Pantone Colour of the Year Radiant Orchid: Look at the Radiant Orchid-ish Stuff I Already Have!

Pantone has officially announced Radiant Orchid as the Colour of the Year 2014, and this time, I'm actually pretty excited for it because, as I've been saying in my previous blogposts, purple is my favourite colours. If you've been reading for a while, you'll also know that I think that this whole Colour of the Year thing is just another means of making them companies more $$$ through commercialization of a single colour shade, and those feelings still hold, but hey, at least this year I'm going to have companies try to make money off me with a colour I actually can get on board with! I wasn't feeling last year's Emerald or the previous year's Tangerine Tango, so FINALLY! Come get my money with a colour I actually like, companies! Haha.

Radiant Orchid is Pantone's Color of the Year for 2014. Here are my Radiant Orchid-ish makeup items!

Anyway, before I get all ready to get my commercialization on (yay retail therapy!), out of curiousity, I thought I'd just run through my beauty stash and pull out all the Radiant Orchid-colour-alikes I already have in my stash, and show them to you guys - and really also to myself, as a reminder to not bust my budget when Sephora puts out their Sephora X Pantone Radiant Orchid Limited Edition Makeup Set with Unicorn Whiskers, or whatever they have up their sleeve. Just a little reminder to myself. So here we go!

All the Radiant Orchid products we'll be bombarded with soon in the coming months! LOL! (Source)

First up, I thought I'd start with the obvious - eyeshadows! I mean, with a colour like Radiant Orchid, eyes are the first and most obvious place you can apply such a shade. There's seriously a purple eyeshadow to suit everyone, and to me, purple shadows are particularly pretty because 1) they add a pop of colour without being OTT, and 2) purple is a fairly conservative colour, so some shades of purple are still office-appropriate. Since I love purple eyeshadow, here's a selection of my purple shades that are closest to Radiant Orchid!

So, I have the following:


Radiant Orchid Eyeshadows: Pantone's Color of the Year is easy to wear on eyes!
Clockwise from top left corner, here are all my Radiant Orchid-y eyeshadows:

1. Sleek Makeup Lagoon Palette - again, link to swatches and reviews there. Not all the shades are Radiant Orchid-y, just the shade called "Night Sky" (bottom row, second from right). Lovely matte somewhat Radiant Orchid-y purple.

2. A really old Stila Cool Eyeshadow Trio. I feel like the most ancient person ever for having this (it's from 2005!), but it's still good and the middle shade is quite Radiant Orchid-y.

3. Benefit Pause For Applause Longwear Powder Shadow - I haven't blogged about this yet, but I really should! This is lighter than the Radiant Orchid shade, it's a bit lighter, but if you want a lighter alternative to Radiant Orchid, here you are! I love the Benefit Longwear Powder Shadows - they have great texture and pigmentation. I need to get around to blogging about them stat!

4. MAC 6 Eyes: Gem Eyeshadow Palette. This is anoher realy, really old eyeshadow palette (Holiday 2004, anyone?), and it contains (L-R) Seedy Pearl, Crystal, Shale, Trax, Beauty Marked, and Parfait Amour, in that order. I loooove this palette (six shades of purple!) but I feel Parfait Armour is the most Radiant Orchid-y shade in here.

5. Prestige Shadow Duo in Passionfruit. Prestige Eyeshadows are one of the most underrated when it comes to drugstores, with some really great pigementation and colours (Golden Retriever is a colour that really is reminiscent of the dog's fur, and Royale is apparently a dupe for MAC Haux), although there are misses as well. Passionfruit has two shades of purple - one a lighter purple that's lighter than the Radiant Orchid shade, and a darker purple that's a bit bluer in undertone than the Radiant Orchid shade. Not bad for a drugtore dupe!

6. Benefit Gimme Some Plum Velvet Eyeshadow. Gimme Some Plum - haha, cute name! I think this is probably one of the closest matches I've seen to Radiant Orchid. And ooh, such nice, smooth texture and pigmentation! I know Benefit Ccosmetics has repackaged this, so I think the closest thing you'll find in their new Longwear Powder Shadow line is...

7. Benefit Raincheck? Longwear Powder Shadow. Yup, it's a little bit bluer (I think, perhaps by a hair) and has less shimmer than Gimme Some Plum, but also has a nice texture and great pigmentation. This is maybe a tad darker and bluer than the Radiant Orchid shade, but I think it's not too bad. I can imagine using this together with Pause For Applause for a rockin' eye look.

8. Benefit Gossip Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner. Ah, another beauty from Benefit Cosmetics! Their Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liners now have a different packaging, so you know this is in the old school packaging. Gossip is essentially to me the cream versio of Gimme Some Plum and Raincheck?, so yes this is also another one that is fairly close to the Radiant Orchid shade.

And now, let's move on to my Radiant Orchid-ish blushes! I didn't think I would have that many (I mean, purple on cheeks tends to look like a bruise) but I guess I did have a few after all!


