So many people talk about how amazing Pony’s products are (from both Pony Effect and her collab with Memebox… which I honestly don’t think has much difference at all) that, when I was in Korea, I knew that I had to get my hands on a few of her products. I found these eyeshadow palettes on Memebox’s official Gmarket store so I ended up ordering both the Shine Easy Glam 2 and 3. The one I’ll be reviewing today is the number 2 which features eight shadows ranging from nudes to a more eye-catching purple and pink. I didn’t look at any reviews before buying this, (As I never do, I like to make my own decisions) so I thought that it would make for a good day-to-night tradition palette. The colours seemed versatile, though they are pretty much all shimmers. Since this was brought out by Pony, and because so many people rave about it, I was hoping for some amazing pigmentation and creamy formulas but… to be honest, I’m pretty disappointed. It’s not terrible but I expected more.
That being said, the price point for this palette is pretty good and you can buy it on Gmarket for ₩24,000 or Memebox for USD$30. It’s a lot cheaper than what I usually pay for American brands so, even if it’s not everything that I wanted, I’m still okay about it. To get my full thoughts on this product, read on!
So the packaging for this eye palette is pretty impressive and, from my first impression, I really loved it. I think that most of Pony’s products are really well packaged and her branding design is done really well too. It is admittedly smaller than I originally expected and is close to size of the Heimish palette but, considering that the new design has maximized shadow pans (and gotten rid of the brush) there is quite a bit of product in it. The glossy plastic case as a very elegant feel to it and I like that it’s not overly ornate. The magnetic closure is also quite study and sleek in design – it’s good.
Most (if not all) of the Korean palettes that I’ve used have had plastic covers on top with the shadow names printed which, to be honest, really annoys me. I would prefer if the names were just printed on so that, once I do get rid of the plastic, I won’t completely lose the name of each colour. I know that a lot of people just keep them on top (like me) but it’s rather bothersome to take off every time and, because I’m clumsy, I sometimes scratch the shadow with the edges.
That being said, I just did that again by accident and… well, I guess it proves that the formula is really soft and creamy though! Moving on.
So these are the eight colours that this palette came with. As you can see, all of them are shimmers with seven of them containing rather chunky glitter particles and the last having a more fine shimmer with a matte base colour. This last one is the most versatile and I use it on most days just to quickly deepen the corners of my eyes, though I don’t find that colour anything special.
Here are the promises (and points) for this palette, taken from Memebox, as well as my personal observations on each. Please note that I do not use eyeshadow primer under my eyeshadow products and so test them by themselves. My opinions are therefore unaffected by the quality of any base products, but the shadows alone.
Delivers bold colours in just one swatch
Honestly, not so much. The colours do apply well because the formula is soft but their finger swatches are softer than what I see online and, with brush application, the colours are even softer. The nudes apply almost like a sheer shimmer and the purple is not intense enough so becomes more brownish on application. With a dampened brush though, these colours do apply better. Overall, I would say that the pigmentation is decent, but not all that it is hyped up to be.
Contains silicone powder oil for easily blending and skin fit
Yes. These shadows are very soft and smooth, so they blend easily into each other. They also work very well with other shadows. Personally, I feel that the last colour (Glam Choco) blends the best because of the smaller shimmer pigments while the others tend to spread too much.
Contains pearl powder for a pearl shine effect
Well, you can’t exactly disagree with this point. For some of the colours (Shine Beige and Glam Choco) the pearl powder seems to be better utilised, giving a subtle but radiant shine with smaller particles. For others though, the larger glitter particles seem to be overpowering and the pearl powder can’t be noticed.
Double Coating Technology to keep the colour and shimmer intact with minimal fallout
I can’t vouch for this one, to be honest. The colours are light and buildable for the darker shades but, and this is especially evident in the glittery light-medium shadows (Shine Dew, Glam Bronze etc), the others spread a lot. The pigmentation and glitter seems to act separately and, on application, all you really get is glitter and a bit of colour. This can be fixed by using a dampened brush but goes against the product description. There is also quite a bit of fall out with the glitter shades, which you can see on the palette, but it’s not too obvious applied since the colours are light.
Shimmer shades are improved with jewel extracts (Ruby, Pearl, Amethyst) to add to their ravishing finish
I guess that this is similar to the previous point about the pearl powder. You can’t argue against it and the eyeshadows are very shimmery, but the size of the glitter makes it questionable whether these jewel extracts really add anything.
Enriched and Fortified with natural rosehip oil so that the eyeshadows are buttery smooth
Absolutely. It is actually obviously as soon as you swatch the shadows that they’re really smooth. Although there is a bit of fallout with the glitter, the rest of them are really creamy and applies smooth. This is also likely why I keep accidentally scratching it with the edge of the plastic (but I managed to ‘pat’ the powder back in so…)
And those are the swatches! I was hoping to get them all in a single shot but, unfortunately, nearly dislocated my arm trying to get the angle, so you will have to make do with these. As you can see though, all of these colours are very shimmery except for the last one, which is more subtle. I think that this palette would have benefited a lot from a better balance of matte-ish shades with glitter. They are pretty but, unlike some of my other palettes, I wouldn’t be able to use this for travel purposes as it does not contain a base colour. Overall, this product is definitely targeted towards the Korean market so the colour selection is more catered for those trends – softer, light colours with a focus on shimmers and minimal colour combinations in one eye look (often only one or two).
Although I personally have issues with the colour combination and the pigmentation of this palette, by no means do I think that it is terrible. The colours are all soft and apply smoothly, with no evident chalkiness. The fact that they blend so well too means that I have an easy time incorporating these shades with my other eyeshadows. It is decent, it’s just not everything that I expected it to be.
Here’s the verdict!
WHAT IS IT?
An eyeshadow palette of eight shimmer shades
THE GOOD
- Pretty, elegant packaging
- Good price point
- Secure and sleekly designed magnetic closure
- Smooth, buttery formula
- Light and easy to carry around
- Very radiant and beautiful shimmer/glitter shades
- Buildable colour
THE BAD
- Pigmentation is rather average
- Not enough variety in colours (only shimmers/glitters)
- Shade names are not printed on the palette
- Glitter and pigmentation on some colours separate on application
- Minor fall out
WOULD I REPURCHASE?
I’ll be looking to try out more of Pony’s eyeshadow products but, unfortunately, this one didn’t blow me away. I think I would be more interested if Pony brought out some matte shades as the formula for these shadows are really smooth and would work well if the pigmentation was stronger. I am hoping that for future products there is a better balance of formula and colour types.
I would recommend this eye palette to people who like doing their make up at home (as this is not a travel-friendly product) and who like to use a lot of shimmers in their looks. If you do your eye make up with any other shadows, it is easy to incorporate this palette to add in the glitter.
WHERE TO GET IT FROM
This palette is available on Gmarket for ₩24,000 or Memebox for USD$30. Alternative websites like Stylekorean* ($26.23), or Testerkorea (₩27,000) also carry the palette and other Pony x Memebox products!
*Please note that the above banner and link is an affiliate link. This does not influence my review or opinion, but purchases through this help towards supporting my blog.
