Saturday 27 March 2010

Quick Lime Crime Drama Update

Recently i've been writing up a big big long post focussing on showing evidence (as much as there can be with Xenia deleting everything she can on the net) of Lime Crime's various shady shenanigans (duct taped dress, calling my mum an asshole, shillbidding, fake charity auction, false claims about her products being vegan, attacking competitors like Sugarpill, sexism and stereotyping gay people, repackaging makeup, threatening to sue someone for a bad review etc etc etc) and that's taking a long time because i want to be as concise as possible and... well there's just so much to chronicle! (I'm still trying to be as fair as possible and not post anything just to be bitchy, like the utterly hilarious video to SF Disco she released that is saved on Claire's computer for the lolz) .

But here's a quick update. For a while Limey has been relatively quiet, even allowing some bad reviews (such as Anastasia's fair but negative review) without feeling the need to sue or getting team Candy Future on the case. But now she's back again.

Temptalia, which is one of the biggest beauty blogs i know of, posted a review of Lime Crime lipsticks a few days ago which was really fair in my opinion. Christine who writes Temptalia was aware of the drama and negativity surrounding Lime Crime but refused to even comment on it, instead leaving the review to focus solely on the quality of the lipsticks which she was sent for free. Christine said there were things she did like about the lipsticks such as the packaging and pigmentation and said some colours actually applied very nicely, but overall her review seemed more negative, describing a lot of colours as 'chalky' or 'streaky', the formula was quite drying, the packaging felt cheap and she just felt they were overpriced. She provided lip swatches for all the colours and you could see what she meant, some of the colours looked fine but some looked very patchy and even looked dry. She gave them a C- overall.

Xenia commented on the thread in a way that actually made me feel like she wasn't that bad a person. She just said it was an individual experience and she was sorry that Christine didn't like the lipsticks but other people have loved them and that they had a no-questions asked returns policy (which certainly wasn't the case before, but at least this shows improvement in her customer service). This seemed like a fair and normal reply to criticism from a company and i actually thought it was quite decent of her.

However, it has now come to light that Xenia was not at all happy about this fair review as she wrote this in the latest Candy Future newsletter:


'Finally, we wanted to discuss a less-than-favorable review we received on Temptala.com. The review gave our Candyfuture opaque lipsticks a C- rating... We don't agree! Do you? Here is the link so you can see for yourself: temptalia.com/lime-crime-lipsticks-reviews-photos-swatches

We would like to encourage all of our futurettes who have had good experiences with our company and products to make yourselves heard. Please don't keep your happy opinions to yourself! Feel free to email Christine (Temptalia) at
[Her personal email address] and share your positive Lime Crime experiences with her, let her know you disgree with her review, or leave a comment on the article letting everyone know your personal view on our products and company. Please be honest, respectful, and polite!'

So basically not only are Lime Crime asking people to spam the article leaving positive reviews to try and debunk Christine's views of the product, but are actually encouraging people to spam her personal email (she has a temptalia email account which presumably is what is viewable to people on the site, this one must be her personal address so i find it very creepy that Xenia is giving it out like she has the right) telling her she is wrong about a product that she has had for months! This can't be usual business practice can it? Actually asking your fans to  harass anyone who leaves a less than favourable review? People had already replied to the article saying they had experienced different things from Christine so did she really need to set the goons on her?
And what good is it going to do? Setting a bunch of fans on Christine telling her that somehow she was mistaken, the lipsticks didn't apply streaky, it isn't at all drying, they don't taste bad, she was somehow fooled by her own senses and really they are the worlds best lipsticks ever!!!!
At least as an afterthought she tells them to be honest, respectful and polite.

But what really disgusts me is the fact that this was once again a two-faced attack. She acted all sweetness and light to Christine, saying she was sorry she had a bad experience and still thanking her for the review, but behind her back she's telling people to gang up and debunk her fair review and send messages to her personal account. It's written as nicely as possible but to me it just sounds like a call to attack Temptalia.

Anyway i hadn't bothered to comment on Temptalia's review up til now as Christine obviously didn't want the drama mentioned on her review and i respected that. However seeing as Xenia is asking people to leave their honest, personal views about the company and it's products maybe i'll just do as she asks.

Also, i HATE her name is Xenia because my best friend is called Xenia too, so when i'm talking to Claire or someone i have to differentiate between the lovely Xenia and the low little lying money hungry Xenia.

50 comments:

  1. I will NEVER buy a Lime Crime product. never. I wouldn't have before I read this and I certainly won't now. Vile behaviour.

