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Merlot Whisper Clear
Color detail

Merlot Whisper Clear

Red · Hue 350
Hex
#F8E7EA
RGB
rgb(248, 231, 234)
HSL
hsl(350, 54%, 94%)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 7%, 6%, 3%)
Metrics
S 54% · L 94%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
1.2:1Fail
on black
17.6:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Merlot Whisper Clear (#F8E7EA) belongs to the red family — hue 350°, 54% saturation, 94% 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-merlot-whisper-clear: #F8E7EA;
  --colorarchive-merlot-whisper-clear-hsl: hsl(350, 54%, 94%);
  --colorarchive-merlot-whisper-clear-rgb: rgb(248, 231, 234);
}

AI Color Names

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

Design Context

TenderRomanticGentle
Common in

Beauty · Wedding · Healthcare

Pairs well with

Soft neutrals (warm gray, cream) or muted greens for balance

Design tip

Use as a background for emotional storytelling or as an accent in healthcare and wellness brands to convey warmth without intensity.

Cultural context ▶

In many cultures, light reds and pinks symbolize love, tenderness, and new beginnings. In Japan, sakura pink represents the ephemeral beauty of life.

Color Origins

Red family

The first pigment, the loudest signal.

Heritage

Red is the oldest pigment in the human visual record. Ochre reds appear in burial sites from 75,000+ years ago; Roman red lead (minium) lit Pompeian walls; cinnabar drove a millennium of trade across Asia and the Mediterranean. Madder, kermes, and cochineal — the three classical reds — built fortunes and emptied empires before synthetic alizarin arrived in 1869 and collapsed the price overnight.

Across cultures

In China red signals fortune and weddings, painted on doors and lanterns and given in money envelopes. In much of South Asia red is the bridal color (saris, sindoor) for the same reason. Western traditions split red between love (Valentine's) and danger (stoplights, balance sheets). Across the Christian liturgy red marks martyrdom and Pentecost; across cinema it has long marked the femme fatale.

In the wild

Coca-Cola has used essentially the same red since 1886. Netflix and YouTube engineered their reds to pop maximally on dark UI. Christian Louboutin trademarked a single red — Pantone 18-1663 — on the soles of his shoes. Ferrari's racing red began as the Italian national racing color (Rosso Corsa). Nearly every emergency stop button on every machine ever made is red, and the convention is so universal it functions as international iconography.

How it reads

Red advances. On a page it draws the eye first; in a UI it implies destructive action or urgent state. Increasing saturation pushes it toward warning; reducing saturation moves it toward earthen, terra-cotta, comfort. Pairing red with white reads as energetic and consumer-facing; pairing it with black reads cinematic and luxurious; pairing it with cream reads as heritage or hospitality.

This particular tone

A bright, airy reading of the hue — clean and approachable, the kind of color that holds up well in product photography and on light backgrounds.

Lightness band: At this lightness the hue almost recedes into the surface around it — useful for backgrounds, hover states, and any surface where the color should suggest a mood without competing with content.

Saturation band: The clear, mid-saturation register is the most common identity sweet spot — saturated enough to register as a 'real' color, restrained enough not to fight typography or photography placed over it.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #F8E7EA.

  • Anthropicprimary
    Cream Canvas · #F0EEE6
    →
  • Aesopneutral
    Cream Paper · #EFE4D2
    →
  • Lululemonneutral
    Off White · #F5F5F5
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #F8E7EA.

  • Turkey (Istanbul)Marble White
    #F0EBE0 · Marmara marble, used since Roman era
    →
  • ScandinaviaSnow White
    #F4F0EA · Limewashed plaster, Nordic interiors
    →
  • JapanWashi Cream (和紙)
    #F4ECD8 · Unbleached mulberry-fiber 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
Merlot Veil Clear
#FDF7F8 · hsl(350, 54%, 98%)
Darker companion
Merlot Mist Clear
#F3D8DC · hsl(350, 54%, 90%)
Complementary counterpoint
Lagoon Whisper Clear
#E7F8F5 · hsl(170, 54%, 94%)
Analogous lead
Vermillion Whisper Clear
#F8ECE7 · hsl(15, 54%, 94%)
Analogous echo
Blush Whisper Clear
#F8E7F0 · hsl(330, 54%, 94%)
Triadic +120°
Leaf Whisper Clear
#EAF8E7 · hsl(110, 54%, 94%)
Triadic +240°
Indigo Whisper Clear
#E7EAF8 · hsl(230, 54%, 94%)
Split-comp +150°
Seafoam Whisper Clear
#E7F8ED · hsl(140, 54%, 94%)
Split-comp +210°
Azure Whisper Clear
#E7F2F8 · hsl(200, 54%, 94%)
Export preview
Base: Merlot Whisper Clear #F8E7EA
Lighter companion: Merlot Veil Clear #FDF7F8
Darker companion: Merlot Mist Clear #F3D8DC
Complementary counterpoint: Lagoon Whisper Clear #E7F8F5
Analogous lead: Vermillion Whisper Clear #F8ECE7
Analogous echo: Blush Whisper Clear #F8E7F0
Triadic +120°: Leaf Whisper Clear #EAF8E7
Triadic +240°: Indigo Whisper Clear #E7EAF8
Split-comp +150°: Seafoam Whisper Clear #E7F8ED
Split-comp +210°: Azure Whisper Clear #E7F2F8

Compare

See how Merlot Whisper Clear compares side by side with related colors.

vsMerlot Veil ClearvsMerlot Mist ClearvsLagoon Whisper ClearvsVermillion Whisper ClearvsBlush Whisper ClearvsLeaf Whisper Clear

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Merlot Mist Clear
#F3D8DC · hsl(350, 54%, 90%)
Nearby match
Merlot Veil Clear
#FDF7F8 · hsl(350, 54%, 98%)
Nearby match
Merlot Pearl Clear
#ECC0C8 · hsl(350, 54%, 84%)
Nearby match
Merlot Whisper Soft
#F5EAEC · hsl(350, 34%, 94%)
Nearby match
Merlot Whisper Vivid
#FBE4E8 · hsl(350, 74%, 94%)
Nearby match
Crimson Whisper Clear
#F8E7E7 · hsl(0, 54%, 94%)

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
AAA7.2:1
Lagoon Shadow Faint
#404F4C
AAA10.1:1
Lagoon Nocturne Faint
#2E3836
AAA9.8:1
Lagoon Nocturne Muted
#2A3C39
AAA9.4:1
Lagoon Nocturne Dust
#26403C
AAA9:1
Lagoon Nocturne Soft
#22443F
AAA7.9:1
Lagoon Nocturne Clear
#174F45

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#F2F3E9
Protanopia
#F1F1E9
Tritanopia
#F7E9E9
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