Comments on Lipsticks & Lightsabers: Will The Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up.

Just reading your post for the first time and I fi...

2011-08-28T03:08:47.536+01:00

Just reading your post for the first time and I find it quite shocking but also informative. Are you aware that the actual suppliers (I think you mentioned tkb not sure on the others) all have access to the same manufacturers? They may formulate a small section of mica's (by mixing other mica's they've bought obviously) themselves to supply further down the chain but are supplied by huge global manufacturers. So in effect it would actually be impossible to have a truly unique line as small business don't have the buying power to purchase directly from the manufacturer and even if they did it still comes down to the same few companies that do actually make the mica's in the first place. Small business's purchase from smaller suppliers like tkb and the others. Here's an example http://www.merck-chemicals.com/united-kingdom/metallic-color-luster-pigments/c_QKCb.s1LWTAAAAEW1OAfVhTl & another http://www.merck-chemicals.com/united-kingdom/ronastar-noble-sparks/MDA_CHEM-117459/p_MfKb.s1LWTEAAAEW1OAfVhTl These are all basic mica's sold by 'wholesaler's' that your probably aware of but they're not unique to them but sold by these manufacturers globally. Emdchemicals and sensient are some others. Please post as although I'm not familiar with lime crime company so don't know how they've behaved but although I'm against straight up re-packaging of mica's I feel the bigger picture is not really put out there?

I have decided against naming names, but the perso...

2010-05-24T18:27:43.366+01:00

I have decided against naming names, but the person who thought they had the right to butt in when I was giving a friend a very small bit of constructive criticisim was the same person who has a blog that had a hand in bringing a mineral makeup company out of business.

I mean, I liked her look in general, in fact, I li...

2010-03-20T04:49:24.410Z

I mean, I liked her look in general, in fact, I liked it a lot, or else I wouldn't have said anything. After complementing all the things I did like about the look I just offered one suggestion for what I thought would be an improvement. I only spent the time to think up an improvement because I liked the look and I like her. Some people have the nerve to butt in. Sheesh.

No, that's cool, really sorry, I was really ...

2010-03-20T02:40:54.976Z

No, that's cool, really sorry, I was *really* pissed at the time, but I shouldn't have posted here. The only reason I posted something on your blog was because I took one of the comments you made on your blog to heart about how to respond to FOTDs (ie gave a slight suggestion to a friend how I would change something instead of always saying, you look so pretty, and I like your "x" I think were your exact words, haha) and got attacked by an AL forum member.

But that wasn't your fault, I just agreed with you and like I said, was pissed at the time about the whole situation and certain forum members.

Hi! I have been researching LC myself to see if I ...

2010-01-13T21:27:42.054Z

Hi! I have been researching LC myself to see if I wanted to buy from them...I'm concluding that I don't. Kind of a shame because they have lipstick colors that look appealing, but the prices and reviews of those lipsticks aren't so hot. :( Luckily I can just get lip gloss and take any lip safe mineral color and mix them together to get the colors myself.

I've been debating whether to try Meow Cosmetics. Some love them; some say they itch. I have tried Face Front e/s and so far no itching. Most of the colors were good; a couple didn't stay on. I have a lot of Aromaleigh and absolutely no itching/problems ever. So far that is my favorite brand, followed by (not mineral) MAC.

That Miss X makeup line seems like a bunch of bull...

2009-12-29T04:48:31.199Z

That Miss X makeup line seems like a bunch of bullshit. http://blackpillredpill.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4_6&zenid=7e06cd0464d3760e42ce1f3d6ff7a3cd
Same jars as LC. Generic colours etc. I dunno. Seems like another C-Dlist celebrity digging for more money.

I'm horribly disappointed with LC, though. I spent a lot of money on her crap and actually attempted to defend her several times when the rumors first started. Then I finally saw some proof and was like "Oh, fucking shit." I know better now though. (:

Tally - after finishing the entire thread, I'v...

