Lime Crime - Looking Over the Years (Discussion)
It's been a while since my last opinion piece, on Huda Beauty's brand, but I felt like I wanted to finally finish up this piece on Lime Crime. Since the departure of Doe Deere, I've bought and enjoyed a few of their products during Black Friday sales, but I really just wanted to write about my history and thoughts on the brand. As always, I've complied a source list and will be referring to them with numbers which you can find at the bottom of the page.
To be honest, it's quite hard to write about the brand, to the point where I've actually put this post away for more than a year - due to the sheer wealth of information that has been online about it. In most part, I imagine, due to the inability of Doe Deere to handle early PR/HR issues, and there is far too much to trawl through, and a lot of these articles do a majority of the summaries regarding this brand. More or less, you can literally just google Lime Crime controversy and do your own research, so this is really just another opinion addled piece that I've been sitting on for far longer than I would like to admit to. In fact, there's even a controversy page on the official website, because why not?
Let's start with a foreword. With the rise of cancel culture and an increasing interest in social justice and figureheads being emblematic of their brands, there is no wonder that a company with a tumultuous past can never really get over the dredges of their own heavy history. Coupled with the fact that we live in an era where we have an overload of information that lasts, even after deletion (screencaps, wayback machine... the list goes on.), it's virtually impossible to run away from the pull of progressive social demands.
Personally - I believe a lot of problems that persist in light of the sheer amount of information documentation fundamentally stem from the fact that some people don't allow people to learn and grow from their mistakes, or even giving them leeway to improve. Much like many companies with rocky starts, or shady pasts - like James Gunn's tweets, or Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's public feud.
By extension, I think a lot of people have difficulty disassociating Doe Deere from the very rocky and very complex upstart of Lime Crime's brand history - which actually incited a huge response from people, and interest towards the brand due to Doe stepping away.
Since 2018, Lime Crime and a majority of their PR and brand image was no longer being solely run by Doe Deere, and since then has more or less evolved into a relatively successful 'indie' brand competing with other indie brands like Glossier and Colourpop - and not many people mention Lime Crime's past anymore since Doe Deere's departure (3).
But what about the history? A dedicated blog at the time (10) called Oh Dear, Doe Deere had most of its focus on discussing and documenting and speculating about Xenia Vorotova, who is better known as Doe Deere, the owner of Lime Crime. For more information, Vox's article (4) outlines most of the problems plaguing Lime Crime's reputation up until around 2015, when the article was released.
During a time where a lot more homemade cosmetics were being made through TKB Cosmetics, who provide beauty supplies for people to make eyeshadows and other beauty products, (much like the famed 2018 incident of Kuckian Cosmetic's liquid lips and eyeshadows), there was sufficient evidence to suggest that Lime Crime were more likely pre-bought goods that had been repackaged. While the problem isn't necessarily that they were using wholesale micas, or pre-made goods, it is more about brand transparency, crucially, that they never transparently admitted to whether or not this was true. As the Vox article mentions - there is no solid evidence from Doe Deere that her 'video' response was actual evidence of production (again, much like the Kuckian saga).
Perhaps the biggest problem is that a lot of consumers/audiences are now wise to these excuses, and even retrospectively looking back, it was very unlikely that people will accepted sort of 'proof' anymore. I hate to bring up the long forgotten Kuckian saga again, but he's really the best example of a relatively recent and high profile 'creator' who stuck to such an old school method, because due to the easy access of makeup and factories nowadays, most people are more likely to private label (see, the alleged status of Morphe being primarily a private label company), or rather, actually create something from scratch (because it's much easier now than it was in 2013), and just make it badly, like Jaclyn Hill's rather tragic and horrific launch of her fuzzy, dusty and overall disgusting lipsticks in 2019. We know that exceptional marketing is now being done purely online, and through social media and that relies very heavily on a transactional experience (20). The brand needs to market itself as a progressive, accepting entity, it's no longer the same detached, one step removed advertising that mainstream corporate owned beauty (eg. loreal, mac) tends to favor. Brands must be proactive, responsive and interested in their customers, and one can only peruse the Instagram accounts of Colourpop and the current Lime Crime company to get an idea of what's expected.
