For the beauty world, Pantone’s Color of The Year 2019 is heaven sent. Coral! The easiest thing in the world to wear on one’s lips, cheeks, and nails. It also plays nicely into the ongoing trend of warm reddish eyeshadow that’s still here. And guess what? It was never easier to look on trend and not to spend one penny.

I’ve written about Pantone’s Color of The Year (COTY) since 2015 (Marsala, Rose Quartz & Serenity, Greenery, Ultraviolet). I’ve often stressed how it influences the market. And I’ve often given you some hints and recommendations how to incorporate each year’s colour into your existing makeup wardrobe.

Living Coral

coral lipsticks Pantone 2019
A few of my fav coral lip products: l-r MAC Lip Pencil in Lasting Sensation, MAC Huggable Lip Colour in Fashion Force, Tom Ford True Coral, Guerlain Geneva, MAC Cut a Caper, MAC Toxic Tale, MAC Watch Me Simmer, MAC Hibiscus, Estée Lauder Pure Color Envy in Naughty Naive. I LOVE the combo of Lasting Sensation and Fashion Force, because a lot of corals and my purple hair? It’s a bit much. Try a glossy coral if you’re hesitant if coral works on you!

This year, though… but let me quote first how Pantone justifies choosing ‘Living Coral’:

“Living Coral embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting environment.

(…) Symbolizing our innate need for optimism and joyful pursuits (…).

(…) Living Coral emits the desired, familiar, and energizing aspects of color found in nature. In its glorious, yet unfortunately more elusive, display beneath the sea, this vivifying and effervescent color mesmerizes the eye and mind. Lying at the center of our naturally vivid and chromatic ecosystem, PANTONE Living Coral is evocative of how coral reefs provide shelter to a diverse kaleidoscope of color.” (bold type mine)

(Oh, yeah, the colour itself is a coral with a golden undertone.)

Corals – an endangered species

Living Coral eyeshadow recommendations
Eyeshadows! This is MAC Daydreaming (left) and an e/s from Guerlain’s Coup de Foudre palette. I love pairing coral eyeshadows with purples, taupes, or greens – of course you can also pair it with pinks and reds for the reddish eye look that’s been around for ages now. No matte how you pair it, this will never be subtle.

Astrid wrote a post about coral-friendly sunscreen in summer that I all urge you to read. Coral bleaching as been on the rise for years. Having seen pictures of it is not only extremely sad. It’s also scary – changing eco systems has dire consequences. Administration in both Hawaii and in the South Pacific started to ban some sunscreen ingredients and got a lot of press during this year. Now, Pantone releasing the name of its COTY as not only Coral, but LIVING Coral seems to stress the importance of saving those ecosystems as well.

Climate Change and Global Warning seem to have a bigger impact on corals than sunscreen application when swimming in the ocean. And because your own CO2 footprint impacts climate change as well, I found Pantone’s Living Coral campaign the perfect opportunity to overthink my own shopping habits.

Finding corals in your stash

how to wear coral blush
Fav coral blushes: l-r Tom Ford Lovelust, MAC Born To Love, MAC Hipness, Clinique Peach Pop. I feel that coral blushes are generally easy to wear, no matter your skintone – there’s a reason why Orgasm is that famous!

Pantone’s COTY is a money-making machine. The irony of bringing that together with the joy of a healthy, thriving eco-system isn’t lost on me. Consumerism takes a big role in climate change, and this year’s COTY is a great opportunity to say no to that. Coral is one of the bedrock colours of every beauty junkie’s stash (one of my first posts here dealed with my love for it!), and some of the most iconic products in the beauty industry are corals – Nars Orgasm, anyone?! So, root through your stash and incorporate a few old, beloved products into your routine again. Do it for the corals.