Fall Eyeshadows and Pencils + PONY XO MEMEBOX 1st Impressions

oh hello! did NOT know I was in the shot until editing time.

Ah memories....

Not only is this time of year just a HUGE breath of fresh air after a hot and muggy Midwest summer... Fall to me is always accompanied by great memories... whether of lounging on a college quadrangle, or getting lost in a corn maze #justmidwestthings, or even more relevant to today's post... watching my first YouTube video about makeup just a little over a year ago. Shout out to Essiebutton! 

Discovering Beauty Youtube (Byou-tube?) is what led me to stumble upon Refinery29, who pointed the way to R/MakeupAddiction, on whose sidebar lived a little community called R/AsianBeauty. There's my genesis story right there. Wait - I guess I should have a super power to go with that... ::shifty eyes:: Hmm, let's say that it's my killer savasana (corpse pose) in yoga. Should come in handy some day right?

Read on for more...

Let me snap out of my reverie a bit and tell you about what's featured in today's post. These are the eye makeup products I've been using lately. There's also one newcomer to the stash, sent to me by Memebox, which I haven't had a long time to play around with, but can give a first impression on in case you want to snag it in their current sale / value set. They are...

• PONY XO MEMEBOX SHINE EASY GLAM 2* eyeshadow palette (it's the one with the pink and purple)
• Urban Decay Naked 3 eyeshadow palette (in case you're like me, which means a little late, and don't collect palettes for sport - yet...)
• Bbia Last Auto Gel Eyeliners in 5 shades (for the cream formula enthusiasts)

The kneet backdrop courtesy of the lovely inside and out Jess @IG: wecanmakethat / loverholic-hyaluronic blog

Each of these products give a different feel when worn on the eyes. I love my Urban Decay Naked 3 palette for its warm rose gold tones and smokier cool tones for Western eye looks. On the flip side, the Bbia eyeliners give me that really intensely pigmented dual-eyeliner look you see in magazines all over the world. The PONY palette (again these are first impressions on the PONY palette today - comment below if you want to let me know you'd like a 2 week or 1 month update on this product) gives yet a totally different look. The PONY palette is very Asian in that it packs a punch of glitter and shimmer - the necessities for a typical Japanese or Korean eye look.

So yeah - I'm still an amateur at this photography thing. 

This is just the money shot. 

In it, you can see that my Fall eyeshadow wardrobe has finally been rounded out by the really bright, feminine colors in the PONY palette. Plus the olive-y brown shade. How could I forget that gorgeous olive brown shade. I'd been limited to the muted, dusty, rosy neutrals in the Urban Decay Naked 3 and the peachy, golden neutrals of my Bbia eyeliner set. 

PONY XO MEMEBOX SHINE EASY GLAM 2* - 1ST IMPRESSIONS

This palette literally arrived at my doorstep this morning to make my day. :) 

It comes in the black, starry box pictured in the first photo above. The packaging is made of a black, lacquered, plastic material and it is very compact. Unfortunately, it's not resistant to fingerprints and smudges. There's a plastic insert with the shade names embossed on it. It doubles as a mirror-guard so eyeshadow doesn't get on the mirror.

While Memebox does sell brushes and tools, this palette does not come with one. 

Please remember these are first impressions.

Shine Dew is a white gold glitter that applies beautifully. When blended, it looks like your skin but glittery-er. Over primer, it gives high shine and pigment. Shine Beige is a pale champagne gold shimmer that applies uniformly, and well; although it's a little less buttery smooth than Shine Dew. It's a beautiful base shade that will look nice as a browbone highlight as well. Over primer, this shade gives high shine and pigment. Glam Bronze is amber bronze shimmer with yellow gold and pink glitters, also applies smoothly. When blended, it turns out a little bit lighter than in the pan unless used over primer. Glam Mocha is a chocolate brown shimmer that has a bit of an olive tone shimmer to it as well. This blends out to be again just a hair lighter than it is in the pan, unless used over primer.

