1989:

PRINCESS BRUSH N GROW PONIES

After the success of the Brush & Grow Ponies the year before, Hasbro decided to remix the concept and add a touch of royal flair to the set in 1989. Four characters - two earth ponies and two pegasus ponies - were introduced as Princess Brush N Grow Ponies, although unlike earlier Princesses, they did not come with fancy hats or magic wands. Please note that although I list them as "Princess" due to their set name, the boxes themselves actually gave the names without the title.

These beautiful newcomers had the same long hair and growing tail mechanism as the original set, although their manes were not rooted as thickly and instead were rooted with coloured tinsel, to emphasise their royal status. Each pony also had a coloured 'gem' on her forehead, to denote her special lineage.

All four of the Princess Brush & Grow Ponies were sold in the United Kingdom, with the same name as in the US release. There were, however, some differences. While the US release ponies sometimes included make up as a freebie, the UK ones seemed to have it as standard with their release. It is mentioned on the box in several places, most specifically in a yellow cloud in the top right hand corner:

Label from UK box indicating the make up as part of the accessories
(Princess Star Gleamer's UK Box)

It was also mentioned in the list of accessories included with the pony, as well as on the side and bottom of the box.

List of accessories included in pony box
(Princess Star Gleamer's Box)

The make up was easily identifiable as belonging to this set, as the labels featured Princess Star Gleamer. All ponies from the set had the same label on their make up, not just Star Gleamer. The make up consisted of nail polish and a 'make up stick' that resembled lipstick.

Make up from UK Princess Brush & Grow Release featuring Princess Star Gleamer.

The hair clips included were I luv u clips, and the ribbon was a normal ribbon, not a thick ribbon like the original Brush and Grow release.

In the US, these ponies were sold in rectangular yellow boxes, whereas in the UK they were sold in square pale pink/white boxes (See Star Gleamer's page for an example). I know that the UK (English language) box also was sold in the Benelux countries because my Star Gleamer's box has a label indicating as much, but I do not know what format these ponies were released in in other countries in Europe.

As seems to have been the fashion with this year's pony releases, they were also introduced in the pony comic, in a pull-out-and-keep booklet that children could colour (part of My Little Pony comic #105).