Will The Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up.

My friend and fellow blogger (and kindred spirit) Grey, tipped me off this morning that our good friends at Lime Crime had an online article written about them, of which they were understandably proud, and started spreading the link to it around to their following.

It's the usual positive spiel about individuality and boldness and bright, pigmented make-up which Doe Deere is personally involved in creating. If you've read anything I've written about Lime Crime before, you'll know all this to be utter bollocks.

Lime Crime appear to me to be selling repackaged mica from TKB Trading (or a similar wholesaler), and when asked about it had the gall to allegedly suggest that the wholesale company had "similar" looking products because it copied them. Oh, and that I should buy a lipstick. In case you're wondering, TKB Trading has been around since 1994. Lime Crime's make-up since 2008. Maybe they also took her time-machine.

By similar, I mean - well, here's that picture again of swatches of Lime Crime eyeshadows versus the eyeshadows of an entirely unrelated make-up company, Beauty From The Earth, who get their ingredients from TKB Trading (and have the decency to admit that they sell some repackaged products, but have mixed over 175 of their own).

So Beauty from the Earth, who say yes, some of their colours are repackaged from TKB Trading (specifically Peacock and Green Apple, here), apparently just copied Lime Crime. Just like TKB did. Or so Lime Crime suggest.

Here's a list of supposed Lime Crime/TKB dupes:

Elf = Green Apple Pop
Fairy Wings = Hilite Violet
Dutchess = Indian Blue
Circus Girl = Lemon Drop Pop
Cleopatra = Tangerine Pop

I estimate that Empress would be strikingly close to Grape Pop, Enchant looks like Blackstar Green and Medusa Blackstar Blue, but I haven't tested those out personally (and I'm sure as hell not buying any more Lime Crime), so can't say for sure. Thanks to Jessica for some of the comparisons.

In response to this article, a lot of people - including yours truly - commented to inform people that actually, the stuff they sell looks remarkably like repackaged mica from the wholesaler, including identical ingredients lists. After these comments, Doe deleted the links to the article and instead linked to a screenshot of the article, which didn't show the comments, probably to prevent people from reading them.

Apparently this wasn't enough, as now all the comments have been deleted. As if ripping their customers off isn't enough, I think Lime Crime want to censor us as well. Here, another interviewer of her comments that she was asked by Xenia to remove the negative comments readers had posted.

I say, nuts to that. I wasted $40 there buying a product I seem to already fucking have from somewhere else. I believe I was lied to, that I was led to believe that I was buying something more than what I was given, and the website itself said that Doe makes the eyeshadows herself (interestingly, that section has since been rewritten and changed) - I find that hard to believe, give that to my eye they appear fucking identical to TKB Trading's colours (and they even have exactly the same ingredients), and I really doubt a wholesaler who've been in business for 14 years longer than Lime Crime copied her colours and then charged 4000% less per ounce for them to mineral make-up companies than Lime Crime do. Oh, they also sell jars which look just like the ones she uses. Coincidence?

Although the comments have been removed, someone archived some of them, and you can still view them here: [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link]

Shady or what?

EDIT: After reading about Lillian's experience with Xenia/Doe Deere, I'm even more convinced in my opinion that this company doesn't give a crap about ripping customers off, and is content to peddle snakejuice as long as they turn a profit.