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Blush Silk Muted
Color detail

Blush Silk Muted

Pink · Hue 330
Hex
#BC9FAD
RGB
rgb(188, 159, 173)
HSL
hsl(330, 18%, 68%)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 15%, 8%, 26%)
Metrics
S 18% · L 68%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
2.4:1Fail
on black
8.7:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Blush Silk Muted (#BC9FAD) belongs to the pink family — hue 330°, 18% saturation, 68% lightness. Copy the hex, RGB, or HSL value above, or paste the CSS custom property below into your stylesheet to reference this color directly.

CSS
:root {
  --colorarchive-blush-silk-muted: #BC9FAD;
  --colorarchive-blush-silk-muted-hsl: hsl(330, 18%, 68%);
  --colorarchive-blush-silk-muted-rgb: rgb(188, 159, 173);
}

AI Color Names

Let AI suggest alternative poetic names for this color in English and Chinese.

Design Context

SweetNurturingPlayful
Common in

Beauty · Children's Fashion · Dessert Brands

Pairs well with

Mint green for freshness, soft gold for warmth, light gray for sophistication

Design tip

Use for friendly, approachable interfaces. Millennial pink became a design movement — it still works for brands targeting warmth.

Cultural context ▶

Soft pink represents nurturing, innocence, and sweetness. Modern brands have reclaimed it as a gender-neutral color of kindness.

Color Origins

Pink family

From cheap cosmetic to feminist reclamation to gender-neutral comeback.

Heritage

Pink, as a named color, is recent in English (only since the late 17th century, originally referring to the Dianthus flower). The hue itself is even more recent in widespread use — most historical 'reds' that we'd now call pink were either faded cochineal or madder mixed with white lead. The classical Persian rosé and Venetian pink are old, but the cultural identity of 'pink' as its own thing is essentially a 20th-century construction.

Across cultures

Pink-as-girl is a marketing invention from the 1940s; before WWII pink was often suggested for boys ('a stronger, more decided color') and blue for girls. In Japanese culture, sakura pink carries seasonal and nostalgic weight without gender association. In Latin American culture, hot pink is a celebratory color; in much of South Asia, pink is one of the auspicious wedding palette colors. The Pink Triangle was reclaimed from a Nazi badge into a 1970s LGBTQ+ symbol.

In the wild

T-Mobile's magenta is a hard-trademarked, hard-defended brand color. Barbie pink (Pantone 219 C) became its own cultural force in 2023. Owens Corning trademarked the color of its insulation. The Pepto-Bismol pink is calibrated for medicine-cabinet recognizability. Wes Anderson built a career making heritage pinks (The Grand Budapest Hotel) feel deeply specific. Millennial Pink (~2014–2018) was a rebranding effort to make pink read as gender-neutral, sophisticated, and salable to adults.

How it reads

Pink reads softer and warmer than red; biologically it's still a long-wavelength color, but the white in it dampens the arousal response. Light pinks (blush, dusty rose) read as romantic, gentle, premium-feminine. Hot pinks read as energetic, queer-coded, or counterculture. Salmon and coral pinks read as healthy, beachy, or hospitality-friendly. Pink is having a sustained moment in adult-targeted brand design (skincare, DTC, beverage) precisely because it stopped being read as exclusively a children's color.

This particular tone

A grounded mid-tone — sober, considered, well-suited to body text accents, editorial layouts, or any context where restraint reads as quality.

Lightness band: At mid-lightness the hue carries its full character. This is the band where most identity colors live: bright enough to be distinctive at small sizes, deep enough to sit cleanly on a white canvas.

Saturation band: The low saturation pulls this color toward earthen, vintage, or editorial palettes. It reads as confident and grown-up rather than playful, and it tolerates being used in large blocks without becoming visually noisy.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #BC9FAD.

  • Bilibili 哔哩哔哩primary
    Bilibili Pink · #FB7299
    →
  • PlayStationaccent
    Square Purple · #A363D9
    →
  • Redditsecondary
    Periwinkle · #7193FF
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #BC9FAD.

  • ScandinaviaAsh Grey
    #A8AAA5 · Birch and ash bark
    →
  • Greece (Aegean)Olive Silver
    #9CA38F · Olea europaea leaf undersides
    →
  • EgyptPapyrus Tan
    #C1A36F · Cyperus papyrus reed paper
    →

Tonal strip

All lightness levels at this hue and saturation. Click any to navigate.

Palette moves

Instead of stopping at one swatch, use nearby, opposite, and tonal neighbors to branch into a broader palette.

Lighter companion
Blush Bloom Muted
#CDB7C2 · hsl(330, 18%, 76%)
Darker companion
Blush Tone Muted
#AB8799 · hsl(330, 18%, 60%)
Complementary counterpoint
Jade Silk Muted
#9FBCAD · hsl(150, 18%, 68%)
Analogous lead
Merlot Silk Muted
#BC9FA4 · hsl(350, 18%, 68%)
Analogous echo
Mauve Silk Muted
#BC9FBA · hsl(305, 18%, 68%)
Triadic +120°
Lime Silk Muted
#ADBC9F · hsl(90, 18%, 68%)
Triadic +240°
Sapphire Silk Muted
#9FADBC · hsl(210, 18%, 68%)
Split-comp +150°
Emerald Silk Muted
#9FBC9F · hsl(120, 18%, 68%)
Split-comp +210°
Aqua Silk Muted
#9FBCBC · hsl(180, 18%, 68%)
Export preview
Base: Blush Silk Muted #BC9FAD
Lighter companion: Blush Bloom Muted #CDB7C2
Darker companion: Blush Tone Muted #AB8799
Complementary counterpoint: Jade Silk Muted #9FBCAD
Analogous lead: Merlot Silk Muted #BC9FA4
Analogous echo: Mauve Silk Muted #BC9FBA
Triadic +120°: Lime Silk Muted #ADBC9F
Triadic +240°: Sapphire Silk Muted #9FADBC
Split-comp +150°: Emerald Silk Muted #9FBC9F
Split-comp +210°: Aqua Silk Muted #9FBCBC

Compare

See how Blush Silk Muted compares side by side with related colors.

vsBlush Bloom MutedvsBlush Tone MutedvsJade Silk MutedvsMerlot Silk MutedvsMauve Silk MutedvsLime Silk Muted

Nearest neighbors

The closest archive matches by hue, saturation, and lightness.

Search by hex
Nearby match
Blush Silk Faint
#B6A5AD · hsl(330, 10%, 68%)
Nearby match
Blush Silk Dust
#C398AD · hsl(330, 26%, 68%)
Nearby match
Blush Tone Muted
#AB8799 · hsl(330, 18%, 60%)
Nearby match
Blush Bloom Muted
#CDB7C2 · hsl(330, 18%, 76%)
Nearby match
Blush Silk Soft
#C992AD · hsl(330, 34%, 68%)
Nearby match
Blush Tone Faint
#A38F99 · hsl(330, 10%, 60%)

Accessible pairings

Archive colors that meet WCAG contrast standards when paired with this color. Use as text-on-background or background-on-text.

Contrast checker
AAA7:1
Cobalt Ink Vivid
#091B3E
AAA7.1:1
Cobalt Ink Bright
#061A42
AAA7.1:1
Cobalt Ink Pure
#031945
AAA7:1
Indigo Ink Soft
#181C30
AAA7.3:1
Indigo Ink Clear
#101737
AAA7.5:1
Indigo Ink Vivid
#09123E

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#B2B4A9
Protanopia
#B0B0AA
Tritanopia
#BBA7A7
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