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Edit 151016: This version of the Pony x Memebox palette is no longer available. Find the updated, 2.0 version of it here.

A new palette consisting of eight neutral colors, four shimmery and four matte, was just announced by Memebox Global with a release date set for 3 November ( no word yet on the price or shipping details update: it’s $18 + shipping). A palette of neutrals, we’ve seen plenty of great neutral palettes lately: what’s to be excited about?

Pony. Not a pony, Equus ferus caballus, but Korean makeup artist-model-brand spokesperson, Park Hye Min, who goes by the name Pony.

Already a force in the Korean beauty world, Pony burst into the [even] larger kbeauty consciousness this spring with her participation in the launch of Etude House’s Play 101 multi-purpose pencils that can be used on lips, cheeks, and eyes.

For global fans who can’t read Pony’s several makeup books or Naver blog written in Korean, Pony’s Beauty Diary, a sub-channel on the insiteTV channel, serves as the source of Pony information. It features high production values, English subtitles, and consists mainly of tutorials ranging from how to cleanse to elaborate cover makeup. The tutorials highlight Pony’s ability to select makeup that allows one to pull off a very specific look and careful, patient technique that pays off in remarkable results. One of the most stunning transformations was her Black Widow makeup.

My favorite is her cover of kpop artist Hyuna’s look for the Red music video. It features the new delicious red Creammellow lipstick by Innisfree and tips for how to blot lipstick to create a matte lipline and moist center.

I often find myself wanting, buying, and liking products that Pony recommends. In short, I’d argue that she is the most credible kbeauty makeup maven in the game.

And the game has certainly grown in the past year with the launch and phenomenal growth of Memebox outside of Korea, creating a whole new crop of Korean beauty product enthusiasts who don’t know Korean, but love Korean brands and products. Just this week, The New York Times noticed how “South Korean Exports Its Glow.” The time is right for a great product to take the international Korean beauty fan community by storm. This is that product, I think.

Until now, this palette has not been sold outside of Korea. It was offered about one month ago in a one-hour flash sale on the Memebox Korea site that caused the site to go down due to heavy traffic. I, of course, am not in Korea. I received my Pony palette and the two I’m giving away at the end of this post because I contacted Avecko.com, the company that I use to import harder-to-find and well-priced kbeauty products. I discovered Avecko and wrote about how to use their proxy shopping service (they also have a standard online shop that’s pretty much stocked only with my dream products, sob) a few months ago. When the launch of the Pony palette and flash sale was announced, I contacted Avecko to ask if they could possibly help me–in the course of that 1 hour while the palette was on sale–buy three of the palettes (keep in mind that each customer was limited to one palette, meaning that they pulled off some wizardry to make this happen for us). In short: many, many thanks to Avecko for making this preview and giveaway possible. If you want to order the palette right now, they actually have the listing available–it’s $32 for the palette (and the site offers free shipping for orders over $45^^).

Review

One of my concerns with shipping this palette all the way from Korea was that the eyeshadows might, despite the best packaging possible by Memebox Korea when it was shipped from their warehouse and Avecko when the order was shipped to me, crack or flake in transit. The box was packaged with care and everything arrived beautifully without problems.

I suspect that part of the reason for this is that the interior of the product box is lined with a cardboard insulator of the type that cushions many quality products. Props for including that!

The box has the cute, sassy logo we’ve been seeing since the collaboration was announced with additional information on the sides and back.

The palette is surprisingly substantial in size. It’s 5 15/16” (14.75cm) x 2 31/32” (7.25cm) and it weighs 4 1/8 ounces (117g). Each of the eyeshadow pans is 1 inch (2 5/8cm) in diameter.

The palette comes with two miserable applicator brushes with quality ranging from “destroys shadow” (the pink brushes) to merely “doesn’t injure shadow therefore better” (the sponge applicators).

Here is a pink brush in action, doing what it does best: destroying shadow and creating bits that need to gently be collected.

I much prefer using a better brush. I’m not a makeup expert, so I don’t have a million brushes or strong opinions on them, but I used one of my Memebox Memebrushes (review here) and it worked much, much better.

Tthe palette is arranged into two types of shadows: one side matte and one side shimmery.

I actually have a bunch of photos of these shadows, but I think that this overhead shot is by far the truest to the colors. The mattes range from rich brown Easy Charcoal to light, creamy Easy Base (intended to serve as a, yes, base) with Easy Shadow and Easy Brown in between.

