Ever since you were a little girl, you've probably had a favorite color. Even if it was pink or purple when you were young and now that you're grown, it's something that's more in line with red, yellow or a neutral hue – have you ever thought about why you gravitate to those shades?
If your response is a Kanye shrug followed by "I dunno. I just do." that's probably what most folks would say. But as I was trying to figure out why I like the colors that I do — these days, it's shades of blue, grey, and brown — I did a little research on color psychology. It actually revealed a lot.
See, the thing about me and color is our relationship is ever-changing. Right now, I'm in a season in my life where I'm focusing on peace, consistency, and figuring out who is truly reliable in my life. And lo and behold, check what blue, grey and brown symbolize:
Blue:
- serenity
- wisdom
- loyalty
- truth
Grey:
- reliability
- dignity
- maturity
- dependability
Brown:
- stability
- friendship
- comfort
- natural
Crazy, right?! Just to make sure this wasn't a random coincidence, I thought about how a couple of years ago, I was really into the color green. At the time, I was focused on doing things to improve my health. And green? It's all about that.
Green:
- growth
- health
- harmony
- fertility
- money
That got me to thinking about actor Lisa Raye and the fact that, more times than not, she's in all-white. I did a little digging around to remind myself of why she does that. When she first started doing it, she said that it made her feel like an angel. Then, once she wore white to her father's funeral, she realized that white complemented her personality of going against the grain; of marching to the beat of her own drum. Her story, in combination with my own, was enough for me not to be a skeptic of color psychology anymore. There had to be something to it.
Before thinking about how various colors reflected wherever my mind was at any given point in time, I pretty much only thought about color psychology as it related to establishing a business brand (a good read is "How to Use Color Psychology to Give Your Business an Edge"). But as I kept reading articles on the topic, I got that it really does have a lot of power and influence on our psyches.
Take yellow, for example. How do you feel whenever you see it? Probably brighter and happier.
That's just what yellow symbolizes. Or what about red? When you want to look and feel sexy, it's probably one of your go-to hues. After all, nothing is hotter than the perfect shade of red lipstick. Red is the color of love, passion, and desire.
There are even studies that say the color that you choose to wear can totally alter your attitude for that day.
For instance, if you wake up in a bad mood, you should probably put on a cool color like blue, purple or green because it will help to keep you calm and centered.
On the other hand, if you have a first date coming up and you want to make a bold impression, go with something warm like orange or red. If you've got a job interview, making a good impression before saying a word by wearing black (it signifies leadership), blue (it conveys being a team leader), or a shade of grey (it represents being a responsible person and logical thinker). Or, if you're somewhere you know your ex is gonna be, rock some purple. You probably know that it symbolizes royalty, but it also represents respect, wisdom, spirituality, sophistication, and mystery.
Am I saying that colors and what they symbolize should run your life? No. Nothing should do that. I'm simply saying that colors affect us more than most of us probably think that it does.
And, thanks to my own color psychology experience, I'm suggesting that whatever colors you gravitate to, you might have a couple of your own a-ha moments if you do some digging into what they represent. By the way, another cool read is "Color Psychology: Does It Affect How You Feel?".
Once you get started, it might cause you to see some commonalities among the people you know, based on the colors they're the most attracted to as well.
Anyway, just some cool food for thought. Life is vivid. Live it in (semi-well-thought out) color!
Featured image by Getty Images.
- Ultimate Guide to Color Psychology ›
- Psychology of Color | ›
- Forget Everything You Know About Color Psychology and Read ... ›
- Color Psychology: The Psychological Effects of Colors ›
- Color Psychology: Does It Affect How You Feel? ›
- The History of Color Psychology | Ethos3 - A Presentation Design ... ›
- The Psychology of Color in Branding ›
- Color Psychology ›
- The Color Yellow | Psychology Today ›
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"When I graduated high school, I moved back to America, Georgia, and I ended up making, like, the oil, the Rose Galore oil, which is like the staple product of my brand. I don't know what made me make it, but I did, and it literally cleared my face up," she tells xoNecole in an exclusive interview.
"I end up selling it as a body oil first because, obviously, I'm 17, [and] don't have any background as an esthetician or anything like that. I just made a product that worked for me, but people bought it and was using it, and I reformulated it, and then it just stuck like with me."
While MoonXCosmetics is known for its facial products, it wants to expand to body care and home. It just released its new product, Moon-Gel body wash, and it's only up from there. As Mariee continues to grow the brand, it's more than likely that she will see more history-making moments. And so far she has.
Photo courtesy
When asked if she feels pressure to obtain more of those milestones, she says yes and no. "I did $1.8 [million] again, and then I did $2 million but I feel like now, currently, I don't look at that as one of my goals anymore because [of] the headache and just everything that came with it, but I was thankful and blessed to have that milestone, but now I'm looking for more," she says.
"I want to say more reach than more like fast-paced sales. I do want that. Obviously, every girl wants that, but I do want to have a better overall reach for my brand because I did take two years off so I was able to learn, [and] study a lot of different things. See how things have changed from 2020 to now."
"I did $1.8 [million] again, and then I did $2 million but I feel like now, currently, I don't look at that as one of my goals anymore because [of] the headache and just everything that came with it, but I was thankful and blessed to have that milestone, but now I'm looking for more."
Another part of expanding for any company is hiring people. Finding the right person to help you can be a hassle, especially for business owners who are used to doing all the work themselves. Mariee can relate to this, and she touched on this topic in her documentaryThe Million Dollar Story. She recommends having someone be your "right-hand man" who you trust to handle the ins and outs of the company.
"I could say, definitely get, like a right-hand man to help you within the process because that really was what helped me. I never had a job. I literally was 18 now, being like, you know, the boss of over 30+ employees at one point in time, and I didn't know anything. I didn't know anything about no W-2s, no taxes, no clock in, clock out because all I [have] ever known was my brand," she explains.
"So I definitely partner with people who are very skewed and versed in those areas, and they helped me get through it. Even to this day, I still have my same person helping me with hiring, firing, [and] doing everything that I can right now because I'm still learning. But obviously people get jobs young, so they have way more experience than me, but still learning."
And though she is still learning, one thing she makes sure to stay on top of is being consistent. Consistency is what trips many people up when it comes to achieving goals, but Mariee says it's all about scheduling. Whether it's when to post on social media or email marketing, scheduling it out can make a world of difference. That same practice also works when planning out her future goals for the company.
"Right now, future goals would be to drop at least five more products before the end of the year. We always do outreach, where we do drives and all that, but definitely do way more this year, she says. "Then really dive into body [care], and then hopefully open up MoonXBody underneath MoonXCosmetics to let that branch out and be open and definitely get back consistent."
For more information, visit moonxco.com.
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