Behind the Pony Effect

Dress by Emilio Pucci

Pony포니 (real name: Park Hye-min 박혜민) is a shape-shifting make-up vlogger with a throng of fervent followers – at last count, 4.4 million on Instagram and 3.2 million on YouTube – who eagerly await her new videos every Friday. Pony’s useful (and chatty) tutorials are often specifically tailored to Asian women; she’s also famed around the world for transforming herself into a variety of celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Angelababy and Fan Bingbing.Jacket by Marc Jacobs and dress by Huishan Zhang at Joyce

After establishing her wildly successful YouTube channel “Pony Syndrome” in 2013, the 27-year-old make-up goddess launched her own make-up line, Pony Effect, in 2015. She opened a new studio in 2016 in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, a satellite city just northwest of Seoul, where she creates all her videos. Pony has published several make-up books and is also a celebrity make-up artist for the likes of K-pop superstar CL, formerly of 2NE1.Dress by Mary Katrantzou at Joyce

Born in 1990, she was bestowed the nickname “Pony” in elementary school due to her “restless and lively” personality. Pony got her start as a graphic designer after university and simultaneously became an “ulzzang” – a concept in Korea similar to Hot or Not, in which people upload their photos for contests to get voted best-looking. She went on to model contact lenses, clothes, cosmetics and wigs for a variety of e-commerce sites and brands including Gabalnara, Etude House and Innisfree, then began releasing make-up tutorials as a hobby on Korean social network Cyworld in 2008 before moving over to the blogging platform Naver.Crown by Dolce & Gabbana, top by Carven, trousers by Faith Connexion x Kappa at I.T

After dating photographer Baek Hyun-woo (백현우 aka Asperger) for 10 years, they got married in May 2017. While dating, their couple ring was the One Ring from Lord of the Rings; they now have matching Latin tattoos on their wrists that read “vi veri veniversum vivus vici” (“by the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe”), a saying made popular in the 2005 film V for Vendetta. Pony’s husband does her hair and shoots many of her photos; they owned a photography studio together, but have closed it down to focus on running Korean accessories brands Kitsch Island and hair accessories/wig brand Kitsch Holiday.

Top by Carven and dress by La Perla

Dress by Loewe at Matches Fashion

Earrings by Fendi, choker by Louis Vuitton, dress by Maje, cuffs by Hermès

Dress by Huishan Zhang at Joyce, necklace by Paul Andrew x Atelier Swarovski

Earrings by Fendi, top by  Maje, dress by Moschino

Photography / Ricky Lo
Styling / Kieran Ho
Hair / Jean T at A Ten Studio
Make-up / Pony Pak
Location / Hong Kong

Check out Pony’s latest video where she gets ready and then shoots for #legend

In this Story: #style / #fashion