To finish off the Kuckian and Jaclyn Hill reflections, it more or less points to things that customers don't tolerate anymore, because the rise of social media means that if you are genuinely running a really bad brand, there is an easy and quick way to notify everyone who buys from you. For example, the proof of 'Kuckian Foundation' charity was quickly proved to be a scam, and while he continued to create more and more excuses for his products, he was continuing to threaten legal action to people for defamation - on which he had little grounds to do. Jaclyn Hill on the other hand, just completely went under and didn't really ever make full amends for the whole situation.
Both these scenarios point to one thing - if you do not address the downfalls of your brand, especially when it's tied into personal brand, people are unlikely to trust the brand. So after a while, it was very clear that Lime Crime was a brand people could not rely and shouldn't buy from, from the unreliable quality and overpriced products, to the unprofessional and inconsiderate behavior of the owner - who was also nowhere near as prevalent as Jaclyn, or even ever really liked, and never tried to make amends.
Let's pull up an example of an old situation - One of the biggest controversies was the "ChinaDoll" eyeshadow palette released around 2012 (15, 16, 12). More or less it's just your run of the mill, really garish examples of untasteful appropriation of asian aesthetics. The extensive article from Mai (12,18) outlines the attempt professionalism from Doe Deere - mostly in regards to her saying:
"I'm very sorry to hear that some of you found the Chinadoll concept offensive. Chinadoll is inspired by a time and a place, and is not meant to depict any contemporary or even real person. My Chinadoll is strong but not afraid to cry, rebellious but in control, traditional and untamed all at once. She is a living contradiction and, above all, a *woman* -- she can never be, or will be stereotyped. I hope you guys can continue to support our independent brand, we truly do pour our hearts and souls into it. Thanks for your feedback!-Doe"
Much like the original poster's sentiments, the 'sorry but' statements have been used to death - and a lot of the other comments were removed in light of her somewhat ignorant but cheerful dismissal - a bold hallmark of "toxic positivity" and a scathing oversight and refusal to talk about actual problem at hand - which can be summarized as utlizing East Asian culture as a vague monolithic aesthetic primarily for monetary gain - which I would view as appropriation rather than appreciation.
To add fire to flame, Doe's response, instead of more obvious tactical and diplomatic action of embracing and learning from obvious misstep (a lesson we all know to follow by 2020), she wrote an extensive post defending her artistic decision and denying that she was engaging in any act of cultural appropriation. By claiming that Chinadoll was 'great makeup' above all else, this is a tune we've all heard by 2020 - and one that has been rejected and exposed for its ignorance time after time. After the less than optimal PR attempt to deal with this situation, it became more or less obvious that Doe Deere just wasn't really cut out for PR. Paired with the classic legal threats, repackaging accusations, they continued to weed out any critical comments against the brand, then the brand had their website hacked, a ton of people lost their money because of a security breach, and then paired with an FDA notice, Vox's writer in 2015 (4) really doesn't look too fondly on the future of Lime Crime - although it hasn't aged too well in light of Lime Crime's enduring 'success'.
I think it's an easy conclusion to make if we criticise Deere for not owning up to her mistakes, or the extent of how unprofessional she was (because this would be a much longer article that it already is), but it's safe to say that Doe Deere just isn't great at being a figure head - unlike her old one sided rivalry with Sugarpill, and its owner Amy. However, what we should note is that, perhaps it is worth pointing out that a lot of these things that Doe Deere did happened a while ago, and as far as I can tell, it's genuinely quite hard to know if she is still the same person that she was, if she's simply just let other people run the business in the last few years before stepping down, or if she actually has matured and taken on board her criticisms after her quick-to-defend attitude. But what I do want to point out, is that these incidents happened in 2012, a vastly different experience for people. While I think it is understandable that much has changed, whether or not Doe Deere has made a forgivable list of offenses (repeatedly over many years), is purely up to you. Since the big stumbling blocks of 2015, and Deere's departure in 2018, Lime Crime has more or less stablized as a brand, and isn't even quite as popular for making (bad) headlines anymore.