2009-12-11T13:56:00.551Z

Tally - after finishing the entire thread, I've removed your first comment here. This is simply to remove the posted link. I haven't been contacted by anyone from Aromaleigh (or anyone at all, about this), and I'm not trying to censor you, but I don't want this to become an issue here.

You're welcome to repost the comment's content (unfortunately I can't edit comments, only remove them) without the URL. Given the amount of drama in the thread you linked to, I really don't want the URL on my blog. Many blog owners simply prevent URLs from being posted at all, so I hope you don't think this is out of line.

Honestly, I just don't see how any of it relates to me/my blog/this post at all, and I don't particularly want anyone using my blog as a platform to publicise unrelated drama, particularly drama which I don't agree with.

Well, Tally, I think Xenia is ripping people off, ...

2009-12-11T13:55:41.215Z

Well, Tally, I think Xenia is ripping people off, lying, threatening bloggers with litigation for blogging about it, and generally disgracing the name of unicorns everywhere.

I read your review and didn't see anything wrong with it, although I do personally disagree with your assessment on the e-mail you posted from her regarding eBay samples. I didn't find it at all offensive - I think rather than curt, she was simply going for professional. A lot of mineral make-up companies are run by individuals and I don't blame Aromaleigh for wanting to distance themselves from that and appear more professional, hence the formal response.

I'm confused as to how you can post something confidentially on a blog or public forum. But anyway, I read your leaving thread and what I presume were Kristen's e-mails to you or cut-and-pasted stuff from another thread, and I don't see anything in it that I, personally, would find offensive. I haven't seen evidence of her using your personal information to insult you - did I miss that?

I'm not sure what portions of that thread were her personal e-mails to you, but it's clear that she typed you a long, personal response and shared details about her life. I don't know Kristen well, but in general I know my response to something like that would be to talk to the person, and not then re-post that information in public - particularly not on her own forum.

Whilst I agree with you about the irritation of only strictly positive comments being allowed on FOTDs, this isn't unusual to any forum, and your problem with the long-time member who bashed you for it should be directed at them, or the forum's moderators.

This seems to me like a mountain being made out of a mole hill. I haven't seen anything from either side so far (either in your review, or in her responses) that would have offended me, were I involved.

I'm sorry you feel you had a rough time there, I know I've had some harsh treatment on forums in the past (non-cosmetics related) and I tend to shy away from them to avoid the drama. That's the beauty of running a blog - I'm my own moderator. If I offend people, they can choose not to read what I have to say. Personally, I'm going to steer well clear of any past drama you've had with Aromaleigh, as I've never experienced anything but excellent customer service and products from the company.

Yup, Rin. The similarities between TKB's video...

2009-12-11T11:59:55.468Z

Yup, Rin. The similarities between TKB's video and hers are interesting, too. Except of course, they wear gloves and a mask...

Oh, and you know how you posted a while back how y...

2009-12-11T08:49:54.975Z

Oh, and you know how you posted a while back how you hated how a lot of makeup forums in response to FOTD's said, "that looks great, and I love your "x"."? Only postives all the time. I once gave constructive criticism to someone I knew on the aromaleigh forum about her FOTD saying I would personally add more eyeliner. I was verbally bashed by a long time member. So the aromaleigh forum is definitely not a place where free speech is encouraged.

2009-12-11T08:45:42.909Z

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Tricksy hobbitses! Lookix what I foundix: http://...

2009-11-18T13:36:05.469Z

Tricksy hobbitses!

Lookix what I foundix: http://www.tkbtrading.com/TKBPopMicaRoundup.pdf

I reckon she's stumbled across it and they're the formulas she uses. They seem about the same.

Sasha - Well, that seems to be their tactic. They&...

2009-11-18T11:32:16.340Z

Sasha - Well, that seems to be their tactic. They've moved on to threatening bloggers who post negative reviews with legal action, now.

