Lime Crime : Review & Swatches

This review has been in the making for a LONG time. I've been debating if I should post it or not, but I want to share my thoughts and honest feelings with all of you!

I first tried Lime Crime when it was launched. I would sometimes read up on Doe Deere's blog-thingy-majig & kinda liked her awkward style. When she announced she was launching a makeup label, I was excited & couldn't wait to see what she had in store.

I will admit, that at first, I was like "Woooooah! Nice!" - though now that has significantly changed. A LOT! When her company first launched, she sold tiny little 5g jars of pigment for $12 a pop. Pretty pricey, considering it was a new company & you'd think they wouldn't have such an expensive price tag. I first used the colour Empress here and was really diggin' the rest of the shades I purchased. To this day, that is one of my most asked about EOTD's on MUA. I had a few complaints when I first got these, one, being the size with the ridiculous price. The second was how messy they were. Pigment just crammed into a jar, no sifter. I later found out why this was all happening, which is when my desire to ever use these again completely died off. Since my first purchase of these shadows, I've noticed that they have changed their packaging. At first, it was a simple, 5g square sample jar with no label & no sifter. Now, it's a larger jar, sifters & labels included.

A simple Google search will provide you with all the drama which now surrounds this company. Allegations of repackaging TKB micas for an unreasonably high profit is the main thing. I absolutely believe that Lime Crime is a repackaging "company" & the price tag is the worst part about it. With my recent TKB purchases, I wanted to see what goes into creating and mixing your own colours. I carefully studied for hours about several bases, fillers & other things to take into consideration when you make your own colours. While I am not against mixing colours & making 'your own' - I am 100% against dumping POP! mica's from a 1lb bag into a tiny ass jar without even having the decency to add a fucking base. Just simply turned the bag to the side & into a cruddy jar they went. When these accusations came 'round, I heavily researched the findings & was just flat out disgusted. This definitely explained the messy-mess these shadows caused, because they were simple micas, no base/fillers, etc. What. A. Waste.

After all this shit came flying around, the owner of Lime Crime (Doe Deere/Xenia) and her team of fans/followers came to her defense. Simply put; the way this was handled, on top of the repackaging BS just completely turned me off from this brand. As someone who loves makeup & gives my support to indie companies, I was ashamed I had put my money into Lime Crime. I'm not here to divulge into all the details surrounding the fall of this company, nor am I here to steer anyone away from purchasing their products. But do your research. And don't just read the online rants & drama, read the actual research so many have put in to this entire ordeal. I've only put in one order since all this came down & that was because I really wanted to try the lipstick. Does this mean I support her company? Not in the least, but I am a sucker for pink lips & couldn't resist when her 40% off sale came to my knowledge. I actually like the lipstick I received, but I will get into that later.

Here are some swatches. All packed over NYX jumbo eye pencil in Milk.

Yippie, right? Sure, they may seem pretty, bright, bold...but in all honestly, they are mediocre, dupe-able and not anything close to what they were hyped up to be. Their slogan is "So Bright, It's Illegal" and I would beg to differ. Again, I'm not posting this to bash or degrade, this is all my honest opinion, regardless on how things went down.

After the crash of their shadows, Lime Crime then released a line of lipsticks. In my opinion, these are the only thing even worth thinking of trying Lime Crime for. While I only have one, it is a pretty rad lipstick. I purchased Great Pink Planet which is incredibly opaque. A tad drying, so I always use lip conditioner underneath. I've always thought this lipstick was very, very similar to MAC's Pink Friday. When comparing the colour in the tubes, it looks different.. But when applied to my lips, I can't tell the difference.

 

Can you tell the difference? It's really all dependent on your application. A very light sweep of this lipsticks & it's practically identical to Pink Friday. I don't rock out with lips like this too often, but a light layer of this and a lipgloss would make it very wearable.

To wrap this up; I don't think LC is anything special at all. You can purchase your own TKB mica samples for $1.25 each as opposed to the $12 LC charges per jar. The lipsticks are different and very, very opaque. But with that comes dryness & staining, and these are $16 a piece...more than MAC which is an established name brand who is known for their great lipsticks. Either way, Lime Crime is a company that I have stayed far far away from. Too much drama & dishonesty to the fans/customers. The biggest turn off was just how everything was handled. To this day, LC maintains that they do not repackage TKB, though the photographic evidence posted by some seems to be far too accurate. There is also talk of any bad/negative reviews being threatened by "lawyers" for removal. Really? I'm not allowed to speak my mind, share my thoughts on your "cosmetics" company? I think not. I know my rights and I know the legal system well. As I stated before & will always state...I'm not here to flame or send anyone away from this brand. If you read up on everything & still decide to try Lime Crime & love it, then great! I'm not against that in the least. 

Either way. For me, Lime Crime is a brand that I will be staying far away from!