Every year, Pantone declares the color of the next 12 months ahead: a hue to define the mood, set the tone both literally and figuratively. For 2024, it was ‘Peach Fuzz’, and the previous year, it was ‘Viva Magenta’. Looking ahead to 2025, ‘Mocha Mousse’ is what’s being hailed as the definitive color of the moment. It’s a soft, warm shade that brings to mind chocolate and coffee, and that connects to the beauty world’s ongoing love affair with brown.
“It’s about reframing experiences, understanding the importance of little pleasures and living in the moment,” Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, told Vogue of their choice. “It could be a sweet treat, a nature walk—the whole idea is about personal comfort and indulgence; but they don’t have to be just about yourself. It’s also something that you can gift and share with others.” It’s certainly a sentiment you can articulate in a beauty routine, whether more figuratively as you let a little bit more wellness into your life, or quite literally with a delectable gradient of browns for your beauty bag.
Shades of brown have been pretty ubiquitous in the last few seasons of beauty. The ’90s has kept its hold on our makeup pouches and beauty cabinets, thanks to the likes of Hayley Bieber’s Rhode and their rich, Espresso Peptide Lip Tint. Chocolate brown was the lip shade of this fall, as worn by Emily Ratajkowski, Dakota Johnson, et al. The beauty trend cycle has also been dominated by food-adjacent aesthetics too: if you can remember all the way back to its patient zero, Bieber’s ‘glazed doughnut skin’, to cherry cola hair as worn by Dua Lipa, ‘latte make-up’, and ‘blueberry milk nails’. And so ‘Mocha Mousse’ feels like the correct continuation to add to your nail inspo folder. Nails can be both a subtle and definitive nod to the trend, and you can experiment with texture, sheen, and gradient.
If you want to take Pressman’s statement on ‘Mocha Mousse’ more seriously, there’s a selection of polishes that fit the brief for gifting this holiday season, from Chanel’s delectable shade ‘Particuliere’ to Addiction Tokyo’s sensual ‘Espresso Kiss’. Whether slick and glossy or muted and matte, it’s time to stay warm and cozy this winter with nails to match what’s in your mug.