Shine Peach can be used two ways. On its own, this shade isn't a peach shimmer as expected. It's an IRIDESCENT, WHITE-PEACH-PINK DUOCHROME! It's a shimmer that has gold, white, and peachy pink reflect to it. Over primer, it is a peach shimmer with yellow gold reflect.  Shine Pink is a light peachy pink shimmer with golden glitters. I would say this is the only shade in the entire palette that absolutely requires primer underneath. Glam Violet is a rich eggplant purple shade with tiny gold glitters. It is dark and rich over primer. On its own, it's a very nice and subtle purple that everyone, even those who don't like purple could use. Glam Choco is an espresso brown shimmer. This shade does not require primer but is much deeper and richer with it.

In a nutshell - all of the colors have great payoff on light skin. I believe the shades would have trouble showing up on dark skin as they blend away and together too easily. While this is great for the pale skinned newbies like myself, it's not a favorable aspect for darker skinned ladies and gentlemen. Shine Peach requires primer if wanting a true peach shade. Shine Pink requires primer PERIOD. The glitter shades can cause a little fall out, so I recommend using them before base makeup. These shadows can get wet and eyeshadow primer can get on them without causing them to crust over. They did last me all day today, but the weather was really nice. I haven't tested them in poor conditions.

SWATCHES SANS PRIMER IN INDIRECT LIGHT

Remember, Shine Peach is an iridescent duochrome unless used over primer.

Memebox has done PONY (Korean makeup artist) branded palettes before, but reviews of the palettes were unanimously lukewarm.

This time around, the shadows were reformulated to give a smooth, buttery application and longer wear time. According to Memebox, "We added the skin-fit system, double-coating powder and Rosehip oil, to improve those aspects in the newly reformulated version. The Skin-fit system utilizes silicone powder oil to hug the skin and make it apply smoother. The double-coating helps keep the shimmer intact with the pigment to reduce fallout. And lastly the Rosehip oil makes the eyeshadows buttery smooth helping with application and blending also preventing the eyeshadows from being chalky." (Thank you Memebox for the details).

The looks shown below were done using the Urban Decay Naked 3 brush, shown on the right hand side. I did not use primer, and the photos are again taken in indirect, natural light.

Eye look crazy with two different eye looks.

Left eye - Shine Beige all over lid. Glam Bronze in inner third of mobile lid. Glam Violet in middle of mobile lid. Glam Choco in outer third of mobile lid. The under eye aegyosal is Shine Beige.

Right eye - Shine Beige all over lid. Shine Peach in inner corner and inner half of mobile lid. Shine Pink in outer half of mobile lid. Shine Peach as aegyosal under the eyes.

I love how this palette is laid out. You can use the top row to create a neutral eye. The bottom row can be used to create a purple smokey eye. OR like in the examples above, you can use the left hand side of the palette to create a light shimmery pink eye AND the right hand side of the palette to create a brown-y violet eye.

WHERE TO GET YOURS

The only gripe I have with this palette is that there is no matte eye contour shade as all of the colors contain shimmer. 

PONY palettes have a retail price of $30 each but Memebox has a few special value sets. If you would like to own both of the PONY palettes, you can snag them for $39 together ($19.50 each). At this price point, I would say these are definitely worth it.

At the $30 price point, I think it's a matter of taste. If you love the colors, and love glittery Asian eyeshadows, these are worth it. You get 8 wide, pans of color. These would last a long time. 

One experience I can share with you is that I've purchased a Sephora Collection palette before for $32. And the quality of this new, reformulated Memebox palette beats the quality of that one hands down.

INTERESTED? Click here to be taken to see all Memebox PONY products

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Urban Decay Naked 3

This palette does not need much of an introduction. There are probably millions of Naked 3 reviews online. Here's a detailed review in case this is your first time seeing this palette.