What I wonder is, how much further will the past of Doe Deere continue to haunt the brand? Despite it's shortcomings and pitfalls, the brand is still a success with 3.5million followers on Instagram, despite louder voices who refuse to continue supporting the brand because Deere continues to earn money from the brand (24). Sugarpill only has about 2.1 million, whereas Colorpop has 9 million, and Jeffree Star Cosmetics has 7.4 million.
Perhaps though, what I find most interesting, is the turn of Lime Crime's public image and eventual rebranding. The company reached out to youtuber JKissa, who titled her video "Confronting Lime Crime", and interviewing the new CEO who stepped in (22). A lot of the comments highlighted how amicable JKissa actually was, and that they essentially buttered her up, made sure they got the right answers and was very professional - but I don't see how this is a bad thing at all. You can't hold the new CEO accountable for Doe Deere's actions, and for someone whose job is literally to be professional and turn public opinion on the brand towards positive, cheerful bright waters, I applaud their efforts for reaching out to a Youtuber in an attempt to 'right the wrongs' as it were. I don't see a problem with trying to reinforce brand transparency, and even if they had skewed her perceptions on the brand, if we're all aware of this and everyone's pointing it out, isn't it a great chance to teach people to think more critically? I for one, think its a good opportunity to ask people to think with more nuance.
What I personally struggled with, is the death of creativity in Lime Crime's brand. Let me give an example - the band Three Days Grace had a very specific musical style that was pretty much 90% attributed to frontman Adam Gontier. Gontier left the band in 2013, and since then, their music has taken on different themes, and turned towards electronic influences. Gontier then started a new band in 2015 called Saint Asonia, which somewhat amusingly, just sounds like Three Days Grace. As a witty Youtube comment pointed out, "Saint Asonia sounds more like Three Days Grace than Three Days Grace sounds like Three Days Grace."
Why the long winded comparison? Well, it's fair to say that Lime Crime, at least visually speaking, isn't really exciting anymore. Much like the slow uninspiring death of Too Faced since Estee Lauder's acquisition in 2016, they went from starting the trends (Chocolate!), to trailing along almost pitifully behind, dolefully recreating scraps of overwrought creativity, squeezed into dull and boring palettes - and barely anyone still mentions them on the big stage of new, fun and innovative beauty brands. Lime Crime has more or less settled into the same slow pace, muted like a pale imitation of Deere's initial aesthetics, which saw the release of the four nude lipsticks bundles of stereotypical girls, and playing off old and successful releases (very Too Faced flavored), like the Venus collection, to the Prelude collection, and the most recent Fairy Garden, which is severely underwhelming. Despite Doe Deere's more demure methods of makeup, most of the interesting palettes and shades came out under her creative direction, like the Venus 1/2, and lipsticks like Thistle, Teacup and Alien - most of these colors were only repeated for their anniversary collection, and since then, releases continue to be largely uninspiring. Like, a monochromatic venus? With packaging that glows in the dark? Not exactly groundbreaking. They've also now added the Prelude collection, which is a nude palette, and one that has 3 shades of blue and one blue lipstick. More interesting, but not quite selling off the shelves.
The best example of this, is to compared Doe Deere's new line, Poppy Angeloff (21, 23) and the Lime Crime Instagram page. The new jewellery (and teacups??) line still features Deere's vibrant, mishmash of loud colors, kitschy designs that incorporate wildly 'whimsical' elements, that are both somewhat historical, eclectic stylistic choices. Her Instagram still features some cool lipcolors, and fun photoshoot aesthetics for her new brand, even if her own personal style seems to have toned down a lot from her 2012 looks. However, Lime Crime, with the exception of the recent 'fairy garden', the previous releases were softwear 'cyber' blushes, and 'lip blaze' cream lipsticks, which all featured nude colors with the faddy ingredient of "cannabis sativa seed oil", a far fry from Deere's original fairytale on acid aesthetics. Even the site itself now features more of a muted, softer choice of colors, in comparison to 2013. While perhaps the lack of interesting lip colors and palettes could be Deere's increasingly conservative taste in makeup - and personally I can understand the increasing turn away from bold colors and heavy makeup - the overall branding can still be attributed to the new CEO's creative direction, and one that I maintain, is a conservative one. especially coming from a brand who really informed the rise of warm/red toned palettes, namely Venus 1's success, and Venus 2's more interesting color palettes. Many people have noted this, and in a way they've become Too Faced, they're following the trends they once set.