Punch N Judy - Oh, really? I've seen a lot of places edit their old fluff pieces to comment on the controversy and some of them withdraw their support.

Rin - I think Xenia wants everyone to believe she has a bigger, more professional operation than she does. In my opinion, she's a repackager working out of her kitchen. All of her efforts seem to go into PR rather than product innovation.

The video with her 'making eyeshadows' - that isn't how you make eyeshadows, it isn't how you make a repeat product. Why doesn't she know the formula for her own product? Why would anyone send a sample to a LAB to get them to mix mica? Why does her video resemble the TKB video so closely? Why isn't she wearing gloves or a mask?

I agree on the lipsticks, too. I don't think they're repackaged, I think they're just generic-formula private label. And certainly not worth $16.

Also, the little plastic scoop she's using is identical to the one TKB supply with their "EZ" eyeshadow kit.

http://www.tkbtrading.com/item.php?item_id=503&page=2&category_id=29

I've been a fan of Xenia's since I was you...

2009-11-18T10:37:51.949Z

I've been a fan of Xenia's since I was young so when all this hoo-ha about her being fake arose, I rolled my eyes and thought 'c'mon guys! let someone shine!'. I did however notice that as time went on, she became more and more arrogant and almost childish as if to appeal to that little child within us all. She's almost 30 and calls herself the Unicorn Queen. On her website, in her 'about the author' section she's written that she's a makeup guru (have you seen how tacky some of her older stuff is?! :/ Nowadays it seems like she just posts pretty professional pictures of other make-up artistry and speels about them..) an entreprenure (i'm sure other people have invented make-up lines before and run them independantly..) and a model. In third person. As if someone else was writing about her in such high regard. (I'm pretty sure it's actually her writing this stuff..)

I thought about that. She models for her friends and her own stuff, but has anyone else ever seen her do anything else? She recently got 'married' and instead of posting it all over the place like any one else with such a high opinion of themselves would, she kept it 'low-key'. Her hair always has bad regrowth in her 'photo shoots' and only ever looks polished when it's a professional gig, which I'm sure she only gets through her 'husband' Mark who is a 'professional photographer'.

Recently there's been an uproar and people have been posting what she insists is 'slander' and 'illegal' about her and saying she's a fraud, so she posted a video of her making her own eyeshadows at home by mixing colours from ziplock sachets into an empty one and rolling the bag around in her hands to mix the colours in. No exact formula to it, just adding bits from here and there until it looked right. Which to me seems far too primitive for a makeup professional who is producing (seemingly in the masses) her own make-up line.

Upon reading a little more journalism about her repackaging wholesaler's products I noticed that some of the wholesaler sites people say she's repackaging from send their pigments out in the same ziplock style bags if you buy the samples under a certain size (could explain why sometimes her site's makeup supply is so limited).. Also, if her makeup is made professionally, why would she have unmixed bags of pigment/mica at her house? Her attempt to prove she does make her own eyeshadows has only backfired in my eyes and IMHO the only 'overseeing of the process' she does is fill out an online order form and enter her credit card details into the wholesaler's website.

When it comes to her lipsticks, I think that she has made enough of a name for herself to have some contacts in the industry by now. I haven't seen much about her lipsticks being copied and as the packaging is quite 'unique' she may just have had these professionally made. She's posted a picture of her at a lab whilst making them, but it's not super informative or anything.

Also, the 'mixing spoon' she uses in the 'How to make eyeshadow' video looks like a sea-monkey feeding spoon, but that could just be me being a little too critical. :P

fascinating how gala darling has deleted her artic...

2009-11-05T05:57:22.222Z

fascinating how gala darling has deleted her article/review/fluff piece about lime crime! Not surprising though, gala is all about censorship.

That Buzzworthy MTV story is now deleting all nega...

