carmine

For years he’s been reviving the use of natural rather than synthetic textile dyes, notably including carmine.

Some of Mexico’s most picturesque and imposing colonial cities, like Oaxaca, were essentially built on the wealth derived from cochineal dye, also called carmine, and known as “grana cochinilla” in Spanish.

During this Era of Exploration, consumers also got their pink cheeks and lips from other pigments like carmine, derived from cochineal insects harvested in Central and South America under similar conditions.

VF: Pantone identifies it as a “hybrid color,” or “a carmine red that does not boldly dominate but instead takes a ‘fist in a velvet glove’ approach.”

And indigo carmine in particular is a common agent in tests involving the kidneys and bladder.