Review & Swatches: Pony Effect Unlimited Cream Shadow in Heartwarming, High Standards, Future Proof, Beloved, and X-Factor


I was kind of debating whether or not I wanted to do this blog post anymore on the Pony Effect Unlimited Cream Shadows since Pony Effect isn't as readily available in the US anymore, but it's still accessible using other websites. I've also spent forever taking pictures and I don't want to throw that time away. They're also pretty good and that's definition information I want to share! I originally started with Heartwarming and X-Factor and then got High Standards, Beloved, and Future Proof when they were on sale. Each pot retails for around $17 and contains 6 grams of product.




The Pony Effect Unlimited Cream Shadow in Heartwarming probably looks the most boring out of the five I purchased, but I love it. It's described as a "warm matte nude" and it's pretty much my skin tone. I kind of spent years wondering why people would use a skin tone primer/base, and then I understood it immediately when I started to use Heartwarming. I guess my bias/ignorance was mostly due to the fact that most skin tone primers/bases were too light for me though and so I would just prefer a clear primer with a skin tone powder to set it. 

The formula is sheer and light and is just enough to cancel out most of the discoloration on my lids. I could build it up to be completely opaque, but it does crease since it is a pretty creamy formula. When I first opened Heartwarming to use it, it looked like there was a slight oily film on the surface. I still slightly set it with a translucent powder, but that's what I normally do anyway with any primer or base to help with blending. 



The Pony Effect Unlimited Cream Shadow in High Standards is described as a "matte deep chocolate brown" and that's spot on. It also reminds me of MAC Groundwork. I've been doing a slightly hazy matte look on my eyes lately and so I've been really gravitating towards High Standards to create that look. I mostly did a wash of color for the above eye swatch, but I could also build it up to make it darker closer to my lash line. It also has a creamy texture, but it's not as creamy as Heartwarming. 



The Pony Effect Unlimited Cream Shadow in Future Proof is described as a "metallic shimmery rose gold." I would say that it's a slightly warm/peachy gunmetal rose gold though. I can feel glitter when I dip my fingers into the pot, but it goes on smoothly on my eye lids. The more I blend it out, the more the base (but not the glitter) sheers out. So if you're afraid of the overly metallic look, I wouldn't worry about that with this product. You can definitely build up the glitter and the metallic finish though if you were to just focus the blending in one area. 



The Pony Effect Unlimited Cream Shadow in Beloved is described as a "shimmery peach" and it's a pretty warm coral based product with gold and peach glitters and shimmers. I can also feel the texture when I dip into the pot, but it also disappears like with Future Proof. Even though I like the color, it didn't perform as well as the other shimmery/metallic shades in this post. The base sheers out a lot more than the other shades and works better as a wash of color.



The Pony Effect Unlimited Cream Shadow in X-Factor is described as a "blue-green duochrome" and I would say that it's like other blue/green/warm brown duochrome, but it's definitely more on the blue and green side. There's that duochrome flash, but the blue and green shimmers do pop out more and look absolutely gorgeous no matter how the light hits the eyes. It also didn't crease even after hours of wearing it. 


L to R - 
Heartwarming / High Standards / Future Proof / Beloved / X-Factor

All of these shades were definitely on the creamy to the almost too-creamy side. They're more prone to creasing than other cream shadows I've tried, but they're on par with potted cream shadows in my collection. I've found that cream shadow sticks are more long lasting (and not as creamy) and so if you're more prone to creasing, you might not to stay away from these. I found that some slight dusting of translucent powder or a similar colored eyeshadow does help with wear time though. I've also started to dust translucent powder before applying cream eyeshadows in general and that's been helping creams stick to my lids better and look more pigmented. 

Even though they do somewhat crease, they are still water resistant. Even with water and some regular foaming face wash, the darker colors were still staying put. It wasn't until I rubbed them off using a face cloth that the swatches came off.

I was looking at the claims on Memebox's website and I do agree that they're easy to use. I would only use my fingers to apply these cream shadows on and they blend out so incredibly well. Even the darker matte chocolate shade blended out well. 

Final thoughts: I'm not the biggest fan of the Pony Effect Unlimited Cream Shadows, but I do enjoy using them. They even re-sparked my interest in matte cream eye shadows. They're a touch too creamy and so I do see a lot of these shades not working for everyone. My eye lids have gotten oilier these past couple of years, but I'm still able to wear these with minimal creasing. If I had to rank these, I would go X-Factor, Heartwarming/High Standards, Future Proof, and then Beloved. X-Factor performed really well and I do recommend it to everyone who's looking for a blue-green duochrome cream shade. For the other shades, there are better products considering the price of these shadows. 

Have you tried these cream eye shadows? What's your favorite brand for cream eye shadows?
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