I have to admit, I was pretty excited when I saw this collaboration between Sephora and Pantone. When I first met my husband over a decade ago, I remember being fascinated with the Pantone color guides he had in his home office. I felt especially cool and design insider-y when he explained what they were and how they're used. Basically, Pantone is a standardized color system used by designers to accurately calibrate their color usage. "By standardizing the colors, different manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure colors match without direct contact with one another."
Lately though, Pantone has been making its way into the non-designer's world. The company introduced Pantone Universe, "a collection of lifestyle products based on fashion color trends for the consumer. The collection, consisting of tabletop, stationery items, travel gear, accessories and rainwear, combines timeless designs and modern materials with current trend colors." Us regular folks can buy or drool over a range of Pantone items or just Pantone-inspired ephemera like these:
(Mugs from YumSugar, eggs from How About Orange ornaments from seletti.it, paint chip cookies by Kim Neill, folding chairs from The Holding Company, phone cases found at Design Boom)
Says the Pantone Universe website, "Color is essential to your life. The colors you love are deep and vital affirmations of who you are. Bringing those colors into your day and your environment is the ultimate form of self-expression." This would make an excellent makeup philosophy, which is why Sephora was a perfect partner for this company.
I got the Tangerine Tango lip gloss set, which includes 4 glosses and a pretty fancy box. I like the mix of matte and glossy finishes on the square swatches, along with the Tangerine Tango-lined interior.
What was really cool though was the mailer I received from Sephora about the collection.
It explains how to wear the colors from the Pantone collection with other colors and details several different looks using the Pantone system. Here's look 2:
All in all, this was a lovely marriage of design and cosmetics. I wish Sephora (or other makeup companies) would do a Pantone color of the year collection every year.
Did you or will you be purchasing any Tangerine Tango items? And did you know what the Pantone system was before the Sephora collection came out?