How to Wear the Color of the Year

If you haven’t yet heard, Pantone’s 2019 Color of the Year is Living Coral. There’s something ridiculously wonderful about there being a color of the year. I’ve always wondered if it bears any real impact on trends, products, and the like. Regardless, it’s fun to find out what color gets the honor.

My brother and I actually created our own little spoof on the concept called the Couleur Color of the Year. Couleur is our fictional color design company (that also has a cosmetics branch), which is a direct competitor of Pantone. I know, we’re weird. Last year, the top color was Cubicle White. This year, it’s Voltaire Velour, inspired by the regal, velveteen jacket the philosopher wears in the portrait on his Wikipedia page. A rich teal. Funny enough, it looks as if the vest Voltaire wears under his jacket includes a sort of hot coral.

I’ll admit, I’m not a huge fan of coral, but I am glad that Pantone chose a vibrant color for 2019. Although, that might be the winter blues talking. We did just experience a polar vortex here in the Upper Midwest, so a little coral can brighten things up!

Also, coral is really easy to fit into your makeup routine, particularly in the form of lipstick and blush. I already happened to have a coral lipstick on hand that I’d been looking for an excuse to review. Coral Crush by Flower Beauty.

If you’re not familiar with Flower Beauty, it is the drugstore cosmetics brand created by Drew Barrymore. Affordable makeup developed by an icon? Triple YES. And, her brand is doing well. It’s gained a lot of recognition within the beauty community for offering products that are high in quality and low in price.

The lipstick is no exception. It is certainly matte and can feel a little dry if your lips are not properly moisturized. But if they are, then this is a very comfortable lipstick to wear. The color is quite saturated, leaving a nice stain behind as it wears throughout the day. It does last a long time. I’d probably only reapply once during an 8-hour work day. The packaging is very chic for drugstore makeup, I’d say. Not that packaging is everything, but it does feel nice to pull something beautiful out of your purse.

As far as the color goes, I think this is a lovely rendition of coral. It leans a little more pink than Living Coral, which has more of an orange tone. I’m ok with that. I’ve always liked a pink-leaning lipstick–whether it be a pinky-nude or, in this case, pinky-coral.

But, I do have a confession to make. Originally, I took photos for this post in January, but I had paired a Flower Beauty lip liner with the lipstick at the time. Unfortunately, the lip liner, which is in the shade Fuchsia, is more of a hot pink than coral. So, the resulting lip was definitely more pink (though it’s a little hard to tell when comparing the photos…in real life, the contrast was more evident). I wanted to include the picture anyway because I love the combo.

And, you guys, this lip liner is SO good. If the lipstick is saturated, then this lip liner is super saturated. It’s also very matte and will not necessarily be the most comfortable if your lips are dry. But, like the lipstick, this product is comfortable when your lips are moisturized, and it lasts all day.

For this look, I also used the coral lipstick as blush. This is an old-school technique that ensures your lips and cheeks match perfectly. It’s also super easy. I first applied the lipstick to the back of my hand to warm the product up. Then, I used my finger to tap the product lightly onto each cheek, blending out using a tapping motion. Do not drag the product across your cheeks. That will disrupt the foundation underneath. Finally, I blended it out with my Real Techniques Miracle Finish Sponge (which, by the way, I love) to make sure it looked as seamless as possible. As a note, it’s important to apply any cream blush before setting your foundation with powder. So make sure to hold off on that step until the blush is fully applied.

So, what do you think about Living Coral? Do you plan on incorporating it into your beauty or fashion routines? Or, do you wish Pantone had chosen another color? I’d love to know!

xoxo Kelli

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