Pantone Colour of the Year 2015 Marsala: Shopping My Makeup Stash

Marsala is Pantone's Colour of the Year 2015, and unlike some previous years' Colour of the Years, I'm actually pretty excited for this, because as a makeup junkie, I feel like Marsala is pretty versatile on lips and cheeks. (I wouldn't be keen to wear it on my eyes, though.) Naturally, you can expect lots of commercialization with the Colour of the Year - like the Sephora X Pantone collections, and to be honest, the whole "Colour of the Year" thing always feels a bit enforced/commercialized to me - for one, the colour of the year is a decision that is made a year in advance by a small number of people in the industry, as Wiki helpfully points out: "Twice a year the company hosts...a secret meeting of representatives from various nations' color standards groups. After two days of presentations and debate, they choose a color for the following year...the color for summer 2013 was chosen in London in the spring of 2012." So yes, for some reason, people we don't know choose a colour for us a year in advance, and deem it the "Colour of the Year". It sounds arbitrary and a tad bizarre to me, but there it is.

My Marsala-ish coloured makeup stash!

At least, this year's Colour of the Year looks pretty good to me. Unliek 2013's Emerald, which I found a tad unwearable makeup-wise (emerald eyes just aren't my thing, let alone lips or cheeks, although I did rock an Emerald eye look in 2013!), and 2014's Radiant Orchid, which I liked personally but can imagine how some people with warmer skintones might find unwearable, Marsala looks pretty universally flattering, and actually wearable when it comes to makeup.

The closest things I have to Pantone's 2015 Colour of the Year

I'm definitely eyeing some of the items in the Sephora X Pantone collection this year, but I thought, as an excercise in frugality (don't look at me like you're not convinced - I said frugality, not futility!), I should attempt to dig through my makeup stash to see what Marsala-coloured products I already have in my stash, to see whether I am already all up to my eyes in Marsala products, or whether I still have room for a few more!

I didn't have any Marsala-ish eyeshadows (or I couldn't find them when I dug around in my stash), so this is just lips and cheeks. First off, we start with the lipsticks. These aren't a 100% Marsala match, but they are the kind of earthy red-toned shades thaat might be close. From top to bottom, I have Urban Decay's Lipstick in Requiem, Sellout, and Korres Mango Butter Lipstick in Natural Purple. Of course, because I've been a makeup blogger for so long, I've realized Urban Decay has since reformulated and relaunched its lipsticks - so these shades don't exist as-is. But the Korres Natural Purple Lipstick is still around, although the tubes are now black rather than white! It's a bit more purple and less brown than the Marsala colour, but it might work for some people who want something a bit more cool-toned.


Urban Decay Lipsticks in Requiem, Sellout, and Korres Lipstick in Natural Purple
Next, we move on to the lipglosses! I thought I would have a few more Marsala-y colours given how big my lipgloss stash is (and I've posted a photo of my lipgloss stash on Instagram, so you get the idea), but looks like I don't! I guess this gives me a free pass to look at the lip products in the Sephora x Pantone collection? Haha. Anyway, the two shades I have that I thought were decently close-ish to the Marsala colour are my Stila Lipglaze in Raisin (which I think was part of a set), and my Korres Cherry Full Color Lipgloss in Plum (again, a colour from sometime back that isn't available anymore). Between the two, I think Raisin is closer. Plum is, again, more purple than the Marsala colour really is.


Stila Lip Glaze in Raisin, Korres Lipgloss in Plum
Now, we come to the blushes. Again, despite my huge blush collection (also posted on Instagram), I only found 6 blushes that were Marsala-ish enough to feature on the blog. And again, as a true testament to my makeup hoarder tendencies, not all of them are available now - some were discontinued, some were LE.

Well first there are my 2 Cargo blushes, Mendocino and Lyon. Neither are truly Marsala-ish, but they are close. Mendocino is a deep pinky-plummy shade with gold shimmer, which Cargo calls a "wildflower pink". It's gorgeous, and not too deep in shade as to be unwearable (it's also still available to buy). The other Cargo blush, Lyon, is a discontinued colour, and is a matte deep plummy-pinky-brown shade. It's a tad more purple than the Marsala shade.


Cargo Blushes in Mendocino and Lyon
Also in my collection that was near the Marsala shade were my Sleek Blusher in Fenberry (another sadly LE product, from a Berry collection in 2011 oh-so-long ago) and Illamasqua blusher in Beg (which I've done an FOTD for also very long ago in 2010). Out of all my blushes, I feel like Sleek's is the most "Marsala"-looking one, not too purple, not too dark or light, and with enough brown to be earthy, but still predominantly red, and it's a pity it was LE. Sleek really ought to bring it back one day, but otherwise a close colour seems to be their current blush in Antique. Illamasqua's Beg isn't really that Marsala-y - I think it's a tad lighter than the Marsala shade, but is pretty wearalbe with a not-too-heavy hand.


Sleek Blush in Fenberry and Illamasqua Blush in Beg
Lastly, we have MAC's Blush in Flirt and Tease, which is a dirty plummy colour with shimmer. It's a bit more purple than the Marsala colour, but it seemed somewhat close enough to be included. Also included is my Estee Lauder blush in Alluring Rose, which is a mid-tone matte dusty rose shade (the leftmost colour in the palette). It isn't quite as deep as the Marsala colour, but is a very wearable shade that is close. In case you're wondering, the other two shades in the palette are Audacious Plum (middle), and Exotic Pink (right), which are also lovely shades, but not Marsala-y at all. And unlike most of the blushes in this post so far, all three of these shades are still available! Yay!


MAC Flirt and Tease Blush, and Estee Lauder Blush in Alluring Rose
So after digging through my own stash for Marsala-ish makeup items, what's my own self-assessment? Unlike last year's Radiant Orchid, where I had quite the stash of Radiant Orchid-y stuff, this year, by comparison, I feel like I can actually feel less guilty about buying things from the Sephora xPantone collection, since I have less Marsala stuff by comparison! Of course, the idea of "less" is always relative. I can imagine that toa normal person, 6 similar blushes, 3 similar lipsticks and 2 similar lipglosses feels like plenty, but I guess to a beauty junkie, too much makeup is never enough - what can I say, I love my makeup! I guess objectively speaking, I probably don't need any more makeup, but I kind of just want more, just because the Marsala colour this year seems so pretty and wearable! And technically, although some of the colours could be considered close-enough substitutes, I don't have that many items that are a 100% match for the Marsala colour, so I'm totally justified in getting more, right? LOL. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed a peek into my stash, and I hope I excercise some modicum of self-control this year!