from Stylelikeu.com

Mood marketing will replace all other research disciplines trying to rekindle and improve the relationship with consumers in the future, and therefore will require very different store environments and shopping mentalities. Shopping will need to become a trip within our inner selves to satisfy our complex needs and wishes, and therefore needs to be addressed in a truly innovative manner, to reach the consumer on another, more private level.

- from TrendTablet.com,  10/11/10

Instead of unearthing the latest and greatest, my reason for writing about Colour Lovers tonight is somewhat selfish. If you haven’t noticed by now, I have of late described my general state of being as “anxiety-filled”, “panic-stricken”, or, as my husband is fond of proclaiming: “you are having a major meltdown right now”. Its the general state that has plagued my existence since becoming a new business owner and all the running a business entails. On this particularly balmy eve, after several minutes of ritualistic meandering through the site in an attempt to procrastinate even further, I found myself reduced to a Jello-like mess of calm bliss. Here it is, folks: Colour Lovers is a bona fide stress reducer.

Take for instance, this palette I lingered on:

The title is not the least bit appropriate: its 9pm and an utterly stifling NYC summer night; Fall is far from even begun. But the colors are so soothing, so pleasing, so… tranquil. The way they work so well together, so harmoniously, so… perfectly. I stared at this palette for a good 5 minutes, and after a brief moment of what I believe others might consider an “out-of-body experience”, I suddenly felt myself revived and raring to go, blasting through week old emails at a pace usually reserved for the half hour after my morning caffeine fix.

Some people like yoga, some like a massage, a mani-pedi, or a cigarette to calm the nerves. Me? I’d much prefer staring at multiple grid-like variations of color combinations dreamed up by some graphic designer stuck at a corporate job rendering powerpoint presentations and looking for a creative outlet. It does the body good.

Keep up the good work, Colour Lovers. May you dream up many more soothing color palettes to get me through the day.