Pantone Radiant Orchid-ish Blushes!
And from top left corner, clockwise again, we have:

1. Illamasqua Sin Powder Blush. Ah, Illamasqua blushes are the bomb. They're massively pigmented, and have a nice texture. Sin is a really purple blush on, but blends out to be more like a cooltoned pinky plum on. You'll want to be careful with application - I realize that I can end up with clown cheeks if I'm not careful. I've also had some Illamasqua Powder Blush swatches on my blog, and you can see a super heavy swatch of Sin there.

2. Benefit Hervana: Oh la la, one of my all time favourite orchid blushes. Ever since my Benefit Hervana review, I've still been using and loving this blush, and it is super pretty! By far the most wearable way of wearing a Radiant Orchid-ish shade on your cheeks! (Sorry the box is closed in this photo - my full review has a photo of the pan and swatches!)

3. Smashbox Tokidoki Softlights in Dolce Vita. Uh oh, another really old piece of makeup (if you can't tell, my roots as a beauty junkie go way back before this blog began). This was released as a Smashbox and Tokidoki collaboration in 2009 (I think), and it had an eyeshadow trio, Softlights, brushes, and so on. Smashbox Softlights were one of the first blushes/highlighters I encountered that I really liked, because the shimmer was fine and glowy rather than being discoball-ish for most of the shades. Dolce Vita is a very pale, lilac-pink shade. Not too pigmented, so I use this to highlight more than anything else.

4. Illamasqua Kiss Powder Blush. Okay I lied. Illamasqua Kiss isn't very Radiant Orchid-y. It's a purply-pink-rosy colour, but I love it. It's been swatched on my blog, and I thought I had an FOTD with it, but I didn't. D'oh!

5. Becca Creme Blush in Wild Orchid: Sigh. I really do have all this makeup that I don't feature enough on my blog...anyway, Becca Creme Blushes are pretty awesome - nicely pigmented, and very, very soft texture. In fact, if anything, they're TOO soft for my liking, and they seem to go rancid a lot earlier than my other creme blushes (yes, I have been a makeup junkie for long enough for unused products to go bad on me! OMG! That's long, right?!), but otherwise, they're pretty great. Another d'oh! moment here because the blush is closed, not open, in this shot (what was I thinking)? But in the very first photo of this post, it is open! It is the creme blush in the bottom of the photo, in the middle-ish, to the left. Wild Orchid is a purply-pink shade that's quite wearable. The only gripe I have about Becca Creme Blushes is (other than the fact that they're soft and don't last too long) the packaging. It's rubberized packaging, much like NARS, which means after awhile the packaging gets all sticky and gross. Since there are no logos on the Becca rubberized packaging, I just use my nifty alcohol-to-clean trick. (For the actual NARS packaging though, I use silicone powder instead, so as not to remove the logo.)

6. Wet n' Wild Berry Shimmer Silk Finish Blush: This is a really old-school Wet n' Wild powder blush - they've changed the packaging and all now. I've no idea how quality is, I've never tried the reformulated versions, which should tell you I haven't tried anything from Wet n' Wild in a long, long time, because they reformulated their product somewhere in 2010 or 2011? Anyway, their pre-reformulataed blushes were really good. Berry Shimmer is a cooltoned pink with somme purple, and I've once swatched it next to NARS Outlaw, to see how similar they were (that's one of my first few blogposts ever!). They weren't the same, but back then, I guess my eye for colour wasn't as developed because I thought the two were similar. Looking back at swatches now, I think, "No way they're alike!" but back then I guess they were both plummy rosy shades. Anyway, Berry Shimmer is warmer than the actual Radiant Orchid shade, but it' probably also more wearable as a result.

Okay. So much for blushes. Now let's move on to lipglosses! I was actually really, really surprised that so few of my lipglosses were close to the Radiant Orchid colour - most of them just weren't purple enough! (I guess I'm not a purple lipstick person.) Here are the closest I have, and even then, I think they're not THAT close.


The closest Radiant Orchid lipglosses I could find in my stash.
From left to right, we see:

1. Clinique Currant Superbalm Moisturizing Gloss. This is actually a recent acquisition for me! This is a tiny mini-sized lipgloss, which I got free from my colleague who in turn received it as a gift from someone who obviously didn't know that my colleague doesn't wear any makeup...Yay for colleagues who wear no makeup! :P But anyway, this is quite sheer, leaving a slight tint of colour. It's also probably the most Radiant Orchid-like lipgloss I have.

2. Superdrug MUA Lipgloss Shade 4. Loved it then, love it now - my other blogpost has both a skin swatch and a lipswatch, too! Cheep and cheery - I got it for a pound and I couldn't ask for more. Not exactly a Radiant Orchid shade as it's a tad too pink, but I just wanted to show you a product I loved :P

3. Red Earth Lipglaze RD002: Another lovely, lovely shade I just don't wear enough of! Red Earth is an Australian brand, and back in the early 2000's here it was one of the hippest brands you could own if you were a teenage girl (which I was at the time)...Anyway. This has been with me awhile, too. The lipglosses have all been reformulated and no longer look like this (they look a lot more "natural" now). I don't even think they have a product called Lip Glaze now. Anyway, this shade is a tad pinker than the Radiant Orchid shade, but more wearable in my opinion.

