Both are dry pastels. The Pastel Square and the Conté à Paris Pastel Pencil share the same base in terms of paste, pigment, and binder. While the color is similar in intensity and brightness, the format is different: one comes as a pencil with a wooden casing, and the other as a stick, a pure pastel without a casing. The pencil core is fired slightly longer to make it more resistant to the casing process, giving it a noticeably firmer hardness than the Pastel Square.