2009-11-03T00:59:06.469Z

That Buzzworthy MTV story is now deleting all negative comments. What the hell is that about? Freedom of speech is part of being an AMerican. But I guess MTV is now corrupted as well.

2009-11-03T00:59:01.706Z

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Pfft, honestly, I still wouldn't be convinced ...

2009-10-28T23:34:38.310Z

Pfft, honestly, I still wouldn't be convinced she's actually photographed them on. Lo says that they're not very smooth/opaque at all and darker than the swatches look, so I'm not convinced of the formula or whether or not it's good enough for her to take genuine swatches.

Anastasia, your second to last post has me gigglin...

2009-10-28T13:41:18.432Z

Anastasia, your second to last post has me giggling like an elf on speed!

Anyway, just wanted to inform you that Xenia posted the following on her Twitter yesterday : "New lip swatches! These really show you what the color looks like on the lips.".

Maybe it's just me but that makes it sound like her other swatches were fake...

I hadn't noticed - but you're right. It wo...

2009-10-27T11:41:38.892Z

I hadn't noticed - but you're right. It wouldn't surprise me, either, another potential dick move from Lime Crime. It wouldn't surprise me if I found out they were all made in sweatshops from abused orphans at this point.

Photosynthesia, I thought it looked awfully inform...

2009-10-27T11:40:56.345Z

Photosynthesia, I thought it looked awfully informal, and the fact that they can delete comments from users is ridiculous.

So it's basically youtube, with articles? Ick. That drill part made me roffle, I might quote you somewhere XD I don't know anyone who actually works in a lab, so was taking Grey's word for it, but it's good to hear someone backing her up.

I couldn't imagine what that machine might be for, and why I couldn't see any dyes or lipstick moulds or anything.

Even without the picture, it would've been fucking ridiculous. It was so self-congratulatory her own unicorns would've vomited rainbows. Like she's fighting a WAR on beige, and she's the LAST member of the Rainbowbrite brigade, her unicorn-cavalry just died, she lost a leg and she's dragging herself along with a harpoon gun to finish things. Get over yourself, please, you're no innovator, all you did was stick unicorn stickers on things. I did that, when I was four.

Lo, sorry I'm late in replying to this. Since ...

2009-10-27T11:36:18.633Z

Lo, sorry I'm late in replying to this. Since her swatches are photoshopped, this seems like a dodgy move - obviously darker skin requires more opaque pigmentation to cover it, but if it's not the product GENUINELY being used on the lips, it's just more misleading bullshit.

Pleeease review the lipsticks! Either on your own blog, or you can do it on here if you like. With pictures! Yes yes.

P.P.S. (Sorry for the double post!) This is pure ...

2009-10-27T02:54:56.605Z

P.P.S. (Sorry for the double post!) This is pure speculation, but does anyone else find it suspicious that the author of the Examiner review has the same skin tone and mouth shape as her new model? They're both based in NYC, too...

Just piping up to say that Examiner.com is NOT a &...

2009-10-27T02:51:42.151Z

Just piping up to say that Examiner.com is NOT a "real" newspaper site; all the articles are submitted by members. While I'm not criticizing that particular format, I don't think they have many requirements for writing or any sort of fact checking system. My loser cousin, who barely passed high school English, has published some god awful articles through this site and claims to be an internet journalist.

I found out about this whole controversy and your lovely blog after coming across the photo of her "in the lab." My fellow lab rats and I were outraged by her bad practices (well, they'd be bad if they weren't staged) and constant insults hurled at cosmetic chemists. Don't bite the hand that feeds you, missy! P.S., none of the people I talked to, who have experience in everything from nuclear chemistry to genomics, can identify those machines beyond, "Well, that might be some sort of drill, maybe?"

Interesting. She has posted swatches of the same l...

2009-10-26T05:09:31.439Z

Interesting. She has posted swatches of the same lipsticks using a black model now.
http://www.limecrimemakeup.com/images/noshedidnt4.jpg