REVIEW: Pony Effect Nice Shading (Divine Work, Behind Story, Crony)

One of Pony's earlier releases that I've been loving for quite some time now is the Pony Effect Nice Shading! The Nice Shading is one of three single pressed powders that she released a while ago along with the Mirage Highlighters (review here) and the Personal Cheek (review here). It's a contouring or "shading" powder that's meant to emphasize shadows to give the face a slimmer, and more naturally sculpted look.

I'm not a huge fan of crazy carved out cheekbones, but a natural contour? Now, that's my jam.
So without further ado, lets get to the review! :D

PONY EFFECT NICE SHADING

Bring out your best assets with this natural contour. The Nice Shading is a luxurious powder with a silky soft texture that blends effortlessly to give your skin that soft-focus, sculpted look.

*Above photo taken from Memebox

The Nice Shading (3g) comes in a simple navy-blue rectangular compact with a very secure magnetic closure. Right in the center of the compact is a convenient clear window that makes distinguishing between the shades with a quick glance a breeze. The compact is slim and incredibly lightweight, making it perfect for traveling! It's also very durable and the strong magnetic closure keeps the compact shut and the product in place.

The compact is quite small compared to other individual contouring powders I own, but I like how it easily fits inside the palm of my hand. I could do with a bigger pan size though; since it's so narrow, it's hard to get medium to large brushes in the pan!

Another notable feature is that the compact opens up all the way (180 degrees) for easy access! This kind of packaging is identical across all of her individual pressed facial powders, such as the Mirage Highlighter and the Personal Cheek.

Just like the other pressed powder pans, each one has Pony Effect's signature lightning bolt logo engraved into the rose gold inner housing.

The Nice Shading is a very versatile powder that's not just for contouring the cheeks, but it can also be used along the jawline, hairline, nose, or even on your eyes! Yup, the Nice Shading can double up as eyeshadow to contour your lids and give them more dimension. These powders are able to work all over the face, so don't just stop at your cheeks!

The Nice Shading doesn't have a huge shade selection, which can be very limiting and disappointing. :/ Unfortunately most of the hues only work well for those with light skin tones, but that's pretty common among many K-beauty brands. I was pretty skeptical at first because all of the shades seemed similar at first glance and I didn't think they would show up on my light-medium skin tone. I'm around an NC30-NC35 right now for reference, btw!

The Nice Shading comes in only 3 different shades:
CRONY     |     DIVINE WORK     |     BEHIND STORY

DIVINE WORK

Divine Work is described as a honey beige for a "barely there" contour on fair to light skin and is the lightest out of the three. It also is the only shade with a slightly warm tone to it, while the rest have a cooler tone. They seriously weren't kidding when they said it's "barely there" because it's literally nonexistent on my light-medium (NC30) skin tone! I've tried layering it on (& on & on)  and it just camouflages into my skin since it's too similar to my skin shade once blended out. Alternatively, I like to use this as an eyeshadow base shade, but as a facial contour, it just didn't work for me.

Here is a comparison photo of a Before + After! As you can see, Divine Work is barely visible when first applied, and once it's blended out, it basically disappears on my skin tone. :( 

LEFT: Divine Work applied directly onto the skin     RIGHT: Divine Work blended out

BEHIND STORY

Behind Story is described as a cool-toned sand beige for fair to light skin, but I see it more of like a sandy brown rather than a beige. Behind Story looked SO similar to Crony in the pan because they're both cool-toned shades with grey undertones. However, Behind Story is a tad lighter and doesn't have as strong of a grey tone. It still manages to work on my skin tone for a very natural contour! This shade is definitely best for those with lighter skin tones, but I like to use this when I want a subtle sculpted look.

Behind Story is a bit better in terms of showing up on my skin as compared to Divine Work, but it's still faint! Again, this one is probably best for fair to light skin, but it still works as a natural shading powder for me. I wouldn't recommend this for anyone darker than an NC30 (or NC25 even depending on your preferences)!

LEFT: Behind Story applied directly onto the skin     RIGHT: Behind Story blended out

CRONY

Crony is described as a cool-toned medium brown for light to medium skin. It looks like an ashy milk chocolate brown! Like I mentioned above, this shade has a stronger grey undertone out of the three which works to mimic real shadows giving the illusion of a slimmer face. Crony worked the best for my skin tone because it was the most visible, but still gave a very natural contour without looking "dirty". Since it's a darker hue and has a grey tone to it, I'd recommend to not use too much or else it could risk looking muddy!

Here, I applied Crony in the hollows of my cheeks and towards the back of my jar line. It blends out effortlessly to a very soft finish, but still manages to add dimension and gently sculpt my face.

LEFT: Crony applied directly onto the skin     RIGHT: Crony blended out

Here are the Nice Shading singles side-by-side:

The Nice Shading singles are made up of a silky, smooth powder that blends seamlessly onto the skin! It applies very evenly for a soft, natural look that's not patchy, harsh, or too fake-looking. These are some of the more natural-looking powders that give a subtle contour since they emphasize natural shadows, instead of carving cheeks out. If you're looking for something to give you a super chiseled face, then these probably aren't for you.

The contouring powders go on lightly, and are able to be layered for a stronger contour. They're buildable to an extent, but beware of Crony's grey undertone - it could risk running muddy or looking dirty if your pile on too much! This hasn't been a problem for me with either Divine Work (which barely shows) or Behind Story, but definitely watch out for Crony since it's the darkest!

As for longevity, both Behind Story and Crony wear for about 5-6 hours before fading off the skin. Divine Work is a whole other story because since I can't see it on my skin, I don't know how long it lasts..., but my best guess would be that it's roughly the same as the other two.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Pony Effect Nice Shading are definitely my favorite out of all the pressed powder singles Pony has released, which includes the highlighters and blushes! These powders have a very silky smooth formula that easily blends onto the skin and finishes off with a soft, natural, almost second-skin look.

They don't look drying, powdery, or cakey on the skin at all! I don't have much that I dislike about these powders, except for the fact that there needs to be a wider shade range! Most of these shades are geared towards fair and light skin tones, so it leaves those with skin that's anything darker in the dust. :(

These are great contouring powders if you're looking for a subtle sculpted look, but if you're craving a strong chiseled look, you'd probably want to skip these. Divine Work didn't show up on me since it was too similar to my skin tone, but Behind Story is the one I'd recommend for natural shading that would work best for light skin tones, and Crony is a slightly darker, but still natural contour that I'd recommend for those with light or light-medium tones!

WHERE TO BUY?

The Pony Effect Nice Shading (3g) retails for $15 and is available in all shades on Amazon, HERE!

Check out the entire Pony Effect Collection available HERE!

Disclaimer: This product was sent to me for reviewing purposes. All reviews are my own 100% honest opinions. Post also contains affiliate links.