Second from left should say "Dust" not "Last"

It's a 12-pan palette that consists of muted pinks, rosy golds, some grayish taupes, and a few dark, smokey shades. It includes a large mirror, and a dual-ended brush with a soft fluffy blending brush on one end, and a stiffer packing brush on the other end. Also in the box, came 4 samples of their eyeshadow primers, which by the way are awesome. The case is made out of a rose gold colored metal, and has the words Naked3 emblazoned across it, with the words Urban Decay underneath.

SWATCHES ARE DONE IN INDIRECT NATURAL SUNLIGHT WITHOUT PRIMER

First row second from left should say "Dust" not "Last"

In a nutshell - all of these shades are pigmented and easy-to-blend. Urban Decay to me do among the best eyeshadow formulations. In the same echelon as Lorac and TooFaced. They last all day and none of them require primer to look like their colors in the pan. A minor annoyance to me was that I got some water into a matte pan and it caused the shadow to crust over on top a bit. Lastly, I find myself using the mattes more than the satins and shimmers. Edit: These eyeshadows are pigmented enough to show up on darker skin tones according to other sources on the web.

Strange is a pale neutral eggshell satin according to Urban Decay, but to me it seems very matte. Dust is a "pale metallic pink shimmer with iridescent micro-glitter. There is a tiny bit of fallout. Burnout is a "light pinky-peach satin". Limit is a "light dusty rose matte". This is a great all over the lid, and crease color. Buzz is a "metallic rose shimmer with silver micro-glitter".  There is a teensy bit of fallout. Trick is a "light metallic pinky-copper shimmer with tonal micro-sparkle". That micro-sparkle must be the key to no-fallout as this shade has none. Nooner is a "medium pinky brown matte", this is my favorite shade in the palette. It's a mauve-y plum that works all over the lid to give depth to the eye or in the crease. Liar is a "medium metallic mauve shimmer". This is similar to my beloved Nooner but just a bit rosier and deeper with shimmer. Factory is a "pinky-brown satin". This shade is just plain butter. Mugshot is a "metallic taupe shimmer with slight pink shift" - I would call this more of a gray-toned mauve. Darkside is a "deep taupe-mauve satin". It's a purple-toned gray shimmer that is probably one of the harder ones to apply, but still in the grand scheme of things, is still a good quality eyeshadow. Blackheart is a "smoky black matte with rosy red micro-sparkle". This is THE coolest shade in the palette to me. It's a black with red shimmers throughout. It's not as though anyone will really see the nuance and detail in the shade on your eyes unless they're uncomfortably close to you... (at least in my case as my lids are quite small) but it is just a SLAMMIN' shade.

Like I said, I find myself using the mattes more than the satins and shimmers. This look is Strange in the inner corner and inner third of the eyelid, Limit in the outer half of the lid, with some deepening of the outer corner using Nooner. The undereye shimmer is a blend of Buzz and Trick.

WHERE TO GET YOURS

Urban Decay palettes are definitely very high quality, but they cost $54 each. If you are certain you would use all or most of the shades in this palette, OR if you know you would use these very often, I highly recommend this palette. *Plus the semi-annual Sephora sale is coming up ^^*

INTERESTED? Urban Decay is available at many retailers. If you click on the photos above, you'll be taken to one. *Shopping through the product carousel will help support this blog.*

Bbia Last Auto Gel Eyeliners - Wedding Edition

These automatic gel pencil eyeliners with pencil sharpener included were the highest ranked eyeliner pencils on a Korean beauty forum I frequent, so I picked up a set to test them out. There are 5 shades in all as pictured below.

The sharpener is included.

I had really high expectations for these eyeliners since they were ranked so high. But to set expectations, these cost about $5 each, so 1/4 of the cost of an Urban Decay eyeliner. While the product inside works as well as an Urban Decay eyeliner, you can see that they pinched pennies on the packaging, which is cheap, plastic, and toylike.

