Zoya Margo

Margo was released by Zoya as part of the Entice collection for fall 2014. Described by Zoya as a "modern red plum," it is a rich, lively deep fuchsia or medium-dark fuchsia-leaning purple, with a mix of violet, purple, pink and red that is difficult to pin down precisely. Add to that a bit of translucence in the formula that does an amazing job of holding light within the polish and you have any number of permutations of those four hues depending on the circumstances in which it's viewed. Purple is the strongest contributor to this buoyant, vivacious color. This kind of purple, also tagged by colorists as fuchsia, magenta, deep pink and/or plum:

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I just adore this color. It possesses a singing energy that makes my eyes happy! There is also an inherently luminous quality to it that, to me, gives it a haute couture sort of presence. (I would kill for a wool suit in this color!!!) Zoya has capitalized on this trait by building that light-holding translucence I mentioned above into the formula, which makes the color come alive just beautifully on the nail.

Application could have been better, but it's no fault of the polish's that it wasn't. The consistency of Margo is fluid and creamy with a silky smooth slip over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties. Pigmentation is a paradox. On the one hand, it's pigmented enough so that one coat can provide opaque coverage. On the other hand, it's translucent enough so that unless that coat is very, very even, you will be able to detect variations in the tone of the color on the nail, especially in bright lighting. Even with two coats, this happens, as you will see in my photos. My suggestion is to use three thin, even coats. Of course, this is after the fact. I used two medium coats and didn't pay much attention to how evenly they went on, and this is reflected in the photos where the MACRO SEES ALL. Cleanup with this polish also takes some extra attention. Its pigment will run and distribute color on surrounding cuticles and skin if you're not careful and yes, you'll see this in my photos as well. Diasticure! Well, no, not that bad, especially in person, but if I had known what I do now beforehand, possibly I'd have been able to do a much better job applying this polish. Margo does dry naturally in fairly good time to a sensationally glossy finish no matter how you apply it.

Topcoat helps some to even out the depth of the polish, but be warned that this color is a bleeder and will transfer tint to your topcoat brush if still wet when you apply it, which it typically is when using a quick dry product. I keep a separate bottle of Seche Vite that's acquired a slight purplish tint with use on such polishes over time, and use it when I suspect a potential for bleeding, which seems to happen mostly with variations of purple, magenta, fuchsia and some reds.

Photos show two coats of Margo over treatment and basecoat with a balefully bubbly topcoat of Seche Vite. I am disappointed in these, and not just because my application turned out to be less than stellar. I really don't feel like I caught the color with enough accuracy to represent it's presence in person. My photos turned out too dark, too red and too muddy. They just don't show the radiance and intensity that make this polish so special on the nail. 

Zoya Margo

Zoya Margo

Zoya Margo

Zoya Margo

Zoya Margo

Zoya Margo

Zoya Margo

Zoya Margo

Zoya Margo

Zoya Margo

Zoya Margo

I've had difficulty capturing colors of this nature before, most notably with Deborah Lippmann's Between the Sheets, which absolutely refused to reveal its vivid purplish qualities to my camera and turned out as a pretty but entirely inaccurate deep pink. Fortunately, there are polish bloggers out there that do not share my problem! Liesl, of Liesl Loves Pretty Things, includes wonderful color-accurate photos of Margo in her post featuring this polish, here, as does Lacey of Lace and Lacquers, here. I encourage you to look to these posts as the most color accurate renditions of Zoya Margo that I have found. 

Also, Lacey of My Boyfriend Hates Makeup has a very helpful comparison post where she shows Margo and its collection-mate Veronica, a berry-toned wine red, on side by side nails, here, which really helps to distinguish the purple in Margo. I would say that my photos of Margo turned out looking much more like Veronica than they should.

love,
Liz