Beauty / Is 2025 Pantone’s Color ‘Mocha Mousse’ a Wash for South Asian Skin Tones? Here is the Beauty Scoop!

Is 2025 Pantone’s Color ‘Mocha Mousse’ a Wash for South Asian Skin Tones? Here is the Beauty Scoop!

Beauty Jan 22, 2025

by Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

Pantone has declared Mocha Mousse as the colour of the year because it is a mellow hue of brown that evokes comfort. As someone who has consumed her fair share of chocolate mousse and mocha pudding, I loved it until I realised that in terms of beauty, the shade does not translate effortlessly onto brown skin tones. The colour poses a challenge on my neutral, medium skin tone, because it makes me look sallow, while on fairer skin tone it can look muddy and on darker skin tones it has no impact. Regardless of these challenges, Mocha Mousse can make us brown beauties emit a soft lit glamour that chimes perfectly with the winter, if we use varying shades of chocolate and different textures to evoke the Mocha Mousse look.

Soft Lit Eyes

South Asian eyes are renowned for their intense depth and the Mocha Mousse looks allows our orbs to be enveloped in a soft light that allows the sparkle to be at the forefront.

Sclera – Show More!

To ensure that eye area is not washed out by brown eye shadows, it is important to build up contrast between the sclera and the surrounding area, and I recommend water lining using a beige eyeliner such as the Clinique High Impact Gel Tech Eyeliner in Beaming Beige because it creates the illusion of having a larger area of whiteness in the eye area. Indian actress, Tripti Dimri, is a fan of this line of eyeliners, because it is silky-smooth so there is no tugging and it lasts up to 12 hours, so there is no need for touch ups during the day!

**Master Mocha Mousse and Attain Softlit Glamour. Clinique High Impact Gel Tech Eyeliner.** Photo Credit: Instagram

The maximise the sclera, I like to curl my eyes, so that any shadow that would be cast my eyelashes is eliminated and my eyes look wide open.

Coffee Coloured Orbs

Once the sclera is optimised the next step is to determine if you are in the mood for a quick, convenient swipe of glamour or you want a tad more intricacy around the eyes. Regardless of your eye shadow path, always use a light hand when applying the colour because too much brown shadow can make the area look heavy and tired.

If you are in a hurry, Kulfi Zari Eyes Eyeshadow in Bronze Brocade, a deep champagne, is a winner for all South Asian skin tones because the pigment is strong and the shimmer adds a playfulness to the look. All you need to do is tap the product a few times on the mobile lid and then fading it into the upper lid so that the look exudes an understated, sophisticated glamour.

If you like shadow sticks and have a few minutes to create a fun look, I recommend the Wander Beauty Wandering Shadow Sticks, a quartet of shades that evoke a hot cocoa afternoon by the hearth. The sticks are easy to glide on and deliver soft finishes that are romantic. For example, for fair to medium skin tones, I suggest swiping Champagne Shimmers on the mobile lid, to attract brightness to the eyes, and then tap Starry Eyes (a cool bronze shimmer in the crease to create a diffuse, soft brown look. For deeper skin tones, the same effect can be achieved by applying Make Your Mauve to the mobile lid and Coffee Date to the crease. I have observed that browns infused with a touch of red really make the colour pop on deeper skin tones, so when you are searching for brown eye shadows do not hesitate to look at shades such as deep purple or shades of brown with a bit of red to achieve the Mocha Mousse look.

For the above two suggested eye looks, use a soft liner in a deep brown such Estée Lauder Double Wear 24H Waterproof Gel Liner in Cocoa because it is intense but not overpowering like black. I love how it glides seamlessly along the lash line and stays put all day.

If you love traditional powder eye shadow, I am delighted to recommend the Clarins Ombre 4 Couleurs Eye Shadow Palette in Maple Gradation. For darker skin tones, I suggest using the shimmery chocolate brown shade on the mobile lid and then blending the shimmery dark chocolate shade in the crease. The matte chocolate shad can be smudged on the lower eye line to create a smoky effect and the gold shimmer can be tapped under the eyebrow to lift the area.

For light-medium skin tones the same quartet can be used but the shades are placed differently. I suggest applying the shimmery gold shade on the mobile lid and apply a mix of the shimmery and chocolate brown shades in the crease and finish the look by smudging in a thin line of the matte chocolate brown shade as a liner.