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  2. What a snitty little spoiled bratt!
    People have opinions and an opinion cannot be wrong!
    If LC was the last makeup on earth I would crush berries to wear as makeup. :P

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  3. I don't want to sound like a bitch saying this and this is no way directed at you so please don't take it that way.

    I think it's really shitty how someone like her who can provide such a shit service and attitude to customers is still getting so much publicity on the web which I assume is leading other people to buy her stuff "just to test it out for themselves". That's really lame because she still makes her money and thinks she can carry on behaving how she does.

    As Charlie said, I too would never buy something from her as I've seen how she lies and goes from extremes. And as for what she called your mum, how rude! I remember the post you wrote about that with the duct tape dress in it.

    It's just annoying that she is getting so much coverage for being so crap.

    As for giving out someone's personal email address..that's really low. How can you ask someone to review something and then get your "fans" to spam their site if you don't agree with the review.

    I'd like to see how much of the LC makeup Xenia herself uses.

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  4. Wow, the cuntiness just gets worse! (teehee giggle bad word :)

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  6. I agree with KittenMittens: extreme cuntiness. What I hate about her conduct is her fake "please defend poor old me" routine. And giving out Christine's e-mail address? Really low, even for her. If she doesn't agree with the reviews, she's entitled to say so (even though it will be interpreted as inability to deal with criticism) but encouraging her unicorn slaves to spam someone's e-mail is just really anal. I read Christine's e-mail, she was being very objective and fair with the review.

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  7. Wow, so glad I read this. Just last night I was thinking about possibly ordering from them... I can pretty much guarantee I won't be doing so now!

    http://siantastic.blogspot.com/

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  8. OMG, this woman is such a dick!
    I will never buy her crappy stuff, and I'm surprised she actually has any real fans =0/

    F*** YOU Doe Toe or whatever your lame name is

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    Replies
    1. Nah, her name is Doe, but it's better off as Dough, so all of us people who actually have sense can always say to her: "Hey Dough, got any bread?" when we see her :P��

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  9. Oh my god, she needs to drop off the face of the planet. ~The Great Pink Planet~ to be more precise.

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  10. Two-faced and vile. Why am I not surprised? I hope this gets onto her ED article! I love the person/people who made that. They win 1000 internets.

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  11. It really irks me that there are loads of comments on the article saying "Oh even if they're drying I'll still buy it because of this colour I love"... It's like she has people brainwashed into thinking she's the only place that you can find these shades!

    So frustrating that a she gets business because people are too lazy to look online to dupe the products... If in doubt get a couple of OCC Lip Tars- then you have two shades and all the different mixes you can do adjusting the proportions of each one. Not that much more than a LC lipstick to get 2 Lip Tars anyway.

    .... People these days.

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  12. I didn't know any of this was happening; thank you so much for posting! I had heard good things about Lime Crime, but now I will not be purchasing anything from them whether they are good or not. Thank you for making us all aware of this.

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  13. She's such a money hungry b i a t c h!

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  14. I don't understand her thinking, I really don't. Did she think by sending that out in an email that it wouldn't get around to Christine? Ugh. I read the review, too, and it left any bit of drama out. Hopefully now people will start to see the 'real' Xenia.

    I've been trying to find a dupe for D'Lilac, as I want a creamy-violet color, but refuse to order from Limey. (I have one lipstick from back in the day, before I started blogging or even reading blogs. It's the red one and it stains & dries my lips out like mad.)

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  15. I love Christine and her blog! She's honest and fair and to see that Xenia did this is incredibly rude and disgusting. Why would she give out someone's personal email address?? It's ridiculous. She cannot "make" someone like her products and I'm happy that Christine didn't suck up to Xenia in the post. I'm VERY happy she wrote the review. I find Temptalia reviews to be the most accurate. If you look at even the "higher end" products that she reviews, she isn't afraid to give them a low score -even though she was sent the products for free. Now people know the truth about Lime Crime.

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  16. Replies
    1. She drives me MAD!!!! (I mean mad as crazy) :P

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  17. I had kinda wavered on the subject of buying from LC for a while. The majority of the reviews I have read were less than positive and the better ones were lukewarm. If buying a fairly expensive product from a non-EU country and bearing in mind their reputation for customer service I would now not buy from this company since if my experience was negative I could not rely on trading standards etc to deal with it.
    The email spaming thing is reprehensible, most people trust the content on Temptalia and I have found the reviews to be reliable, fair and impartial.
    The colours aren't so extra-ordinary that you can't get them elsewhere, Barry M (£4.25), OCC (£8.99) or Morgana Minerals ($10) are all much cheaper (and have colours which seem similar to LC and many more) and the response in general is very positive.

