Classic mint or pastel mint?
“Mint” covers two quite different colours. One is the medium green with a blue edge you see on retro appliances and toothpaste packaging; #3EB489, the “Mint” value in the colour-name list we use, is that one. The other is the pale, almost-white mint of ice cream and baby clothes. If your brief says “mint”, ask which.
| Name | HEX | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Mint | #3EB489 | Buttons, illustrations, bold packaging |
| Pale green (CSS) | #98FB98 | Pastel mint for backgrounds and highlights |
| Aquamarine (CSS) | #7FFFD4 | A bluer pastel mint, very bright on screen |
| Mint cream (CSS) | #F5FFFA | Near-white page background with the faintest green |
| “Mint Green” (name list) | #487D4A | Darker and greyer than most people expect from the name |
Mint vs seafoam
Seafoam (#99BB88 as “Seafoam Green” in the name list) is greyer and more yellow than mint, with hue 100° against mint's 158°. Mint looks crisp and cool; seafoam looks washed and natural, closer to sage. If mint feels too sharp for a calm interior, seafoam is the softer step.
Text on mint
Mint is lighter than it looks. White on #3EB489 gives only 2.59:1, so a white-on-mint button fails. Black scores 8.09:1, and charcoal 4.58:1. For pale mints, any dark text works.
Pairings
Mint and peach is a well-loved pastel pair, warm against cool. Mint with navy looks sporty and preppy. For a clean product look, mint with white and charcoal keeps the green as the only colour on the page.
Questions
What are the RGB values for mint green?
rgb(62, 180, 137); HSL hsl(158, 49%, 47%).
How do I make a lighter mint?
Keep the hue and raise the lightness. The strip above shows the steps; or seed the palette generator with mint and pick Mono mode.