Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Defines Blue-Glow Purple as the Effect Color of 2017

• Violet shade continues the trend towards shades of reddish blue and bluish red
• "Punky" and "royal" – "calm" and "vibrant“
• Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, trend scouts sense the direction

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, today announced for 2017 its first effect color of the year. It is blue-glow purple. The violet shade continues the trend towards shades of reddish blue and bluish red. With our effect pigments from, the extraordinary color can be imparted in a variety of shades to cosmetics, printed and plastic products as well as coated surfaces.

Color interpretation of societal developments

"Fruity and fresh like plums and at the same time reminiscent of old roses and ripe fruit are attributes inspiring the trend towards reddish shades. Our versatile trend shade creates both punky and royal impressions through a calm and mysterious color, which can also appear vibrant", said Filip Roscam, Design Director for Pigments & Functional Materials within the Performance Materials business sector. Our effect pigments allow the trend shade to vary between a more reddish shimmer transitioning to bluish, depending on the viewing angle and properties of the surface. Applying their sharp sense of direction and keen instinct for trends, our trend scouts monitor societal developments and interpret them into colors, giving rise to the annual Color Forecast for the cosmetics industry, new color-intense effect pigments, and now also the "Effect Color of the Year". They observe street scenes and exhibitions, collaborate with other trend scouts and advisors, and also probe the international terrain. Roscam, for example, is a management board member of the international Color Marketing Group.

First and foremost, a combination of our effect pigments Iriodin® Icy White Lightning and Xirallic® NXT Tigris Blue with other red shades lends a trendy violet appearance to consumer goods and lifestyle products. A variant of Timiron® Splendid Violet rounded off by Ronastar® Diamond Black creates lipsticks, eye shadows and nail polishes that shine in the trend color. With its intense blue-violet effect, Colorona® Patagonian Purple enhances cosmetic formulations.