Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the Marilyn Darling Show—today I’m doing an ink review on Vinta Makopa (and yes, I had to sort out the name because I thought it was “Mayopa” at first). Makopa means “Java apple,” which I still don’t know what that is, but I do know what this ink is doing: it’s a gorgeous pink-magenta that can kick up a greenish/gold sheen on the right paper. I start with a swatch and a water resistance test, and the verdict is: it has a little bit of water resistance, but it gets kind of smoochy, so I personally wouldn’t trust it on the outside of an envelope. Then I do my toilet paper chromatography—one with water and one with rubbing alcohol—and the rubbing alcohol strip is absolutely wild. It gets this fluorescent, almost 3D-looking effect that made me stop and stare for a second. After that, I run it through my usual stack of papers, calling out feathering, bleeding, and ghosting as we go. Makopa can look stunning, but it’s picky—there were only a handful of papers where it behaved beautifully and showed off that sheen without turning into a mess. By the end, I’m being honest: I don’t know that I’d recommend it unless you’re willing to match it to the right paper.