December was a busy month, so I’m a little behind the curve on getting out the word about Pantone’s new Color of the Year for 2013. Pantone is the world’s color authority, providing standardized color formulations and color swatches for designers and art directors. Their Color of 2013 is emerald, a green with a little bit of blue in it.
Now, I know that few of us will slavishly follow Pantone’s dictates, but manufacturers of products of all kinds do tend to capitalize on the trend. So, don’t be surprised when you see lots of emerald in the stores this year.
Pantone always introduces the new color with fanfare, and these descriptors are certainly enticing:
- the color of elegance
- a color that “enhances our sense of well-being, balance and harmony”
- a color of renewal and regeneration via its association with nature.
For me, emerald is a gorgeous color for a winter sweater or holiday dress, accent pieces in home decor, certainly for jewelry and accessories. My emerald and black plaid peplum with a big black velvet and green satin collar that I bought in Vienna years ago doesn’t fit me anymore, but I just can’t give it away because it’s so cute and the color so striking.
And I have emerald green lucite Alexis Bittar earrings that I definitely will wear more often.
On the other hand, not everyone is that into green. My friend, Laura, a brunette with big brown eyes, recently mentioned that she received green earrings as a holiday gift, but she said she doesn’t do green. I think a lot of women feel that way.
With regard to makeup, emerald can be even more problematic, especially for the over 40 crowd. With my red hair, I don’t often wear green makeup because don’t want to look like the Irish flag. Emerald should be used with a light hand.
Yet in spite of all the cautions and concerns, emerald enhances green eyes and hazel eyes. It’s sets off blue eyes, and it deepens brown eyes. It brings back memories of Fleetwood Mac’s song, “Emerald Eyes”:
- Find, emerald eyes in the night/Gleamin’ shiny and bright/As if covered by silver……
- Emerald eyes is a mystery/She’s my place of serenity/…staring through to the heart of me…
If you use emerald on your eyes, they become the focal point. So keep the blush and lip color subtle. In fact, Sephora has partnered with Pantone again this year to launch Sephora + Pantone Universe Color Theory Sculpting Blush, two shades of blush in a cute aqua/emerald-ish compact: dusty pink and pink mist, specially formulated to complement emerald.
Eyeliner
As a first step, why not try an emerald eyeliner over a neutral shadow? I often like to use a colored liner over a neutral lid for a pop of color. If you don’t want to spend a lot on an eyeliner that you may use every now and then, Face Candy Cosmetics has two emerald mineral pencils: Jade for $4.95 and waterproof Payday for $5.75.
L’Oreal Wear Infinite Soft Powder Eyeliner in the Pantone emerald shade at $7.95, though it’s $5.75 at beauty4less.com. As I mentioned in my Spring Fever post from earlier in the month, Lancôme’s Kohl in Love collection includes an eyeliner pencil in Jade Crush at $26 that I described as “spring on a stick”. That one is definitely on my wishlist.
Eyeshadow
For the bold, emerald eyeshadows abound at all price points. At the top, Tom Ford has created his Emerald Lust palette that contains an emerald shadow along with silver and two shades of blue for $75.
Mac’s Steamy (above) is a lovely deep but restrained bluish-green with a gold, pearly frost: $15. L’Oreal’s HiP Studio Secrets Professional Bright Shadow Duos offers Flashy in emerald and gold at $7.99, and their Colour Riche Bold Collection has a trio of pink, gold and emerald for the fearless. And Fusion of Color Cosmetics, a brand that features high pigment color-coded mineral products, offers Emerald City currently on sale for $4.04. Similarly, Face Candy Cosmetics Prestige Let Loose Shimmering Shadow Dust has a handy spill-proof bottle with applicator for $4.95.
For me, trying an emerald eyeshadow is a fun look that I would wear on rare occasions, so I’d go for emerald shadow at an affordable price.
Nail Polish
Depending on your skin tone, nail polish might be the way to go to have fun with emerald. An emerald shade looks great on fair skin and dark skin tones. On skin with a yellow undertone, not so much. There are loads of emerald polish options.
Had I gotten this out in time for Christmas, China Glaze’s Emerald Sparkle at $4.49 would have been perfectly festive, but now I think I’d wait for St. Patrick’s Day to wear that much green glitter. Other emeralds include: Forever 21’s Emerald on sale at their website for $2.80,
Sonia Kashuk’s Emerald City at Target for $4.79, Sally Hansen’s Magnetic Nail Color in Electric Emerald for $8.99, Opi’s Jade is the New Black at about $8.95.
I’m going with the eyeliner and polish. Have you purchased any of the new emerald makeup shadea? Or anything else in emerald? What are your thoughts on the wearin’ of the green?
I loved Beyonce’s emerald earrings that she wore while singing the national anthem at the inauguration. Stunning! Wonder if they were inspired by Pantone?
Could be! I just received the monthly newsletter from the Intercontinental Hotel group, and it featured an emerald green chair on the front page.