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I'll be honest — the Himi sets are fun. The decorative packaging is a genuinely nice experience, and for $20 you get a surprising amount of color. For a kid's first set, a bullet journal kit, or a casual office set, I'd recommend it without hesitation. But I put a Himi red next to a south-facing window for four months and it was gone. Not faded — gone. Tobios costs the same and the colors last.
Quick Specs
What's in the Box
Opening a Himi set is genuinely delightful. The pans sit in illustrated nest-style padding with each color capped in white. It's the kind of unboxing experience that gets filmed for content — and it does get filmed, constantly. The 36-color set I tested came with a small brush and a foam insert that keeps everything secure in transit.
The colors themselves are vibrant out of the pan. Pinks and purples especially — they pop in a way that photographs well and looks genuinely appealing. The pan case is plastic and functional. Nothing about the build quality screams premium, but it holds together and the pans stay in place.
The included brush is fine for occasional use but not for serious technique work. I swapped it out in the first session. If you're buying this set for a beginner or a kid, include a decent round brush as part of the gift — a Princeton Neptune #8 costs $12 and transforms what you can do with any set.
Paint Performance
Vibrancy and Pigment Load
For the price, the pigment load surprised me. The colors are finely ground — no gritty texture, good flow. On Arches 140lb cold press, the washes went down cleanly. The pinks, violets, and magentas are genuinely saturated. They rewet quickly. If you've been buying even cheaper brands at the $10 tier, the difference is obvious and positive.
High Staining — Colors Don't Lift
This is the first real technical limitation. Most Himi colors stain heavily — once down on paper, they're down. Lifting technique is fundamental to watercolor: the ability to soften edges while wet, pull back color while damp, and lift dried paint for highlights. None of that works reliably with these paints. On Fabriano Artistico, I could get maybe 20% of the pigment back. On cheaper paper, practically nothing. If you're learning watercolor technique, this limits what you can practice.
Lightfastness — The Serious Problem
Independent testing by watercolor educator Kimberly Crick found most reds faded substantially within 3–6 months of south-facing window exposure. Some colors fully disappeared when applied in diluted washes within one year. I replicated this in a smaller window test — four months, south-facing, Portland in summer. The cadmium-hue red I tested was gone. Not a little faded. Gone. That's the ceiling here. No pigment codes are published for any Himi color, so you can't check individual pigment stability before you buy.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Cons
Who Himi Is Actually Right For
Kids and First-Time Painters
For a child's first watercolor experience, Himi is genuinely excellent. The colors are exciting, the packaging makes it feel like a gift, and the price means you're not worried about waste. Lightfastness doesn't matter for work that lives on the fridge for a month.
Journaling and Sketchbook Work
Bullet journals, travel sketchbooks, daily practice pages — work you're not planning to frame and display. The vibrancy is genuinely useful here and the price means you use it freely without anxiety. I keep a Himi set at my desk specifically for thumbnail sketches and color tests.
Content Creation
The packaging photographs beautifully and the colors are vibrant on camera. If the work is going to be filmed or photographed rather than displayed physically over years, the lightfastness problem doesn't apply.
Not for: Displayed Work, Commissions, or Learning Serious Technique
If you're painting for sale, for display, or for developing professional technique, the staining behavior and lightfastness failures are genuine limitations that will affect your work and what you can learn. Use a set with published pigment codes and tested lightfastness ratings.
How It Compares to Tobios
These two sets overlap almost exactly in price. I tested both in the same sessions on Arches 140lb cold press and Fabriano Artistico. Here's what I found.
The Himi set beats Tobios on one metric: packaging. If that matters to you — for gifting, for content, for the experience of opening a beautiful set — Himi delivers it. For everything else that affects the quality of your painting and the longevity of your work, Tobios wins.
Want colors that actually last? Read our Tobios review.
Same price range, better lightfastness, cleaner lifting behavior, and a complete kit. For anyone painting seriously, Tobios is the better investment.
Read the Tobios ReviewFrequently Asked Questions
Is Himi Miya watercolor good quality?
It's good for the price — vibrant, finely ground, and easy to reactivate. For casual use, sketchbooks, and kids, you get a lot of color for $20. But independent lightfastness testing found significant fading in most reds within 3–6 months of window exposure. The quality ceiling is real.
Does Himi Miya watercolor fade?
Yes. Independent lightfastness testing by watercolor educator Kimberly Crick found most reds faded within 3–6 months of south-facing window exposure. Some colors fully disappeared when highly diluted within one year. Himi Miya is not suitable for work intended for display, sale, or long-term preservation.
What is Himi Miya jelly gouache?
The jelly cups are Himi's viral breakout product — pre-filled cups of moist, vibrant paint in a grid tray. They're a different product from the solid pan watercolors reviewed here. The binder is possibly acrylic-based rather than traditional gum arabic gouache, which affects how they behave when dry and how they rewet. Fun for content creation; the archival questions are the same.
Is Himi Miya good for beginners?
For kids, journaling, and casual practice — yes, unreservedly. For learning proper watercolor technique, there are two limiting factors: the high staining behavior means colors don't lift cleanly, which prevents learning wet lifting and correction technique; and the lightfastness issues mean any work you're proud of may fade before you want it to.
Himi Miya vs Tobios — which is better?
Tobios wins: better lightfastness, cleaner lifting behavior, and it comes as a complete kit at a similar price. The Himi sets are genuinely appealing for casual and decorative use, but if you're learning watercolor or want work that lasts, Tobios is the better investment.