Pure Essence (BM 638)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Pure Essence (BM 638) is a light, warm green from Benjamin Moore: LRV 66.3, so it reflects about 66 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Pure Essence
Four Benjamin Moore colors picked for Pure Essence by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper green, a quiet contrast from another family, a dark accent. Benjamin Moore did not choose these pairings.
Closest match in every other brand
Each brand's closest color to Pure Essence, ranked by CIEDE2000 (deltaE): under 1.0 is indistinguishable, 1.0 to 2.3 very close, 2.3 to 5 noticeably different, over 5 clearly different.
| Brand | Closest color | Code | LRV | deltaE | How close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherwin-Williams | Jocular Green | SW 6736 | 71 | 2.6 | noticeably different |
| Behr | Wishful Green | M410-2 | 71 | 1.7 | very close |
| Valspar | Mint Gala | 6001-7B | 70 | 2.4 | noticeably different |
| PPG Paints | Solitaire | 1132-2 | 69 | 1.2 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Benjamin Moore
The Benjamin Moore green colors nearest to Pure Essence (LRV 66.3) by LRV.
Lighter than Pure Essence
Darker than Pure Essence
Color data
| Brand | Benjamin Moore |
|---|---|
| Color code | 638 |
| Hex | #C4DDCB |
| RGB | 196, 221, 203 |
| HSL | 137°, 27%, 82% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 66.3 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 85.9, -11.7, 6.0 |
| Undertone | Cool Green |
| Temperature | warm |
| Color family | Green |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Pure Essence (BM 638), published as #C4DDCB
#B2D3C9
#D7E7CB
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Benjamin Moore
More from Benjamin Moore
Common questions
- What is the LRV of Pure Essence (BM 638)?
- Pure Essence has an LRV of 66.3. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Pure Essence is a light color.
- What is the closest match to Pure Essence in another brand?
- Solitaire (PPG 1132-2) from PPG Paints, at a deltaE of 1.2 (very close).
- Is Pure Essence warm or cool?
- Benjamin Moore lists Pure Essence as warm, with a Cool Green undertone. Its Lab b* value is 6.0; a higher b* is warmer and yellower, a lower one cooler and bluer.
Sources: LRV and hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0). Color differences are CIEDE2000 values computed by this site from the hex values (data snapshot 2026-10-01). Color names and codes belong to their manufacturers.