Let's start with a foreword. With the rise of cancel culture and an increasing interest in social justice and figureheads being emblematic of their brands, there is no wonder that a company with a tumultuous past can never really get over the dredges of their own heavy history. Coupled with the fact that we live in an era where we have an overload of information that lasts, even after deletion (screencaps, wayback machine... the list goes on.), it's virtually impossible to run away from the pull of progressive social demands.
Personally - I believe a lot of problems that persist in light of the sheer amount of information documentation fundamentally stem from the fact that some people don't allow people to learn and grow from their mistakes, or even giving them leeway to improve. Much like many companies with rocky starts, or shady pasts - like James Gunn's tweets, or Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's public feud.
By extension, I think a lot of people have difficulty disassociating Doe Deere from the very rocky and very complex upstart of Lime Crime's brand history - which actually incited a huge response from people, and interest towards the brand due to Doe stepping away.
Since 2018, Lime Crime and a majority of their PR and brand image was no longer being solely run by Doe Deere, and since then has more or less evolved into a relatively successful 'indie' brand competing with other indie brands like Glossier and Colourpop - and not many people mention Lime Crime's past anymore since Doe Deere's departure (3).
But what about the history? A dedicated blog at the time (10) called Oh Dear, Doe Deere had most of its focus on discussing and documenting and speculating about Xenia Vorotova, who is better known as Doe Deere, the owner of Lime Crime. For more information, Vox's article (4) outlines most of the problems plaguing Lime Crime's reputation up until around 2015, when the article was released.
During a time where a lot more homemade cosmetics were being made through TKB Cosmetics, who provide beauty supplies for people to make eyeshadows and other beauty products, (much like the famed 2018 incident of Kuckian Cosmetic's liquid lips and eyeshadows), there was sufficient evidence to suggest that Lime Crime were more likely pre-bought goods that had been repackaged. While the problem isn't necessarily that they were using wholesale micas, or pre-made goods, it is more about brand transparency, crucially, that they never transparently admitted to whether or not this was true. As the Vox article mentions - there is no solid evidence from Doe Deere that her 'video' response was actual evidence of production (again, much like the Kuckian saga).
Perhaps the biggest problem is that a lot of consumers/audiences are now wise to these excuses, and even retrospectively looking back, it was very unlikely that people will accepted sort of 'proof' anymore. I hate to bring up the long forgotten Kuckian saga again, but he's really the best example of a relatively recent and high profile 'creator' who stuck to such an old school method, because due to the easy access of makeup and factories nowadays, most people are more likely to private label (see, the alleged status of Morphe being primarily a private label company), or rather, actually create something from scratch (because it's much easier now than it was in 2013), and just make it badly, like Jaclyn Hill's rather tragic and horrific launch of her fuzzy, dusty and overall disgusting lipsticks in 2019. We know that exceptional marketing is now being done purely online, and through social media and that relies very heavily on a transactional experience (20). The brand needs to market itself as a progressive, accepting entity, it's no longer the same detached, one step removed advertising that mainstream corporate owned beauty (eg. loreal, mac) tends to favor. Brands must be proactive, responsive and interested in their customers, and one can only peruse the Instagram accounts of Colourpop and the current Lime Crime company to get an idea of what's expected.
To finish off the Kuckian and Jaclyn Hill reflections, it more or less points to things that customers don't tolerate anymore, because the rise of social media means that if you are genuinely running a really bad brand, there is an easy and quick way to notify everyone who buys from you. For example, the proof of 'Kuckian Foundation' charity was quickly proved to be a scam, and while he continued to create more and more excuses for his products, he was continuing to threaten legal action to people for defamation - on which he had little grounds to do. Jaclyn Hill on the other hand, just completely went under and didn't really ever make full amends for the whole situation.
