by Lena — Tuesday, January 25th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
in Beauty School, Eyes, Lips, Makeup and tagged with Lime Crime, Lime Crime Airborne Unicorn, Lime Crime Cosmopop
Fellow makeup addicts will agree that nothing fuels our addiction like visuals: product pictures, product swatches, and most of all – the downfall of all well-meaning, law-abiding gals everywhere – the LOOK. And boy do advertisers know it; what do you think are the purpose of the mega close-up pictures of eyes, lashes, lips.
I admit, my attraction with Lime Crime makeup started with the visuals offered by Xenia aka Doe Deere, founder of the makeup line. Her makeup is so flawlessly colorful that, when looking at the pictures, I can feel drool collecting around my mouth. Yet, as eye-popping and outrageous the look, I have this nagging sense that maybe, just maybe, it might work. And with that thought, off I click to shop.
So what do I have so far? A powder eye shadow and a couple of lipsticks.
Many moons ago, I got magic dust eyeshadow (Lime Crime-speak for loose pigment eyeshadow) in Siren, a glorious mound of fiery red pigment . It is touted as a true red, and I have sort of an obsession for the perfect red eye. Don’t ask.
Swatched on bare arms, the red turns the color of bricks on me, something that has happened with other reds, and I was somewhat disappointed. I tried experimenting with various eyeshadow bases under Siren, but the result remains, the yellow tone of my skin is too strong for even this fiery red to remain its true self. It’s not until I used MAC cream color base in Premeditated, a true red, that I see some promise. Alas, Premeditated is not eye safe, so I’m still on the fence about wearing this over a few hours, what with my penchant for eye rubbing. But for now, this is the best that I could come up with.
More recently, my sorry estate acquired a couple lipsticks from Lime Crime: Airborne Unicorn, a purple, and Cosmopop, a soft orange. Please excuse the chipped nails in the pictures below.
Lime Crime ‘Airborne Unicorn’ lipstick
Lime Crime ‘Cosmopop” lipstick
I adore Airborne Unicorn, it’s a perfect purple color for me, not too dark, not too bright, and definitely not magenta. It does not make me look like I’ve come out of the freezer. I even look, hmm dare I say, pretty.
Wearing ‘Airborne Unicorn’
Cosmopop, on the other hand, is not orange enough, even my teeth were more orange in comparison, yikes! My lips literally disappeared unless I mix in more orange with it. I’m still in quandary on how to use this best. A shame, because this looked so good on Xenia, even as a blush.
The Lime Crime lipsticks are very creamy, much like the MAC amplified creme lipstick formula. They apply opaque, with no detectable scent or taste. I find Airborne Unicorn a bit drying after a full day of use, so be sure to heap on the moisturizers and exfoliate regularly. The casing is interesting, purple with a holographic picture of a unicorn; definitely eye-catching.
In general, if you have some money to splurge and are in the mood for experimenting, no harm in trying these. Otherwise, just take some inspiration from the blog and together we make the World more colorful!
I haven’t been that interested to try Lime Crime even though the girls in the forum have been talking about it for some time. But looking at those lipsticks, my heart skipped a beat. So cute!! Tadinya gue pikir yg ungu itu dupenya MAC Violetta, but I think it’s more lilac ya? I don’t have lilac lipstick! Oh no, what have you done Lena? I gotta have it!
No, it’s not even lilac, it’s purple!
Iya, lippen2nya bikin drooling kan, apalagi kalo dia pake. Tapi beneran deh, tuh orang gak ada warna yg gak cocok sama dia ckckck
Whatever you do DO NOT BUY the dazzle dusts, you can get it so much cheaper from a wholesaler called TKB Trading. Siren is their Hot Mama pigment, 1 teaspoon for 1,5 USD. Many other colors have also been identified as pure repackaged mica (http://lillianfunnyface.blogspot.com/2010/01/lime-crime-versus-tkb.html)
thanks for the info. i’ve heard this info before, but honestly it does not deter me from buying lime crime. i’m buying because i want to support xenia and her creativity. anybody can vend pigments; making people buy them, now that takes creativity.
Hey LiisK! This is Erica from Lime Crime.
We appreciate your input but it is simply not true. As we’ve clarified in the past, our shades are custom-designed and any similarities are coincidental. There are lots of similar colors out there, we chose ours because they tell a story and, well, make you look pretty! Any questions, please don’t be afraid to get in touch at erica@limecrimemakeup.com. Thanks!
Lena, thank you so much for the review!
Cosmopop tends to be a somewhat hit and miss for some people – it is such a unique shade! Don’t let it go to waste if it doesn’t work on you though: I would recommend mixing it with a pink (like Countessa Fluorescent or Great Pink Planet) to create a lovely peachy shade! 
If nothing works out, please do not hesitate to get in touch with customerservice@limecrimemakeup.com! My Beautiful Rocket is our true orange lipstick, so it might be what you’re looking for instead.
As for the red eyeshadow dilema, have you tried a white base underneath instead of a clear primer? The white might nuetralize the yellow tones and give you a better shot at that true red! Please let me know if it works for you.
