I believe I've said it in a post or something before, but I'm a huge Pony Makeup fan (YouTube channel here!). I love her makeup looks and even though her videos are in Korean with English subtitles, they're still really easy to follow. When she came out with her own makeup line, I was incredibly excited to try out everything.
Memebox recently reached out to ask if I wanted to try out some products from their latest USA launch involving highlighting and strobing products. Of course, I said yes! I've already purchased some Pony Effect products before, but the available items are more limited than what is currently available in South Korea right now. In this post, I'll be reviewing the Pony Effect Mirage Highlighters in Lucid Dream*, First Chance*, and Fairy Tale*. Each highlighter contains 3 grams / 0.11 ounces and retails for $15. If you're reading this post between 5/31/2016 - 6/7/2016, they'll be on sale for $13 on the Memebox USA website.
All three Pony Effect Mirage Highlighters are on the subtle side compared to something like the Becca Pressed Powder Shimmering Skin Perfectors that can make your skin look wet. They're all very finely milled and don't kick up any powder.
I would describe these as strobing powders though since they give the most beautiful "lit from within" glow without looking too shimmery or obvious. All three colors have the same smooth texture and perform pretty similarly. I didn't see fading and all of them wore really well even after a full day of work and a hot day not at work.
The Pony Effect Mirage Highlighter in Lucid Dream* is a "White Pearl Shimmer." Even though my skintone is light-medium / medium, this highlighter didn't look too ashy or out of place. Since the effect is subtle and the powder is so finely milled, I think those with deeper skin tones can also pull this off.
I was a bit worried about Lucid Dream because I thought it would be more white. I have the Becca Pressed Shimmering Skin Perfector and even though it's pretty, it's such a stark white against my skin tone if I use anything more than the lightest single tap into the powder. Surprisingly, it's my favorite out of the three.
The Pony Effect Mirage Highlighter in First Chance* is described as a "warm peachy gold shimmer," but I see a stronger yellow/golden tone to it than peach. Since it's a subtle yellow/gold, I find it's more wearable.
I think if you're a big fan of the theBalm Mary LouManizer but wanted something more subtle, this would be a great choice. It's definitely not as in your face, but still highlights your features.
The Pony Effect Mirage Highlighter in Fairy Tale* is described as "subtle yellow gold shimmer" but I personally see more peach to this shade. Depending on how the light hits your face, it might look more peach or gold/yellow as well. It's not a duochrome powder though and so there's not a strong shift.
In pictures, I really like how Fairy Tale looks on my skin. In person, I feel like it's a touch too yellow for me. It works in general if I wear more warm shades like the look I have on in the above pictures. I've also read other descriptions that Fairy Tale is also the "champagne" color from this collection.
L to R -
Lucid Dream
First Chance
Fairy Tale
These swatches were built up to see the color difference better and took about 3-4 finger swatches to get them to show up this way. I'm fine with highlighters being sheer though since that means they're easier to use and won't go immediately go on metallic.
Honestly, I triple checked every swatch and even redid some of my swatches to make sure they corresponded to the right color and description. On me, First Chance and Fairy Tale seems like they have the opposite description once they're on my face.
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| Taken from the Memebox USA website |
I initially set up all the pictures so that they would be lightest to darkest and it matches the order of the above picture from Memebox. All I'm saying is - Please check another review to make sure Fairy Tale and First Chance are what you expect them to be! I'm just going to base my review on what I have labeled though.
Like I mentioned, each of these shades are subtle but they draw a lot of light to your face without looking wet or metallic. Even though I have dry skin, I was able to buff some of the colors into my skin like a finishing powder to give myself a more healthy dewy look. I used to have the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Mood Light and these highlighters performed the way I wanted Mood Light to be. The powders didn't emphasize my dry skin as well.
I don't have it anymore, but it also reminds me of the Wet n Wild Color Icon Bronzer in Reserve Your Cabana. Even though it's called a bronzer, it's a subtle highlighter. Everyone kept talking about how it was a great subtle highlighter or a glowy finishing powder, but it was way too powdery and chalky for me. If Reserve Your Cabana didn't work for you as well, I definitely recommend the Pony Effect Mirage Highlighters.
The highlighters on trend right now are super shimmery and can look really wet, but that's not something everyone is into. With these Pony Effect Mirage Highlighters, I can see anyone from any age wearing them. They didn't emphasize dry skin, pores, or imperfections and just added an overall lit from within glow. You can definitely see the shimmers if you're up close, but at the normal distance away, it just looks like good glowy skin.
Final thoughts: I'm so impressed with these highlighters! I'm a huge fan of highlighters, but I've never seen a subtle highlighter perform like these before. They're not chalky and they don't make my face look cakey / overly powdered even if I really layer it on. Since they're not overly shimmery, I can also place some of any color into the center of my face to really bring in that strobing effect. You can of course just place them on the tops of your cheekbones to bring them out more as well. I highly recommend getting at least Lucid Dream and another color, but all three of them are great. The enabler in me is also saying to get all three since they're on sale right now.
Have you tried these highlighters? Is there anything from Pony Effect that you've got your eye on?
*I received these items from Memebox USA for free. They are not paying me and only requested that I write up some reviews about them. All opinions are my own and are 100% honest. I know this review seems overly positive and just a rave, but these are amazing alternatives to the metallic / wet highlighting trend that's been going on.
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