Sephora is about to bring out a limited-edition spring cosmetics line with orange eye makeup -- including orange false eyelashes made from feathers. The renaissance of orange extends to many facets of design： The Canyons Resort in Park City， Utah， recently installed a luxury ski lift called the Bubble Express -- with heated chairs in eye-popping orange.

　　Linda Warren， chief marketing officer for Talisker Mountain Inc.， which owns Canyons， says the color was chosen in part because it has ‘happy connotations.’

　　Pantone， the color-expert unit of X-Rite Inc.， has seen such an uptick in requests for orange color swatches that it is set to declare the hue as Pantone‘s Color of the Year 2012 on Thursday. （Last year’s Color of the Year was a shade of pink called Honeysuckle.）

　　The specific color Pantone has chosen is called ‘tangerine tango’ -- a brilliant shade of reddish orange that evokes a fireball as much as fruit.

　　It was added to Pantone‘s index of 2，100 colors after the company asked retailers and designers what colors they were seeking out. A plethora of orange requests came back. That led to the Sephora line， which is a partnership dubbed ’Sephora + Pantone Universe.‘

　　Orange offers ancillary advantages to manufacturers and retailers. It makes products stand out on cluttered store shelves. ’If you‘ve got a bunch of products on a shelf， it can’t hurt to have an orange one，‘ says Leatrice Eiseman， a color expert who works with Pantone.

　　Paint and chemical manufacturer Akzo Nobel NV chose a juicy red called ’terra cotta rose‘ as its ’Color of the Year‘ at a gathering in September. The company says it’s a ‘powerful mood modifier， reflecting passion， power and festivity.’ Akzo Nobel‘s color experts say the shade reflects that the world is ’progressing into something more confident and robust‘ as we head into 2012.