Years ago, and I do mean years ago – like six or seven of them – I spotted an oddly colored cyan lipstick on an obscure website (kind of like Urban Outfitters, but smaller). I have no desire to slap cyan on my face, but I was curious enough to see what other weird things this LimeCrime brand had. They had some unique ones, for the time – a minty green, a fun, pale tangerine, but at like $18/tube (I think!). I wasn’t into cosmetics at the time so I did pass them by, but I did remember the LimeCrime brand just because I’d never seen anything like them…but remember, I also wasn’t into makeup at the time.
Since I’ve gotten into makeup, though, I’ve learned about how LimeCrime’s proprietress, Doe Deere (and is that your real name? No – but I don’t really care about that) lacks a professional touch…to put it succinctly.
I still liked seeing the silly purple tubes when they’d pop up on YouTube and actually really liked the look of a few of the Velvetine shades, but I could never bring myself to pull the trigger and make a purchase. The cost, the ultimate wearability, and the fact that, well, I’d be supporting someone with a well-documented history of a) not being cool and b) being awful to customers when problems are reported. We make mistakes, we’re just people. Running a business comes with its own challenges, too. Most of us learn and grow, apologize for our missteps and commit ourselves to doing better next time – but the overwhelming volume of evidence suggests that Ms. Deere thinks she is exempt from these things.
Most recently, they have become embroiled in a pretty substantial credit card fraud scandal. At minimum, hundreds of customers’ credit cards were compromised (PayPal transactions seem OK) after making purchases from LimeCrime’s site. Instead of handling it properly, LimeCrime stayed VERY hush-hush, like, “If we don’t talk about it, maybe it will go away!” until the collective outcry became so great that they had no chance but to acknowledge it…which they did with a load of BS (was linked, but they deleted the post; go figure). They have not been helping concerned customers, and everything about it has been immensely unprofessional. Unapologetic. So many things.
I’m not going to flood you with a wall of text on this. There are many walls of text already written, such as this one, that chronicle the history of LimeCrime and their questionable business practices, and social media is rife with disappointed customers sharing their stories.
I will not be making any purchases from LimeCrime either directly or through resellers. I won’t tell you what to do with your life/money, but if business ethics/general decency of the companies who get your money concerns you, I suggest looking into it so you can decide for yourself.