Both these scenarios point to one thing - if you do not address the downfalls of your brand, especially when it's tied into personal brand, people are unlikely to trust the brand. So after a while, it was very clear that Lime Crime was a brand people could not rely and shouldn't buy from, from the unreliable quality and overpriced products, to the unprofessional and inconsiderate behavior of the owner - who was also nowhere near as prevalent as Jaclyn, or even ever really liked, and never tried to make amends.
Let's pull up an example of an old situation - One of the biggest controversies was the "ChinaDoll" eyeshadow palette released around 2012 (15, 16, 12). More or less it's just your run of the mill, really garish examples of untasteful appropriation of asian aesthetics. The extensive article from Mai (12,18) outlines the attempt professionalism from Doe Deere - mostly in regards to her saying:
"I'm very sorry to hear that some of you found the Chinadoll concept offensive. Chinadoll is inspired by a time and a place, and is not meant to depict any contemporary or even real person. My Chinadoll is strong but not afraid to cry, rebellious but in control, traditional and untamed all at once. She is a living contradiction and, above all, a *woman* -- she can never be, or will be stereotyped. I hope you guys can continue to support our independent brand, we truly do pour our hearts and souls into it. Thanks for your feedback!-Doe"
Much like the original poster's sentiments, the 'sorry but' statements have been used to death - and a lot of the other comments were removed in light of her somewhat ignorant but cheerful dismissal - a bold hallmark of "toxic positivity" and a scathing oversight and refusal to talk about actual problem at hand - which can be summarized as utlizing East Asian culture as a vague monolithic aesthetic primarily for monetary gain - which I would view as appropriation rather than appreciation.
To add fire to flame, Doe's response, instead of more obvious tactical and diplomatic action of embracing and learning from obvious misstep (a lesson we all know to follow by 2020), she wrote an extensive post defending her artistic decision and denying that she was engaging in any act of cultural appropriation. By claiming that Chinadoll was 'great makeup' above all else, this is a tune we've all heard by 2020 - and one that has been rejected and exposed for its ignorance time after time. After the less than optimal PR attempt to deal with this situation, it became more or less obvious that Doe Deere just wasn't really cut out for PR. Paired with the classic legal threats, repackaging accusations, they continued to weed out any critical comments against the brand, then the brand had their website hacked, a ton of people lost their money because of a security breach, and then paired with an FDA notice, Vox's writer in 2015 (4) really doesn't look too fondly on the future of Lime Crime - although it hasn't aged too well in light of Lime Crime's enduring 'success'.
I think it's an easy conclusion to make if we criticise Deere for not owning up to her mistakes, or the extent of how unprofessional she was (because this would be a much longer article that it already is), but it's safe to say that Doe Deere just isn't great at being a figure head - unlike her old one sided rivalry with Sugarpill, and its owner Amy. However, what we should note is that, perhaps it is worth pointing out that a lot of these things that Doe Deere did happened a while ago, and as far as I can tell, it's genuinely quite hard to know if she is still the same person that she was, if she's simply just let other people run the business in the last few years before stepping down, or if she actually has matured and taken on board her criticisms after her quick-to-defend attitude. But what I do want to point out, is that these incidents happened in 2012, a vastly different experience for people. While I think it is understandable that much has changed, whether or not Doe Deere has made a forgivable list of offenses (repeatedly over many years), is purely up to you. Since the big stumbling blocks of 2015, and Deere's departure in 2018, Lime Crime has more or less stablized as a brand, and isn't even quite as popular for making (bad) headlines anymore.
What I wonder is, how much further will the past of Doe Deere continue to haunt the brand? Despite it's shortcomings and pitfalls, the brand is still a success with 3.5million followers on Instagram, despite louder voices who refuse to continue supporting the brand because Deere continues to earn money from the brand (24). Sugarpill only has about 2.1 million, whereas Colorpop has 9 million, and Jeffree Star Cosmetics has 7.4 million.