The final step in the eye look is to apply a mascara, to lift the eye lashes ensuring that there is plenty of sclera to contrast with the brown eyeshadows. I enjoy the Benefit Bad Gal mascara applicator because it is conical, which permits the bristles at the top to reach the tiny eye lashes located in the inner corner of each eye, and the bristles are well-spaced which permits each lash to be separated and enveloped in mascara. From this collection, I recommend the Rebel Brown shade for light-to-medium skin tones, because the rich chocolate brown shade softly frames the eyes without overpowering the delicate eye shadow looks.

For darker skin tones, I recommend the Wild Plum shade because of its red content creates a soft halo of colour the eyes and allows the brown shades to come through.

Getting Cheeky, No Chocolate, Just Flesh

The cheeks occupy most of the facial area and this is where applying brown make up becomes tricky, as you are on the precipice of delving into a washed-out complexion. In this area, I wholeheartedly recommend veering towards fleshy shades with hints of pink and red and avoiding brown blushes altogether.

I found two powder blushes that fit the Mocha Mousse beauty look, and they are easy to apply and look stunning. For light-to-medium skin tones, the Wander Beauty Blush All Day Hydrating Powder Blush in Are we Bare Yet, is a warm, earthy rose, that adds soft, subtle definition.

A blush shade that celebrates the beauty of dark skin and draws on the Mocha Mousse trend is the Benefit blush in Java, a rosy mocha blush. Its matte finish adda a sophisticated touch to the cheek area.

As with the eyes, a light hand is essential to maintain the soft lit of the Mocha Mousse look, and judicially placed taps of product are key. I take a fluffy brush and tap it a few times on the tops of the apples of my cheeks to create a lifted look. I want my face to be defined but I also want my own brown skin to enhance the beauty look, and a great way to do this is by allowing the skin to show in the cheek area.

For a night on the town, a shimmery topper can add light without looking excessively bright. A universally flattering highlighter is the Clé de Peau The Luminizing Face Enhancer in the shade Shooting Star. This mosaic of soft, himmery gold, taupe, and chocolate brown shades infuses the complexion with a sense of moonlight. The shimmer is soft, and creates a lit from within look, that flatters brown skin by candle and moonlight. I use the same fluffy brush and tap a bit on my cheeks, the centre of my forehead and the bridge of my nose to create a soft, lightbulb look.

Luscious Lips

Texture is another way to lift brown shades on brown skin tones, and it is precisely this reason, I do not recommend using a lipstick for the Mocha Mousse look. A lipstick, even if it is satin finish, is still a solid layer of pigment on the lips and if the shade is a deeper brown, it makes lips look like chopped liver.

Instead, I recommend using balms and oils to create juicy lip look cloaked in café seductiveness. I enjoy the Clarins Lip Comfort Oil collection because it hydrate my lips, which is imperative for winter, and the dough foot applicator is soft and feels like a cushion when you press it against the lips. The Chocolate shade looks dark the bottle but when it is applied on the lips, it adds a soft warmth, almost the shade of black tea at the bottom of an empty cup, and it looks sophisticated. The colour unifies the colour of the lips and they look shiny.

Continuing on the juicy and moisturised lip path, Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm are essential as we trudge through Arctic vortices during a Canadian winter. My complaint about many tinted balms was that the pigment did not show on my lips which are a mix of mauve and pink. I am delighted to report that Summer Friday lip balms not only deliver shea and murumuru seed butters, but they also cover the lips in a veil of discernible colour that is both subtle and sophisticated. There are three shades from this collection that I recommend for the Mocha Mousse look: Vanilla Beige (light), Hot Cocoa (medium) and Brown Sugar (dark). The bevel-shaped application tip is slightly concave so the tip hugs the contour of the lips and delivers the balm in an even, neat manner.

Mocha Thoughts

Pantone provides valuable guidance about colours, but it does not mean that we are beholden to a single colour to evoke the emotions associated with same. In beauty speak, we need to adapt the colour using textures, application tips and associated shades to evoke the spirit of the colour. The beauty of all shades of brown skin is that we can handle so many colours and with the right tweaks we own the colours, as with Mocha Mousse.

Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

Author

Meena (@meenalaregina) always loved the idea of exploring the non-conventional idea of beauty. Having grown up as a pimply chubby teenager, she wanted to see the change in the world that best reflected your uniqueness as well. Her well-received collection of blogs where she tries on various beauty p...

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Tame the Mane: ANOKHI's Guide To South Asian Winter Hair Care

Is 2025 Pantone’s Color ‘Mocha Mousse’ a Wash for South Asian Skin Tones? Here is the Beauty Scoop!

by Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

COMMENTS

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