Marsala: Color of the Year 2015

Hello, lovelies! I am sorry for being away so long, unannounced. I meant to put something up and explain my absence, but life and school got in the way for these past few weeks, so please forgive me. Anyhow, 2015, huh? How about that? Being a New Year, I found it only appropriate to talk about Pantone’s Color of the Year. For the past few decades or so, Pantone has hand-picked a shade which would set the tone for trends in design, fashion, and other visual and creative fields, and as you may already know, for 2015, the color is Marsala. Marsala is a wine-toned red shade with a brown undertone base and with that in mind, I attempted to put together a look that incorporated this color using a few drugstore products and things I already had. However, as I used things from the drugstore, I could not swatch them therefore some of the colors are not as perfectly matched as I would have hoped. Nonetheless, Marsala’s signature that sets it apart from other wine colors is the brown undertone, giving it a rich earthiness that was popular in the 90s. I tried to keep that in mind when putting together this look despite those few bumps, so without further ado, here is my pass at Marsala for 2015!

Simple breakdown, this look is a subtly colorful eye with a bright cheek and lip. I wouldn’t say it is completely neutral for everyday but can be wearable during the day on weekends. The lip and cheek were not the browny, earthy shades I was hoping for, but they help contrast those very tones in the eyeshadow to bring a pop of brightness to the face. I paired them with a shapely brow and heavy contour to frame and warm the face and aside from that, I used my everyday eyeliner, mascara, highlighter, and powder to complete the look.

For eyeshadow, I used a variety of shadows from different palettes, but I provided swatches so that you can find similar ones in your own collection.

Lid color– I used a shimmery, sheer plum to sweep across the lid with a flat shader brush. (Passion, Elf)
Inner crease color– A satiny burgundy shade to emphasize Marsala in the inner part of the eye used with a fluffy, non-dense blending brush. (Last Call, Urban Decay)
Blending color– This matte brown with a red undertone matches the tones of the other wine colors. I used this as a transition color under the crease color to blend harsh edges and act as a base with a dense shader brush. (Third row left color, Sonia Kashuk)
Crease color– I used a rosy, dark taupe shade and concentrated it on the crease to define it with a dense dome brush. (Coffee, Mally)

These are the products that I picked up at the drugstore, incase you wanted to add your own pops of Marsala into your collection.

I would also recommend the collection ELF put together that I wish I could have gotten my hands on for this tutorial or some of the rosy taupes in the Naked 3 palette such as Liar, Factory, or Mugshot and finally, Sephora’s official collaboration with Pantone themselves. The packaging looks darling!

Finally, I hope you enjoyed getting in touch with Marsala and cheers to the New Year!