Mmmmmagenta

Raise your hand if you thought Pantone’s 2023 Colour of the Year would be Barbiecore Pink – or some version of it. You aren’t alone. I was sure it was going to be the pinkest of pinks. We were close—sort of. Magenta is in the pink family but a bit more of the black sheep.

What do you think of Pantone’s Colour of the Year for 2023? I love that Pantone described this colour as “a call to courage.” Because when I look at it, courage is precisely what I see. This magenta is bold, expressive, passionate, and brave. And it’s vulnerable. A colour that demands your attention and forces you to look at it. Look at its strengths and weaknesses. How could it be anything but vulnerable? It is a colour that evokes emotion. And after several years of being kept inside and isolated from others, it pushes you to be daring and explore the world. It’s telling you to be adventurous, try something new, and fall in love.

So now that it’s about to be everywhere, what do we do with it? Can we pull off this colour? Looking around my home and in my closet, searching for snippets of this colour. I have two things, a greeting card I framed to put on my wall and a Christmas Cactus that only blooms for six weeks out of the year. I have only two magenta things. That just isn’t going to do.

Here are a few things we can do to bring some viva magic or glam (my apologies to MAC Cosmetics) into your life.

• Wear magenta shoes – especially when paired with a monochromatic outfit.
• Socks – they will be automatically considered whimsical.
• Artwork – and if that’s too pricy, frame the greeting cards.
• Lipstick – this is going to be the first thing I try
• Cozy home accessories – pillows, blankets, lampshades, coffee mugs, etc.
• Ink – for your refillable pen
• Hair dye.
• Wall colour – are you bold enough to do this?
• Slippers
• Nail polish
• The Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
• Bring flowers into your home and yard.
• Painted furniture
• Paint a mural on a surface in your home – I’m thinking of painting a bouquet of tulips in watercolours on the side of my fridge.

And if the colour isn’t going to do it for you – the message it brings might. So be like magenta – bold, courageous, unconventional, authentic, and vulnerable.

Are you here for the magenta? What will you do to bring more of this colour into your life? And if it’s going to be a decor element – how will you light it?
Will magenta be inspiring other things in your life – tell me how and why.

*Photo Source – Pantone.com