Good
evening! Today I have for you my massive comparison of Zoya’s Purple and dark mauve
cremes! It seems like every fall, like clockwork, Zoya puts out at least one of
these dark purple cremes – and of course I always get them! But seriously, last
fall’s Urban Grunge had Tara, 2015’s Focus had Lidia, 2014’s Entice had Margo
& Veronica, 2012’s Designer had Toni and Monica, 2011’s Smoke had Anja (and
you’ll be seeing all of them here today!) The only polish of Zoya’s I could
think of that I don’t have that I wish I could compare to the rest of these
guys is Lael (which was ironically one of the first of these color polishes
that Zoya ever did), which I’ve heard is incredibly similar to Lidia (that’s
why I’ve never bought it). Once my swatch sticks come in, I’ll do a picture of
this comparison on those, so you can see how the polishes compare dried. I’ll
also, once I can put them all onto swatch sticks, throw in some non-Zoya dark
purples too. And, if next fall (and the fall after that and the fall after
that) they release another one of these dark purple cremes, I’ll be sure to
update.
From
left to right – Normani, Mary, Debbie, Marnie, Veronica, Toni, Margo, Tara,
Anja, Monica, Lidia, Katherine, Casey, Sloane
Normani through Veronica
Zoya
Normani (Naturel 1, Winter-Spring 2014) – I’m going to do a whole other
comparison for just the Naturels, but I wanted to include this along with the
other purples. It’s more of a sable brown color with some purple undertones, so
I wanted to throw it in.
Zoya
Mary (Naturel 3, Winter-Spring 2017) – Mary leans a little more brown than most
of the other polishes in this lineup, but since it’s still a little raisin-y I
threw it in. Again, I’ll talk more about Mary in my full Naturel comparisons.
Zoya
Debbie (Naturel 3, Winter-Spring 2017) – More of a plum brown. Again, I’ll talk
more about Debbie in my Naturels post.
Zoya
Marnie (Naturel Deux, Summer-Autumn 2014) – The reddest of these darker Naturels,
but still browner than Veronica. Compared to Veronica, it’s also much more
muted.
Veronica through Tara
Zoya
Veronica (Entice, Autumn 2014) – Distinctly the reddest of this set, and I’ll
also include Veronica when I do a Zoya berry-reds comparison. It’s closest in
tone to Toni, but Toni is much more dusty in tone. It’s distinctly berry
compared to Margo, but they’re both of a similar brightness.
Zoya
Toni (Designer, Autumn 2012) – Kind of a dark beet red with some plummy tones.
The Designer set in general was a very dusty set, and Toni and Monica are
probably the least vibrant of the comparison (Veronica and Margo being the
brightest). Color wise, it falls between Veronica and Margo.
Zoya
Margo (Entice, Autumn 2014) – The brightest of the dark purples, and also a
very warm one. The biggest difference between it and Tara is that brightness.
Zoya
Tara (Urban Grunge, Autumn 2016) – The most mid-toned purple out of all of them
– Not as warm as Veronica, Toni, or Margo, not as cool as Monica or Lidia, not
as light as the Naturel purples and not as dark as Casey, but that said it’s
really close to Anja, the closest of any two polishes in the lineup. Anja’s
darker – Tara looks like Anja with a drop of Margo in it – but otherwise
they’re very, very close.
Margo through Lidia
Zoya
Anja (Smoke, Autumn 2011) – The darkest of the very warm toned purples, Anja
looks distinctly red compared to Lidia.
Zoya
Monica (Designer, Autumn 2012) – Like Toni, Monica is rather dusty compared to
everyone else (these pictures refuse to show it.) It’s much more cool toned than Toni and is a lot lighter than Lidia.
Zoya
Lidia (Focus, Autumn 2015) – I haven’t worn Lidia in a while, but I recall her
drying a lot darker than in the bottle. I’ll have to try her again once I get
the swatch sticks. She’s also much more blue toned than a lot of the rest of
Zoya’s dark purples, but not super blue toned.
Monica through Sloane
Zoya
Katherine (Gloss, Autumn 2012) – This is actually a jelly polish, so unless you
build it up it’s not that dark. This is another one I haven’t worn in a little
while, but I recall it looking at three coats like a jelly version of Monica
(fitting, as they came out at the same time.)
Zoya
Casey (Core Lineup) – By a wide margin the darkest of the purples, Casey comes
off as black in a lot of lightings.
Zoya
Sloane (Pulse, Autumn 2008) – Yes, Sloane has shimmer in it (and when I do my
post on comparing shimmery purples she’ll be there too.), but it’s subtler than
most so I threw it in. It’s a bit like a shimmery version of Anja.
Let me know if you have any comparison requests and I'll try to make them happen!
All of these polishes are available at Zoya.com.