4. MAC Lovechild Lipglass - Hah! Finally something that's not annoyingly old and impossible to procure! What can I say, Lovechild is absolutely gorgeous - something about a really complex plummy pink with copper shimmer...it's gorgeous. I love it.

5. Stila Grape Lipglaze - Oh, back to ancient stuff. Can you still get this? I don't know. Stila has been revamping its products for a few years now (something about changing ownership every few years does that to your brand, I guess - can't they just let a good thing be?), and the Lipglazes still exist, but maybe not in the same shades. They had some really, really pretty shades back then - what a pity it would be if all those went away.

And lastly - nail polishes! Since purple is one of my favourite nail polish colours, I do have some of these. Not as many as the hardcore nail bloggers, perhaps, but I do indeed haz teh purplez. Radiant Orchid, my nails are so ready for you!


Radiant Orchid-like nail polish colours: My nails are all ready!
Top row, L-R, we have:

1. Zoya Rea: A metallic, slightly lilac-leaning Radiant Orchid shade, this is a very nice take on the Radiant Orchid colour this year. I love the metallic finish - it glows under the light, and looks wearable but still eye-catching. It looks pink under some lights and purple under others, so I guess it may or may not look all that Radiant Orchid-ish depending on the lighting.

2. Nubar Prevail: Ah, a matte. This was released back in 2009 when matte nail polish was all the rage. Even then, this was a great matte polish - decent texture and a nice, matte-not-flat finish. The good thing about mattes? If they're no longer in style, you can put a topcoat on them and they're glossy! (You can't un-shatter a shatter polish, though...) Compared to the Radiant Orchid shade, I feel like this is a tad more blue-leaning, more violet perhaps. Still a great colour though!

3. Pretty Serious Atomic Brain: OMG duochrome! I absolutely love my duochrome polishes, and I do love this.

4. Sephora by OPI Call Your Mother - maybe the most Radiant Orchid shade I have. It's got enough pink and purple. Maybe it's go a tad too much pink! This shade, along with Metro Chic (remember that?) was all the rage back in 2009 or so (my memory fails me). It was when mushroomy shades were popular. I loved this, so pretty and wearable.

5. Deborah Lippmann Purple Rain - Okay, I know this is too light and pastel-y to be a Radiant Orchid shade, but at least it's a related cousin! If you only wear light shades on your nails, I guess this is a good substitute. Just beware the brushtroke-y application!

And the second row, L-R:

1. Illamasqua Poke is a bright purple with shimmer. You can see more photos of it in this haul post, and though it's really too bright to be a Radiant Orchid shade, I feel like it's going to be perfect for summer, when I want something brighter.

2. Models Own Boogie Nights - this was part of the Mirrorball collection released at the end of 2012 perhaps? Anyway, while it's not a Radiant Orchid-like shade, I think this is going to be a great glitter topper for all my Radiant Orchid-lookalike manicures! Nothing like wearing the new Colour of the Year with some bling, right?

3. Orly Fantasea - ooh another duochrome! In fact, this isn't just a duochrome, it's really a multi-chrome! If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'll know how much I love this. Orly Fantasea looks great worn alone (you'll have to layer it though), or over another purple. Either way, it's gorgeous. I'm not sure how Radiant Orchid-like it is (the duochrome kind of throws me off, and it's also not as dark as Radiant Orchid), but it is just so pretty.

4. Illamasqua Velocity is probably the closest nail polish I have that's a Radiant Orchid shade. Maybe it's a taaaad more blue, but I think it's close enough. It also has awesome application - opaque in two coats, great brush, nice texture that's not too watery or stringy. I love my Illamasqua polishes.

And here's an honourable mention for palettes. Or rather, palette.


My only Radiant Orchid-ish Palette: Benefit Sexieset Nudes Ever!
This is the Benefit World Famous Nudes Eye Palette in Sexiest Nudes Ever. And yes, the name is spot on - you get two Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow/Liners and four Longwear Powder Shadows, in both neutral and smokey greys and purples. Very sexy and feminine indeed! And yes, Pause for Applause and Raincheck? both make an appearance here, too. What can I say, this kit is so pretty - even the packaging echoes the Radiant Orchid colour!

So there you have it, a quick peek into my makeup stash and some of my Radiant Orchid-alike shades! While they may not all be exact matches, I feel like a lot of them are close cousins or siblings, and to be honest, if you're not picky about exact colour matching, will do as substitutes. Hope you enjoyed a little peek into my stash! (And yes, if you think I need to destash - I'm guilty as charged!)