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Continuing on from my last Moonshot review, here’s to introducing their new Performance 8X Palettes! Even after all these years, I’m truly weak for a great eyeshadow palette and I never fail to test one out when ever I’m reviewing a new brand – or, in this case, a new re-brand.
Since Moonshot’s original concept was all about bold looks and shaking up the k-beauty industry, I actually thought that they would come back with something new colourful. From what I’m seeing, their current offering still features mostly neutral shades but they can still be used to create strong looks. The shades are very on-trend and are the type of colours that you might see on idols now – which I think works for the whole ‘performance‘ concept.
I got my hands on two out of the three colour variations – Rhythmic Burn and Blazing but all three are available at StyleKorean for USD$23 (on sale from USD$33).
Product Description
The Performance Eye 8X Palettes are 8 pan eyeshadow palettes with a combination of matte and sparkle shades. Colour variations include:
- 01 Mystique – cool-toned muted gray and browns
- 02 Rhythmic Burn – warm-neutral tones of peachy-oranges and burnt browns
- 03 Blazing – cool-neutral tones of taupe and burgundy
Some of the main product claims include:
- Adheres well without smudging
- High pigmentation with vivid colour vibrancy
- Uses a ‘Bi-Coat™ Technology’ for a soft blending fit – double layer pigment melts on skin texture to minimize fall out and also give even blendability and vivid colour
- Contains a range of textures (more below)
The palettes also contain a number of different eyeshadow textures:
- Moonshot’s signature formulas:
- Jelly Marble Colour (in Mystique): a marble-type gel formula that two metallic pearl colours to give a shade that ranges in depth
- Mirage Cubic Colour (in Rhythmic Burn): four toned reflects (green, gold, brown and yellow) to give a colourful and unique pearl texture
- Creamy Cubic Colour (in Blazing): a cream-based formula that combines gold and pink glitter cubics with a brown for a brilliant, glossy shine
- Other textures include:
- Velvet Matte: a highly pigmented velvet matte that adheres well to skin
- Pearl in Matte: soft pearl embedded in a matte powder
- Satin Shimmer:a soft, pearly texture that adheres well to skin
- Glam Glitter (in Mystique): a bright, pearly texture with clear sparkle
- Glitter Bomb (in Rhythmic Burn): three-dimensional glitter with a colourful combination of different particle sizes
- Dazzling Glitter (in Blazing): a pearly texture with brilliant reflect
Packaging
The packaging is similar to the Performance Cushion Light Fixing in that it has a rounded shape but this time using a glossy finish plastic. The blue colour is pretty and I like the consistency across their range, but it isn’t the most practical shape or size. I like that there’s a large, full-sized mirror inside the component. The eyeshadow pans are a good size too, making it easy to pick up with brushes or to use your finger for application.
Overall, I think that the internal of the packaging is good – I like the simple rectangle pans (which means there’s no wasted space) and the full sized mirror, which is useful for touch ups on the go.
However, the shape is quite impractical and I’m having trouble storing it – they are difficult to stack and more bulky than necessary. I think that this would have been better if they went with a more traditional, slender compact design. I would have also appreciated some distinction between the colour variations, so I knew which one I was reaching for.
Shade Range (Rhythmic Burn)
Rhythmic Burn is described as containing ‘inverted colours of orange and green’ – though I would personally just describe this as warm-neutral tones of peachy-orange and burnt browns. It contains a variety of glitters for a ‘bubbly and joyful’ eye look.
Shades in this palette, from left to right, include:
- Crush Rhythm (Velvet Matte)
- Rock On (Velvet Matte)
- Sugar Lush (Glam Glitter)
- Witty (Peark in Matte)
- Awake (Velvet Matte)
- Level Up (Mirage Cubic Glitter)
- Star Burst (Glitter Bomb)
- Wicked (Velvet Matte)
Shade Range (Blazing)
Meanwhile, Blazing is described as a combination of intense burgundy mattes, and brown and gold glitter for a confident and bold eye look. This is more of a cool-neutral shade range.
Shades in this palette, from left to right, include:
- Flashy (Dazzling Glitter)
- Blink (Glam Glitter)
- Hot Shot (Creamy Cubic Glitter)
- Blushed (Pearl in Matte)
- Chill Out (Velvet Matte)
- Sassy (Pearl in Matte)
- Sonic Boom (Velvet Matte)
- Slow Burn (Velvet Matte)
Shades & Personal Experiences
The Moonshot Performance Eye 8X Palettes are definitely delivering on the promises of blendability and pigmentation. In recent years, it seems that Korean eyeshadows really are becoming more intense and pushing for more depth variation in colour stories too. I found that I could easily achieve both lighter and bolder make up looks with these shadows.
The palettes also have some really unique textures. I especially love Hot Shot (the ‘Creamy Cubic Glitter’ in Blazing) as it’s super sparkly but also has a smooth, creamy texture. The other glitters also layered very prettily!
I think that on first glance, all of these palettes seem to be fairly common – burnt oranges, burgundy and pink is everywhere in k-beauty! However, the unique textures really makes these stand out! In future, I hope that they start bringing out bolder shades and creamy formulas like their old Jelly Pots (I reviewed those back in 2017).
Here’s the verdict!
SO WHAT IS IT?
An eight pan eyeshadow palette with textures varying from matte, satin, pearl and glitters
THE GOOD
- Decent price point – in comparison with other k-beauty brands
- Full sized mirror that is suitable for touch ups
- Wide range of eyeshadow textures
- Versatile range of depths (from base, mid and dark shades to point highlighters)
- Unique cubic glitter shades
- Highly blendable and easy to work with – the glitters apply well with a finger tip
THE BAD
- Bulky packaging that is difficult to stack/store
- No colour coding between the colour variations – makes it hard to tell which one you are picking up if you own multiple
- Not the most unique colour stories
RATINGS
- PRICE POINT | 3/5
- PACKAGING | 1/5
- PIGMENTATION | 4/5
- BLENDABILITY | 5/5
- SHADE RANGE | 4/5
OVERALL RATING? 6.8/10
THOUGHTS?
I liked the formula and, although the colour stories are more common, they’re very pretty. These shadows have a buildable pigmentation and blendability that means it suitable for both light, daily looks and stronger, smokey make up – much like what you might see on kpop idols.
However, what really pulled down this review was the packaging – it would be fine if I just had one of these, but even owning two means that I’m always having to double check which palette I picked up. As someone who also has a very large eye palette collection, the rounded shape is also very inconvenient to store.
If you’re interested in this palette, I would recommend picking up just one or two of the shades – find something that you think you would get a lot of wear out of. I’m hoping that Moonshot will improve on the packaging design in the future so their palettes feel more collectable.