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  18. Yep, this is just one in a never-ending stream of lulzy, ultimately-self-destructive things that Doh! can't seem to stop doing. This is why the comments on that Examiner article keep coming. There's rarely a day when she doesn't embarass herself in some way.

    I thought Christine's review was extremely fair, and for Doe to encourage her army of tweens to 'counter' it by sending multiple e-mails filled with glee and positivity and shit is basically like trying to shout down someone in a debate because you know you can't really win it on logic. What's Christine going to do? She tried the damn lipsticks, is she suddenly gonna change her mind just because of a bunch of LC fans?

    Silly silly Xenia, and even sillier anyone else who actually does what her newsletter says. Team Candyfuture is starting to remind me of a scary cult. The ones where the people are forever smiling and gleeful are always the scariest. Truth.

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  19. I've been so "on the fence" about this company, but yeah, I will NEVER EVER be purchasing from them. And how dare her give out a personal email address.

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  20. Ug, I'm so pissed that she's harassing Christine. I always appreciate Temptalia's viewpoints on reviews, and I love her swatches. I purposely commented on the review, asking about what lipstick shade might be close and have better texture to one of the LC shades and she gave me a nice rec.

    It seems like Doe Deere / Xenia really needs a cold dose of reality to slap her in the face.

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  21. Aw, that's just a shame to hear. Well, I've heard enough of the drama involving that company to be completely discouraged from even looking at their products.

    Thank you for the information!

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  22. Ew, that's so stupid really. I've seen her lipsticks before and honestly, they don't look like the bomb or whatever. Black has been made by a million brands and the Centrifuschia looks like a Wet and Wild lipstick that costs one dollar that my sister has. Honestly, I think that her products are way overpriced and personally, I'm not going to shell out 16 dollars + shipping for a lipstick when I can go to MAC and get a lipstick for 14.50 or even to the freaking DRUGSTORE and get soemthing for a dollar a change. utterly ridiculous. It's a ripoff

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  23. I didn't know about the drama before this blog post. I checked it all up yesterday. Honestly Xenia saying she'll sue someone over a bad review is ridiculous, I think freedom of speech includes bad reviews and they weren't attacking Xenia herself but a product, not even all but one or two.

    Oh well, don't need to order from her ever, not like I would've before too. Too cheerful place for me :P

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  24. Urrgggh this woman really annoys me. Also sweets you might want to delete the personal email that Xenia sent out to the Candy Future newletter people (guessing it if it a personal email the poor woman won't want it advertising any more) :D xxx

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  25. I just read that CandyFuture email she sent out (I'd like to be updated whether I support her or not)and the funny thing was, your blog was the first place I thought about.:D

    I went and read Temptalia's review, and she did a spectacular job of being completely to-the-point with the lipsticks and leaving out any negativity she may have felt towards the brand.

    Xenia's giving out of Christine's personal email is really, really low and supremely unprofessional. I can't say I'm really surprised though.

    Any case, thanks for the update!

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  26. I seriously hope people try out the lipsticks when they hit SpaceNK and even regular people complain about the poor formula >=|

    She's such a dog. No other word for her, really.

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  27. the queen of the unicorns is really pissing me off with her lack of professionalism and sense of entitlement..even from strangers. wtf? her sob story about meager beginnings smells like bullshit to me.

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  28. I really feel sorry for Xenia. She's trying to set up a reputable company and is putting her heart and soul into it but is making so many mistakes. She needs to hire a good PR company for advice and stop calling her products vegan when they are not, or harassing Christine from Temptalia. I really wish her all the best but she is ruining her company with the 'schoolboy' errors she is making. There are a lot of angry people out there who don't like her and it looks like this group of haters is growing. If Xenia wants her company to succeed she will need to do something about it now rather than waiting to make another mistake. Yet again.

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  29. Lime Crime are rip offs.

    They were using other peoples images as their own advertising for god sakes! Remember when they started using Illamasqua's? I emailed Illamasqua to say that and it soon went down so I guess they threatened them with legal action [as is only fair] and I have noticed other suspicious pictures. Not on. Just like bitch slap cosmetics, too. Cheap nasty.

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  30. Ashling -

    She's not trying to set up a reputable company ... she's just trying to make as much $$ as she can, buy any means necessary.

    She used to have a PR company listed on her press page, but the information got pulled shortly after their repackaging scandal (my guess is that her PR people advised her to come clean, and she didn't want to)

    These are not innocent mistakes we're talking about here. Threatening to sue someone over a bad review isn't a mistake. It's bullying, and covering up your sketchyness.

