carved Mandala page. Just make sure you work on smaller areas at a time so you can blend colors while the gel ink is still wet.

In this case, I started with yellow, followed by orange, then pink. I’m not quite sure what the color “pink” is because the gel pens are not labeled (like many of the other gel pen brands). It is ideal to make a color chart. You can use the top photo for reference.

SMOOV gel pens are so saturated and vibrant that you can color on black background or black paper quite easily. Of course, the lighter colors will appear more vibrant on darker paper.

Have you tried SMOOV gel pens? Let us know what you think on the comments below.