Pastels or pastel colors belong to a pale family of colors, which, when described in the HSV color space, have high value and low saturation.[1][2] They are named after an artistic medium made from pigment and solid binding agents, similar to crayons. Pastel sticks historically tended to have lower saturation than paints of the same pigment, hence the name of this color family.
 Pastel sticks in a variety of colors | |
| Common connotations | |
|---|---|
| Soothing |
The colors of this family are usually described as "soothing."[3] Pink, mauve,[4] and baby blue[5] are commonly used pastel colors, as are mint green, peach, periwinkle, lilac, and lavender. Pastel colors are common in the kawaii aesthetic.
Examples
| Examples of pastels in HEX-code | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| fea3aa | f8b88b | faf884 | ||
| baed91 | b2cefe | f2a2e8 | ||
Gallery
Gaiety pastels
Pastel-colored beads
