Confalonieri’s shades: 4 things about our colour library

A recipe for a great makeup pencil includes two main elements: texture and colour. Our R&D team is always working on formulas to create new textures, while on nuances you’ll be spoilt for choice when selecting the shades for your private label lines.

At Confalonieri we can start from a Pantone reference, recreate a colour from a sample or draw from our “minoteca”, the library that collects all the colors we’ve made and tested over the years. Let’s see some facts to know more about our repertoire of colors.

Colours, colours everywhere

Our colour catalog currently has over 5,000 shades, but the number is constantly growing. The latest addition is a cool brown originally made for an eyebrow pencil, but in the next few weeks we’re going to see some new entries. We don’t categorise colours by the type of pencil: our team is able to develop the desired colour in every texture.

Nude colours: a multitude of hues

Nude colours are the "family" of shades most represented in the library, with a multitude of natural neutrals that are so popular in recent seasons. The range goes from nude colours with a pink undertone to those with a yellow hue, with all the intermediate shades developed for lipstick pencils, lip liners and highlighters for private label lines we’ve designed over the years together with our customers. The gradation of these colours is composed with very small differences, so everyone can find the exact shade that they want to include in their palette.

Standards, preferences and alternatives

Each color can be obtained with different combinations of pigments, depending on many elements: the type of makeup pencil, the decision to certify a product or the choice of a vegan formula.
Red is a typical example: the FDA does not authorise the use of red lacquer for eye pencils and products intended for the eye area, while the EU doesn’t have such a restriction. Carmine is a 100% natural pigment, but we can’t use it in vegan textures since it’s an animal product. For red shades and colours with a red strand, therefore, we’ve studied various alternative solutions. Sometimes finding the right mix of pigments can be a bit tricky, as we see with purple hues, but we have many options in our library.

White & black

In common usage, saying "black and white" immediately makes you think of the antithesis of colour, but makeup and its shades are a whole other ballgame. If you ask us for a black or white pencil, our first question will be: which black? Which white? Our library includes more than ten variations of black, between matte and shiny textures, and at least six different whites, also with matte or pearlescent finish. The deep black you can find in Line eye pencils, for example, is different from the others because of the hint of Prussian blue we’ve added to the formula, while white pencils can almost imperceptibly lean towards yellow, pink or cool tones.

How do you want to assemble the colour palette of your private label line? Is your favourite colour in our library or shall we create a new shade together? Write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we’ll find out!