Review: Grind Sparkling Shadow (Pony Effect)

This product was sent to me by StyleKorean for review purposes. I was not paid for this post but please note that affiliate links are used on my blog. These go towards supporting Oh My Stellar and future content.

Highly pigmented and Korean eyeshadow generally doesn’t go hand-in-hand and, from my personal experience, I wasn’t fully happy with the formula of Pony Effect eyeshadows in the past either (I have two palettes from her line with Memebox and I found it quite lacklustre). However, I had seen this product floating around on Youtube, and avoided watching the reviews, and I wanted to try it out.

This is the Grind Sparkling Shadow, which is a very new concept to me. The last time I had seen a grinding product was with VDL (a setting powder) and I’m not sure that I’ve seen this before otherwise. I’m personally a big fan of loose pigments; I have been using them since I first got experimental with make up in music college and I love the intense colour pay-off! That being said, they are pretty messy to work with, so I would never travel with one of them – and maybe this is where this grinding shadow can come into play.

I have two shades from the range – Guest List and EDM. They are on sale at StyleKorean right now for USD$9.99 but it looks like they are either being phased out or are slowly out of stock, so you better get on quickly.

So, let’s get right into the review!

Product Description

This product is a pressed shadow that can be ground for application. It claims to give a smoother and softer (I assume texture-wise, not pigmentation wise) glitter sparkle finish, while this style of packaging/dispenser allows the product to stay refresh and can also be a much less messy alternative to the loose pigment.

At the moment, this shadow is only available in four shades – all shimmery. The below list of shades and descriptions are my awkward translations from the Korean text:

• Club Kid (silver pearl with champagne beige colour)
• Pregame (silver and pink pearl with champagne pink colour)
• Guest List (gold and pink pearl with rose gold colour)
• EDM (opal pearl with blue colour – though I personally feel that it is more purple).

To use the shadow, you just turn the dial (which I will show below) to grind up the pressed shadow. They suggest to apply the product with either with a smudging tip or a finger.

Packaging

The shadows come in a black and rose gold box with a very simple and elegant packaging design that suits the Pony Effect brand. When it comes to the design, I think that this looks very luxe and high end, even though it is a relatively affordable product. Each box is also sealed with a colour coded sticker: orange for Guest List (the rose gold) and purple for EDM (which is described as blue but is closer to a frosty purple).

Opening it up, the shadows are enclosed in a black plastic tub with the lightning bolt logo on the top and further details (such as shade names) on the bottom. The overall look is very trendy but also elegant – aesthetically, I think that it looks really nice.

My main concern with it is that the shade names are only listed on the bottom. This is quite standard for all single eyeshadows but, because these are grinding shadows, the loose product can cause a mess inside of the cap. To counteract this, they do warn to only grind the amount that you need (which is where I went wrong when I was taking these photos) but this is still not a very practical work around.

When you open up the cap of the shadow, you’ll notice that the lid has a ‘lock’ on it – partly to keep the product fresh and also to reduce mess. If you’re a ‘one shade eyeshadow’ sort of person, then this would be a pretty good option to consider.

At first, the grinder is sealed with a tape so you can just remove that. There is an arrow on the sides to direct you; the dispenser needs to be turned clockwise (turning it the wrong way could damage the product) to grind it up. The overall process is very smooth and easy.

Pictured above: Guest List

Pictured above: EDM

Application

The directions for this product recommends to apply with either a sponge tip applicator (which, honestly, I don’t even own) or with a fingertip. However, since I will generally always do my make up with brushes, I tried that out first – both a blending and a packing brush. I also used an eyeshadow primer on all occasions; it could also benefit from using a glitter glue, but I preferred not to use that for this review.

With a blending brush, the pigmentation was very soft and light, but this was easier built up with a denser packing brush. However, I find that the shadow applies sheer still and with some patchiness – that is, the colour applied poorly closer to the lash line and eyelid folds. With a finger, however, the product was much more intense and applied better. Although I am not usually a fan of it, I would recommend that as the best application method.

That being said, the smaller size of the tub (where the product sits) means that it can be difficult to pick up if you have longer nails like myself. You could also tip it out onto the lid, which is what I do to tap off excess anyway, but that does cause more mess.

Personal Experiences

And above are the finger swatches and how it applies on the eyes. For both of these eye looks, note that the outer corner is a different eyeshadow – I mostly did this to see how it blends with normal shadows (which is well) and also because I would never wear one shade over my entire eye. I find that it makes things look too flat so I always use a darker shade to rebuild the dimension.

The finger swatches are with dry skin, no primer, while the eye swatches are done with the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion.

The pigmentation of these shadows are relatively good – especially considering that these are Korean eyeshadows which will generally veer towards the sheerer side. I found that they also wore really well throughout the day with no fading or creasing at all, even after a full day of wear. With some glitter glue or a wet brush, I’m sure that these will apply exactly like a loose pigment too (but with much less fall out).

You do need to be careful when you grind up the product though because it can be really messy to store if the product is loose. I wish that there was a colour coded cap or something on the top, so that I didn’t need to turn the tub around to check the shade.

In addition, four shades is very limiting and I would like to have seen them experiment with some other finishes (a duochrome, a glitter… there’s a lot of possibilities). As it is, the collection is very small, which is a shame because the concept of these shadows is great.

Formula-wise, I think that these shadows look pretty and wear well throughout the day. However, it’s a shame that you can’t get a very good application with a brush (which is always my preferred method).

So, here’s my verdict!

SO WHAT IS IT?

A shimmery eyeshadow, that is dispensed through a grinder to turn it into a loose eyeshadow

THE GOOD

• High quality packaging and great design
• Relatively affordable
• Less messy in comparison to loose pigment shadows
• Dispenser keeps product fresh and the cap clicks shut
• Very shimmery and blendable formula
• Works well with other eyeshadow formulas
• Flattering shade range
• Wears well through the day with minimal to no crease or fading
• No fall-out

THE BAD

• Limited shade range
• Applies patchy and/or sheer with a brush
• Can be messy if you ‘over grind’

RATINGS

• PACKAGING | 5/5
• PRICE POINT | 4/5
• FORMULA | 4/5
• PIGMENTATION | 4/5
• BLENDABILITY | 5/5
• COLOUR RANGE | 3/5

OVERALL RATING? 7/10

WOULD I RECOMMEND?

The downside to this product is definitely the limited shade range – hopefully they will expand on it, or another brand will make the same product with more colours (I’m looking at 3CE, to be honest).

Still, I would recommend this if you are someone who really likes shimmery eyeshadows and who usually applies with your fingertips anyway – especially if you also like to wear an overall wash of colour over your eyes. You would get a lot more use out of this product and would probably also find it great for travel (or for touch ups).

WHERE TO GET IT FROM

If you want to buy either Guest List or EDM, it is selling on StyleKorean for USD$9.99, on sale from the full price of USD$19.80

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