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  31. Ashling, if this was the first time things had gone awry with Lime Crime, I would have agreed with you that it was a maturity / lack of knowledge issue.

    But Xenia's pattern of behaviour has been in place for years. She identifies a market, she races in, does things on the cheap, marks them up horrifically, then gets cross when people question the quality and price and then just moves on.

    She's done it again and again and again. Which suggests this is a pathological pattern.

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  32. Ah. Xenia can't take any criticism, so she's trying so desperately to change the minds of so many.

    It's funny to watch the comments on the Examiner, and for the past couple of days or so there's been a couple that have been *obviously* Xenia. Still upset over this Temptalia review.

    Amusing to watch.

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  33. i don't feel sorry for her AT ALL. she's been in the "business" long enough to know better! and come on...most of it is common sense and manners, which she is severely lacking. her downfall is the same as so many people-her ego is bigger than her talent.

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  34. Holy moly! She should sue her for harassment! What horrible business ethics! Doeshould be ashamed! But we all know she can't...that'd require a moral compass...

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  35. She's such a hateful bitch. I can't believe anyone would knowingly sell teens whole sale products at such a high price and fucking feel good about it. She and her little unicorn army need to be woken up. Arrrrgghhh

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  36. I have never bought from Lime Crime, and I will continue not to buy. Her whole business is sketchy and she's a bitch from everything I read. I dreaded when Christine posted up the review because I knew.. I KNEW this would happen eventually.

    Doe Deere needs to get off her effing high horse and go back to the rock she crawled out of.

    Now, I don't mind repackagers, but just fuckin be honest about it. Xenia.. doesn't have an honest bone in her cuntified body.

    Her colors aren't unique, I could go to Morgana and get the same thing for less. Or even Fyrannae. There's a lovely girl on Etsy who has an awesome blue gloss better than the lipstick LC offers.

    Its just sad and it pisses me off, because she gives other MMU's a bad name by the way she acts.

    Like always, she won't be getting any of my money (except if I can find her shadows in a sale for $2 like before haha)

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  37. By sale, I meant like a blog sale or LJ, not from her.

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  38. If you check out her Encyclopedia Dramatica page and scroll down to the gallery on the bottom, you can see the comments left on the Examiner *obviously* written in her writing style trying to start rumors of Temptalia being biased and basically blaming Amy for swaying her, etc.

    Really? She needs to quit spending time trying to sabotage other people and spend more time fixing her products.

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  40. I would not have found incredible bloggers like you, Phyrra and Grey if it weren't for LimeCrap... but it's still majorly irritating that she's continuing to harass and cheat people.

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  41. I don't get you, a while ago you said that Xenia apologised to you for insulting your mum and that you accepted her apologies but still you keep dragging the accident up again and again, did you accept her apologies or not? And do you know what that means? Please behave like a grown up! I think you keep talking about Xenia and Lime Crime because somehow you feel at the centre of all the drama being involved because one time, centuries ago, your mum bought some shit off of her ... got a life much?

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  42. Wow! Is there a club for Indie owner rants for honest opinions? Jennifae's Beauty Blog has the same thing going on, right now, with Aromaleigh owner not liking the review her lippies got. She got REALLY mean!

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  43. wow. it enrich my knowledge bout drama!
    before i didn't know bout drama.

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  44. "I don't get you, a while ago you said that Xenia apologised to you for insulting your mum and that you accepted her apologies but still you keep dragging the accident up again and again, did you accept her apologies or not? And do you know what that means? Please behave like a grown up! I think you keep talking about Xenia and Lime Crime because somehow you feel at the centre of all the drama being involved because one time, centuries ago, your mum bought some shit off of her ... got a life much? "

    HI, XENIA!!

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  45. You really have to be someone that knows jack about high quality make up to pimp these as the best lipsticks. No doubt Doe brainwashes people. One of my old friends is no longer my friend because of Doe. I just said I think since she's a poor student, there are cheaper alternatives out there, and she got viscious on me! Just trying to help her deflated wallet that she's always complaining about. Doe's got little girls going against common sense and survival now.

    Now the thing with Christine? That "unicorn queen" just bit off more bunny than she can chew...

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  46. Argh. I feel so stupid for being brainwashed by her for so long! She's rather good at hiding all of this.
    Anyone want to comment on the stereotypically Russian war-like behaviour, rounding up her fans to attack for her.. lolol
    Thank you so much for posting this all, I'm glad I found you before I actually invested in some of her products!

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