The Pantone Colour of the Year for 2026 may be a soft hue of white, but a sprightlier colour is reigning over the makeup world—lilac. Prada Beauty launched its first limited-edition lilac blush in a cream-to-powder formula, part of its newly debuted Wisteria collection that, true to its name, champions all things purple. Zendaya, for one, is clearly a fan; she was spotted with ethereal lavender eyelids at Prada Beauty’s NYFW pop-up, courtesy of her makeup artist Ernesto Casillas, who broke down the look on his IG. Swedish popstar Zara Larsson has also been faithfully repping shades of lavender throughout her Midnight Sun Tour, colouring in her waterline or opting for dramatic cut-creases with the hue and even mixing in some pinks and yellows to make those eyes pop on stage.
“After years of beige, warm neutrals, and quiet luxury, people want colour back, but they don’t necessarily want loud colour,” said Jane Boddy, creative director of the Pantone Color Institute, in a Business of Fashion story. The numbers back it up—in the second quarter of 2026, searches for lilac and lavender blushes were up 34 per cent and lilac eyeshadow a whopping 1,600 per cent, according to Spate’s Popularity Index.