Perhaps though, what I find most interesting, is the turn of Lime Crime's public image and eventual rebranding. The company reached out to youtuber JKissa, who titled her video "Confronting Lime Crime", and interviewing the new CEO who stepped in (22). A lot of the comments highlighted how amicable JKissa actually was, and that they essentially buttered her up, made sure they got the right answers and was very professional - but I don't see how this is a bad thing at all. You can't hold the new CEO accountable for Doe Deere's actions, and for someone whose job is literally to be professional and turn public opinion on the brand towards positive, cheerful bright waters, I applaud their efforts for reaching out to a Youtuber in an attempt to 'right the wrongs' as it were. I don't see a problem with trying to reinforce brand transparency, and even if they had skewed her perceptions on the brand, if we're all aware of this and everyone's pointing it out, isn't it a great chance to teach people to think more critically? I for one, think its a good opportunity to ask people to think with more nuance.
What I personally struggled with, is the death of creativity in Lime Crime's brand. Let me give an example - the band Three Days Grace had a very specific musical style that was pretty much 90% attributed to frontman Adam Gontier. Gontier left the band in 2013, and since then, their music has taken on different themes, and turned towards electronic influences. Gontier then started a new band in 2015 called Saint Asonia, which somewhat amusingly, just sounds like Three Days Grace. As a witty Youtube comment pointed out, "Saint Asonia sounds more like Three Days Grace than Three Days Grace sounds like Three Days Grace."
Why the long winded comparison? Well, it's fair to say that Lime Crime, at least visually speaking, isn't really exciting anymore. Much like the slow uninspiring death of Too Faced since Estee Lauder's acquisition in 2016, they went from starting the trends (Chocolate!), to trailing along almost pitifully behind, dolefully recreating scraps of overwrought creativity, squeezed into dull and boring palettes - and barely anyone still mentions them on the big stage of new, fun and innovative beauty brands. Lime Crime has more or less settled into the same slow pace, muted like a pale imitation of Deere's initial aesthetics, which saw the release of the four nude lipsticks bundles of stereotypical girls, and playing off old and successful releases (very Too Faced flavored), like the Venus collection, to the Prelude collection, and the most recent Fairy Garden, which is severely underwhelming. Despite Doe Deere's more demure methods of makeup, most of the interesting palettes and shades came out under her creative direction, like the Venus 1/2, and lipsticks like Thistle, Teacup and Alien - most of these colors were only repeated for their anniversary collection, and since then, releases continue to be largely uninspiring. Like, a monochromatic venus? With packaging that glows in the dark? Not exactly groundbreaking. They've also now added the Prelude collection, which is a nude palette, and one that has 3 shades of blue and one blue lipstick. More interesting, but not quite selling off the shelves.
The best example of this, is to compared Doe Deere's new line, Poppy Angeloff (21, 23) and the Lime Crime Instagram page. The new jewellery (and teacups??) line still features Deere's vibrant, mishmash of loud colors, kitschy designs that incorporate wildly 'whimsical' elements, that are both somewhat historical, eclectic stylistic choices. Her Instagram still features some cool lipcolors, and fun photoshoot aesthetics for her new brand, even if her own personal style seems to have toned down a lot from her 2012 looks. However, Lime Crime, with the exception of the recent 'fairy garden', the previous releases were softwear 'cyber' blushes, and 'lip blaze' cream lipsticks, which all featured nude colors with the faddy ingredient of "cannabis sativa seed oil", a far fry from Deere's original fairytale on acid aesthetics. Even the site itself now features more of a muted, softer choice of colors, in comparison to 2013. While perhaps the lack of interesting lip colors and palettes could be Deere's increasingly conservative taste in makeup - and personally I can understand the increasing turn away from bold colors and heavy makeup - the overall branding can still be attributed to the new CEO's creative direction, and one that I maintain, is a conservative one. especially coming from a brand who really informed the rise of warm/red toned palettes, namely Venus 1's success, and Venus 2's more interesting color palettes. Many people have noted this, and in a way they've become Too Faced, they're following the trends they once set.
It's hard to make a conclusion, as I feel there's really no definitive end point. From the time I originally started this piece, to where I am now - a year later - it shows that makeup is fast becoming an entity evolving too quickly to be pinned down. Trends change, consumers come and go, styles rise and fall, gurus are heralded and hated. While I genuinely do think that Lime Crime has definitely taken on a new direction , I'll be interested to see if they can still catch up to the new, fast demands in this oversaturated beauty marketplace.
Moreover, I originally posted a think piece about the brand with my references and no reference list, so here's the rest of it. Forgive me for the rehashing of topics previously discussed.