Each eyeliner comes with about 1 1/4 inch of product. The product twists up when you turn the peach twist knob at the bottom of the eyeliner pencil. Attached to the bottom of the eyeliner pencil is a small sharpener you can use to sharpen the pencil when the tip gets too flat. The bodies of the eyeliner pencils are white, and the words "Bbia Last Auto Gel Eyeliner" are written on them. One thing that bothers me about the eyeliners is that it is hard to tell which hue is which, as the packaging is so similar. They do, however, write the names of the shades on the eyeliners themselves and TRY to vary the color of the typeface, so it's not the biggest deal. 

The colors themselves are just.... ::gurgles::

SWATCHES DONE IN INDIRECT NATURAL LIGHT, NO PRIMER

Bottom Left: these are so longlasting, they require an oil cleanser to remove them Bottom Right: how they look new, the leftmost was damaged in shipping.

w4 Juliet Rose - a medium, peachy pink matte.

w3 Mermaid - a light, cool toned gold (antique gold maybe) shimmer.

w5 Wedding Peach - a light, peach gold shimmer

w1 Grace Brown - a deep, chocolate brown shimmer

w2 Honey Bronze - a medium, cafe latte brown/bronze-y shimmer

In a nutshell - these are vibrant shades that are all very long-lasting. They are very creamy, and easy to apply in wide swathes or in medium-thin lines. Ultra-thin lines are tough to achieve. The pigment deposits easily on the eyelids and undereyes, but there is a slight bit of tugging. While everything else in today's post removed easily with this MVP... the My Beauty Diary Ultra Cleansing Water (stats: pH 6, good and great value)

The real MVP of today.

These eyeliners required oil removal. They last upwards of 8-10 hours.

I believe these colors will show up on darker skin tones, but I'm not a professional makeup artist.

Below is how they look on my eyes. w4 Juliet Rose I also use as a lip liner from time to time. 

Sorry eye look crazy again with two mismatching eye looks.

On the left eye, I used Grace Brown to line the eye, and placed Mermaid over the top on the lid. On the right eye, I used Honey Bronze to line the eye and placed Wedding Peach over the top on the lid. 

I used Juliet Rose as a lip liner with nothing else layered on top. I don't wear it on its own; I usually layer a peach colored lipstick like Revlon's Smoked Peach over the top.

WHERE TO GET YOURS

I really, really enjoy Grace Brown and Honey Bronze for how useful they are to me as brown eyeliners. I also really enjoy Mermaid. Wedding Peach is a color that I need to be in the mood for, and does not get as much usage. Juliet Rose, I don't use as an eyeliner whatsoever as the color is too avant garde for me on the eyes. I do like it as a lip liner, but would not recommend it.

So would I repurchase these? I would repurchase either Grace Brown or Honey Bronze, but not both. I would definite repurchase Mermaid. The rest, I believe if the colors speak to you, they could be worth a pick-up. IF you are the type to get frustrated with packaging, I would skip these altogether. But if you are looking for a long-lasting, pigmented, creamy eyeliner product for $5, these are not terrible. (I know, what a glowing review right?)

INTERESTED? This is available as a complete set for $31.98 at W2Beauty here. If you use this link and it's your first time purchasing from W2Beauty, you will receive $5 off your purchase or use code 1019734207 to sign up. *Shopping through the second referral link will help support this blog.*

These pencils are also available as individual eyeliners for $4.99 each at KoreaDepart here. 

What have you been using on your eyes lately? Do you recommend it?

P.S. I am considering starting a series where I let "HwaHae take the wheel" and purchase and review only the most reviewed products on the Korean beauty app that have ratings higher than a 4.0. Would you be interested in something like this? Please comment down below to let me know your opinion.

Disclosure: Some press samples. Press samples are denoted with an asterisk. Some affiliate links. If you're curious about my policy on press samples, affiliate links, and sponsors, please see my disclaimer and policies.