The shimmer side includes the Shine Rosegold (my favorite of the palette), Shine Gold, Glam Espresso, and Glam Cocoa. The last three photographed lighter and less complex than they actually appear in person. Shine Gold has a bit of a coppery orange hue, Glam Cocoa has a bit of a plum color mixed into the brown, and Glam Espresso leans slightly lavender. This palette does a good job of following the fall “trench coat” color trend while leaving plenty of room to incorporate a strong or muted plum or wine color to hit the main trend in kbeauty makeup at the moment.

Many people wondered about the quality of the palette, fearing that it would be a marked up, poor quality item that relies on Pony’s starpower to sell. I tested the shadows for a few days and actually touched the shadow with my fingers to assess the quality.

First about feel: I compared the feel of the shadows to shadows that many people own: the Etude House So Hot Play and So Chic Play palettes (review here). The Pony palette shadows were much smoother and finer-milled than those in the Etude House palette, which was lauded in many reviews for being of high quality for the price (about $15 at the cheapest point). The shimmers do not seem to be in danger of breaking up or clumping due to a coarse mill of the ingredients.

As for fallout: I never wear eyeshadow without Urban Decay or Etude House Proof 10 primer , so my experience may not be standard. I found the fallout to be negligible (and I put shadow under my eyes without primer, too). Some fans wondered if this palette is basically a drugstore-quality product with a celebrity attached–having tested this, I would say that’s not the case at all. The place where this falls short of the most coveted products at Sephora would be pigmentation; it doesn’t have the profound depth of pigment that you’d find in an Urban Decay shadow. That said, I actually appreciated having a bit less color oompf on my brush because it made it easier to blend things and not go irrevocably overboard with a dark color, leading to a last-minute super smoky look.

I wanted to show how the shadows would wear if you, say, rubbed your face in a brush for 30 seconds, so I ran a clean brush over my swatch arm to show how the colors would blend and move.

I think that the lesson of the wear test is, first off, don’t rub a brush all over your face because that’s just not fun, and two, if you want long wear, a primer is really the way to go. That’s the case anyway, but I want to point that out each time I review eye makeup.

I’m unexpectedly really delighted with this palette. The quality was better than I anticipated and I ended up really liking the neutrals; I’m not usually a fan of anything subtle, but this palette has enough variation that I can add drama while still keeping within the “appropriate for work” lines (which is a rare thing for me ha!). I also like how every color works and blends really easily with the others. My husband is sometimes sleeping while I put on my makeup and go to work, so this is the sort of eye makeup that I could actually put on in just a bit of light nearby without a) waking him up or b) ending up with crazily bad eyeshadow problems.

My feeling is that if you’re expecting this to be Urban Decay Naked 4, you’re probably going to be disappointed. This is priced at 20,000 won on the Memebox Korea site–so $20. I think that the quality level is certainly higher than that. I think that I’d pay up to $35 for this palette–including shipping–without a problem. I’ve seen listings for higher than that on eBay and they give me pause. But $35 or less for this palette certainly seems fair, especially given the quality and size of the shadows.

If you’re to this point in my review and you haven’t been distracted by the million other things going on in the world, accept the truth: you’re going to need to get this. ahahah You can buy it on Avecko right now or buy it on the Memebox Global site.

Edit 151016: This version of the Pony x Memebox palette is no longer available. Find the updated, 2.0 version of it here.

Giveaway: 2 Pony x Memebox Palettes!

To spread the Pony love, I’ve teamed up with Avecko (they helped me buy these ridiculously limited edition palettes in Korea–read my review of their proxy shopping service here) to give away two of these Pony x Memebox palettes.

Rules: This giveaway is open to residents of any country that allows regular mail shipments from the US (99.9% of all nations). Entrants must be 18 years of age or older (or the age of majority in their own country), or must have the express permission of a parent or legal guardian to enter and receive the prize. Entries will be verified. There will be a total of two prizes and two winner: two winners of a Pony x Memebox collaboration eyeshadow palette (value: $32). The winner’s prize will be shipped directly from fanserviced in NYC to the winner. Fanserviced and fanserviced-b are not responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen prizes. The winner is responsible for verifying the freshness and suitability of all prize items before using them; fanserviced and fanserviced-b are not responsible for the effect of any products received as part of a giveaway on skin or general health. I will notify the winner within 24 hours of the contest close. The prize winner will have 36 hours to contact me at fanserviced@ with their mailing address. If the winner does not contact me within 36 hours, the winning entry is void and I will draw another winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck, everyone! Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Clicking those links before you shop means that fan-b receives a small commission, which helps to support the blog. Please see my full disclosure for more information.