Recently, since the leave of prior CEO, Doe Deere from her brand Lime Crime, some customers have felt that it might be possible to start buying and supporting this brand due to the quality of their products. While Doe Deere still benefits financially from the brand despite not being an active part of it, but I myself felt curious about the brand as a consumer due to the rave reviews about the products, and felt that I eventually had to try it out for myself.
While I've now tried a few of their more popular products, it seems to me that increasingly, their new products have taken a turn towards the more generic, and better selling. They're taking less creative risks, and it seems that this has been a slow trend after the changeover - or the distancing from Doe Deere and her artistic mark.
REGARDING PRODUCTS:
Firstly, it is undoubtable that Lime Crime has very popular products, and by extension is a popular brand. Their Venus palettes are cult hits, their plushies are a great formula and they have an interesting brand aesthetic that is also vegan and cruelty free which gives them an edge above other brands - which appeals to their socially aware, and social media friendly audience.
Not only have they graduated from being an online only store, they are now on offer at Selfridges, even having a physical store, and are also offered by retailers all across the Western makeup world.
From the minute LimeCrime began, it had been controversial because it was created and ran by Doe Deere. A makeup blogger named Jangsara who I used to follow, first reviewed Lime Crime products around 2010, 2011-2012, but mostly at the time elected to stay out of the drama and focus on reviewing the products rather than comment on the history surrounding Doe Deere. Initially, the products were extremely appealing - colorful lip and eye products were not easy to come across at the time, especially with the quality that they were.
The interview from Beautylish in 2012 (19) outlines her goal for Lime Crime as "vegan friendly cosmetics with a fantasy twist" - which is what gives them a competitive edge against safer makeup brands that lean towards neutral/natural aesthetics.
Unfortunately, due to my own lack of vigilance concerning the brand, I can't recall or report most of their changes in products, but it is interesting to note that they're more or less been phasing and introducing products for a while, circa 2015, Velvetines and Venus 1 had been introduced, and their lipsticks and carousel glosses were still for sale, and they also offered eye glitters, nail polishes and liquid eye liners (17).
My own disappointment with the brand is that, while Doe Deere is no longer an active part of the brand, I feel that as an effect of her absence, the products no longer have any competitive edge. With my thoughts on the Lime Crime Venus XL 2, Venus inspired Velvetines, warm/nude Sunkissed release and even their all nude Lip Blaze (Cannabis Sativa Seed Oil Infused Cream Liquid Lipsticks) it is clear that the brand's future looks rose - or rather beige tinted, rather than holding onto the colorful 'Unicorn Queen' moniker that Doe Deere touted for so long,
In fact, as we've seen with the 10th Anniversary products, these old products and packaging are completely unrecognizable to the brand we see today, they've mostly phased out the rainbow lipstick bullets (before bringing them back as a nostalgic throwback) and no rainbow colored carnival glosses.
After stepping away from Lime Crime, Doe started a new endeavour, Poppy Angeloff: which is a jewellery line. The site and all the pictures houses her trademark colorful and glitz and glamor, decorated with tiny fishnet gloves, high end prices for opulent shiny precious stones, and a general child like fantasy aesthetic - and as always, color in everything she does (22).
If we put this in comparison to Lime Crime's current aesthetic: the site hosts muted pastels, and all their products are now predominantly pink and red (including the eyeshadows). All of their most recent releases - the girl gang and Venus inspired lip collection has very little color variation, and feel like a rehash of old successes, and a left wing addition to their brand offering more relevant products to the Instagram audience - marketed as four different Bitmoji girls who were either " down-to-mars, rebellious, tough or a posh sweetheart."
Personally - I find it interesting that while they have become a safer brand to buy from, their products have now become safer creative choices as well, not unlike a brand like Urban Decay - who used to lead trends, but have now been following -which I would suggest is in part due to L'oreal's acquisition of the brand in 2012 (20).
While I'm not sure if their change in aesthetic is to target a safer audience, or to symbolically and aesthetically distance themselves from Deere's 'legacy', it is clear that they have definitely, very obviously, moved away from what made their brand 'unique'.
