Essex Green (BM HC-188)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Essex Green (BM HC-188) is a very deep, neutral black from Benjamin Moore: LRV 5.6, so it reflects about 6 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Essex Green
Three Benjamin Moore colors picked for Essex Green by this site's color math: a trim white, 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 Essex Green, 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 | Roycroft Bottle Green | SW 2847 | 5 | 3.3 | noticeably different |
| Behr | Trellised Ivy | PPF-54 | 6.1 | 6.6 | clearly different |
| Valspar | Aged Pine | 6011-5 | 7 | 8.3 | clearly different |
| PPG Paints | Dark As Night | 14-05 | 6 | 7.9 | clearly different |
Lighter and darker in Benjamin Moore
The Benjamin Moore black colors nearest to Essex Green (LRV 5.6) by LRV.
Lighter than Essex Green
Darker than Essex Green
Color data
| Brand | Benjamin Moore |
|---|---|
| Color code | HC-188 |
| Hex | #27362E |
| RGB | 39, 54, 46 |
| HSL | 148°, 16%, 18% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 5.6 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 21.1, -8.2, 3.0 |
| Undertone | Cool Green |
| Temperature | neutral |
| Color family | Black |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Essex Green (BM HC-188), published as #27362E
#172E2D
#363E2E
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Benjamin Moore
Comparisons that include Essex Green (BM HC-188)
More from Benjamin Moore
Common questions
- What is the LRV of Essex Green (BM HC-188)?
- Essex Green has an LRV of 5.6. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Essex Green is a very deep color.
- What is the closest match to Essex Green in another brand?
- Roycroft Bottle Green (SW 2847) from Sherwin-Williams, at a deltaE of 3.3 (noticeably different).
- Is Essex Green warm or cool?
- Benjamin Moore lists Essex Green as neutral, with a Cool Green undertone. Its Lab b* value is 3.0; 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.