All the best,
Erica from Lime Crime Makeup
I agree on the creativity part – definitely needed to sell straight mica
.
I have a huge collection from 3 different wholesalers and honestly, there is not much difference between them. They all carry pretty much the same stuff. When I go to drugstore and make an occasional swatch, it’s often “I already have something like this”. This is why I appreciate the creativity of people who mix colors themselves – it’s hard to come up with something new.
Erica, has Xenia changed the formulation recently? Cause the reviews I’ve read (most of them 1-2 years back) support the repackaging claim with pretty hard evidence.
erica, thanks for stopping by and clarifying the issues. Indeed, there’s so much similarity in the makeup world, it’s really hard to say anybody’s a true original; and of course no one has a trademark on color.
Thanks for the tip on Cosmopop and Siren, I’ll be sure to try them.
ah.. I have the limecrime dust in siren, too Len..
And I put them in the back of my drawer because I really don’t know how and what should I combine it with.
Thanks for the article and thanks to Erica for the helpful comment
Vanya, sorry I missed your comment dear. Hmmm a simple way to use it is as eyeliner, just on the top lid Van, no need to be too thin, perhaps in combination with tight-lining the upper lid with black?
Or as an all-over wash of color, you can combine Siren with dark purple on the outer v; red and purple do complement each other well.
Kita coba di makeup playdate yuk!
LiisK exactly. you don’t see me buying red pigment from tbk or nyx or mac or fyrinnae or anybody. because they did not reach me (or the several members of our forum here). even if, as you say, these are the same products, there is valued added in having a product and making people in another continent buy it from you. it’s called marketing. perhaps you can inform those vendors of yours to engage in some of that.
and also, after i buy and having problems, even a great big brand like mac don’t give personal comments and suggestions. that is called after sales service.
They do not need additional marketing
, they have their good reputation which speaks for itself. They have independent bloggers stepping up on their behalf and doing promoting work without even thinking of being somehow compensated for it – and just because they believe in the product. This is the best possible “marketing” available.
I use Google to find reviews on items that interest me and rely on opinions of independent bloggers and beauty forum members. I never trust (TV) commercials or (magazine) commercial texts, those are usually silly and over the top and most of them make me feel that the company thinks it’s potential customers are morons. Nope, I cannot see the added value of marketing and I avoid products that are thus pushed at me.
I think it comes down to this – would I buy a way overpriced product just because I like the brand? Or because I think the company’s owner is cool? Nope. Not a chance. Especially after finding out they delete below 3* reviews and harass bloggers for writing non-flattering reviews.
PS! Fyrinnae and TKB have quite good customer service. I believe Fyrinnae has even made custom colors for some customers. TKB has/had a forum where one could get answers to all sorts of formulating questions. MAC has sales representatives and consultants… I’d say their clients are pretty well covered.
Liisk, I’m also a long-time member of Makeup Alley, and I’ve done the drill. If anything, we’re more reliant on the internet out here, because we don’t have the luxury of being able to test out the products themselves at counters/drugstores etc. I guess it boils down to the fact that Xenia inspires me, as I indicated in the blog. So yeah, when these other cheaper brands manage to inspire me (marketing is not all evil), then maybe I’ll take a look. After all, who wouldn’t want to buy good products at cheap prices?
Hi Erica, thanks for stopping by at Fashionese Daily!
Just went to Lime Crime website and I think D’Lilac is calling my name. But I’m falling in love with the hot pink lipstick the model is wearing on the Lip category visual. Do you happen to know which shade it is? Thanks!
Hi, Affi!
D’Lilac is a personal fave of mine. Such a cute color! But the one you have your eye on via the lips page graphic is definitely Centrifuchsia.
Erica
Lime Crime Makeup
I definitely putting Airborne Unicorn. I think the purple can really work for me.
How in the world am I last to know about these beautiful lipstick colours?
Too much controversy going on with this brand. I would choose to be on the safe side. Beside, their products are not that unique and one-of-a-kind anyway. There are many similar, great and cheaper indie beauty brands.
For me, if there are 2 products have exactly same color and quality, i would choose the much cheaper one of course!
Marketing is good, but common sense is important.
I put up Airborne once in my lemming list but then after I got MAC GMLL Blooming lovely, I decided to cross it off. I love purple lipsticks but decided that for my skin tone, this shade of purple needs more work than a simple swipe on the lips.
What’s the packaging like, Len? Does it feel heavy like top dept store brands or light like other drugstore ones? I’m a sucker for good packaging
); especially if the price calls for one.
pia, i got blooming lovely too, and definitely that one is not for me (it’s still languishing for sale in my lapak). Airborne Unicorn is different!
Loe dateng gak kelas dandan, ntar gue bawain ya.
The packaging is similar to MAC collections, that kind of plastic or whatever it is. It’s slightly bigger though (the packaging; I’m not sure about if the product is bigger). Not heavy. It’s nicer than my picture (hard to take holographic images with a cell camera).