In my personal opinion, unless they decide to take more creative risks with their makeup, they'll start to drag behind the rest of the more innovative brands - such as Colourpop's new foray into monochromatic, yet colorful releases and palettes, and other smaller independently owned brands.
In conclusion, despite the move towards more of a morally acceptable brand to buy from, the brand has traded its original creative vision in return for a "safer" investment, both economically and creatively. However, it is totally possible to buy creative products, and not have to compromise an ideal of 'ethical consumption', so if you once wanted to buy from Lime Crime for their old brand but never did because of their previous history, you might be better off looking somewhere else - and let's be honest, there is no shortage of makeup brands right now.
While I'm not sure if their change in aesthetic is to target a safer audience, or to symbolically and aesthetically distance themselves from Deere's 'legacy', it is clear that they have definitely, very obviously, moved away from what made their brand 'unique'.
In my personal opinion, unless they decide to take more creative risks with their makeup, they'll start to drag behind the rest of the more innovative brands - such as Colourpop's new foray into monochromatic, yet colorful releases and palettes, and other smaller independently owned brands.
In conclusion, despite the move towards more of a morally acceptable brand to buy from, the brand has traded its original creative vision in return for a "safer" investment, both economically and creatively. However, it is totally possible to buy creative products, and not have to compromise an ideal of 'ethical consumption', so if you once wanted to buy from Lime Crime for their old brand but never did because of their previous history, you might be better off looking somewhere else - and let's be honest, there is no shortage of makeup brands right now.
Reference list:
- https://www.limecrime.com/pages/controversy
- https://www.racked.com/2018/3/6/17081186/lime-crime-comeback-controversy-new-stores-ulta (published March)
- https://www.racked.com/2018/6/18/17474588/lime-crime-doe-deere-sold-tengram-private-equity (Published June)
- https://www.vox.com/2015/9/28/9392021/lime-crime-doe-deere-hated-xenia-vorotova
- https://www.revelist.com/bloggers/lime-crime-controversy-makeup/11991
- https://www.revelist.com/makeup/lime-crime-controversies/8202
- https://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/news/lime-crime-scandal/
- https://fashionista.com/2015/08/lime-crime-fda-warning
- https://www.reddit.com/r/muacjdiscussion/comments/8s1krq/lime_crime_has_a_new_majority_owner_doe_deere_is/
- https://odddcomplete.wordpress.com/ and https://odddcomplete.wordpress.com/?s=doe+deere (previously, oh dear, doe deere on Tumblr)
- https://babe.net/2018/04/30/lime-crime-nazi-53069
- https://www.portraitofmai.com/2012/01/lime-crime-youre-doing-it-wrong.html
- https://www.shevolutionuk.com/lime-crime-controversy-zoe-london-blogger/
- https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lime-crime-founder-doe-deere-reassures-fans-speaks-out-on-decision-to-sell-company-her-new-role-and-exciting-future-plans-300683887.html
- https://www.revelist.com/makeup/lime-crime-controversies/8202/in-2012-lime-crime-released-the-culturally-appropriative-china-doll-palette-the-imagery-for-which-used-a-white-model-wearing-japanese-garments/5
- https://www.revelist.com/makeup/offensive-beauty-products/10377/lime-crimes-china-doll-eye-shadow-palette/1
- https://www.bustle.com/articles/115221-lime-crime-cleared-by-fda-approved-study-so-shop-these-7-products-safely
- https://www.portraitofmai.com/2012/02/lime-crime-you-still-havent-learned.html
- https://www.beautylish.com/a/vcnza/lime-crime-doe-deere
- https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/what-beauty-players-can-teach-the-consumer-sector-about-digital-disruption?cid=soc-app&fbclid=IwAR2MiMLmRf0_XR_6JaAPB6PPp4FAmo8ypbJPZ_l3TXirXC3UEC3Mu_O7aQ0
- https://chronicleweek.com/2019/02/doe-deere-magical-world-poppy-angeloff/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snPmdLtwlb4
- https://www.instagram.com/poppyangeloff
- https://www.reddit.com/r/muacjdiscussion/comments/8s1krq/lime_crime_has_a_new_majority_owner_doe_deere_is/
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