Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! I tend to post about beauty on here when it comes to box subscriptions, reviews, great buys, and even how it pertains to cosplay. There has been a controversy lately in the Beauty Universe and it deals with a brand known as LimeCrime!

I knew that the controversy has been going on for a few months and started getting familiar with it due to one of the YouTubers I subscribe to, Young Wild And Polished, talked about how she wasn’t going to support them and said to Google why and I did all thanks to my kitty curiosity and found out that a lot of people have been robbed because of the website being hacked! Don’t worry, I didn’t buy from them during that time since I didn’t know it was happening during my time in Daytona. I am so glad I did know. If you’re wondering, I got into this brand all thanks to other YouTubers mentioning them in their videos and bought only one lipstick at the end of 2013 but it was on EBay since I didn’t know that if PayPal wasn’t used, which now I do know they use PayPal but did hear tidbits that it’s hard to get anything on the website because everything tends to go out of stock. I purchased a tube of Airborne Unicorn, which is a pastel purple which kind of reminds me a bit of Lux in Lavendar by Maybelline looking back on it. Still, yeah I paid more due to the EBayer selling for $20 something, at least I got to try it. I haven’t bought anything else since I do use other dupes and of course MAC since I like their products when it comes to the higherend brands due to how it’s slightly cheaper to Urban Decay, I tend to go for other companies. What got me into doing my own post on the hacking matter and some other things is that I watched the many videos on YouTube about it and this is what I found out.

Behind the Hack: Apparently, LimeCrime’s website got hacked at the end of last year right around October but it was hidden from fans and kept under wraps, even someone posted on their social media pages that their money got stolen after purchasing from their site and it got delted and they didn’t say anything and people kept buying until around January. By January or February, more people were still having their bank accounts emptied and wondered why, which they tracked it back to previous purchases and by then LimeCrime did announce that there was a security breach on their website and got shut down because of it. A lot of people did go and contacted their banks after being told a few days later to check their account activity and man it cause some people to post on their social media pages about not letting the public know, which a lot of websites would do that instead of not doing that in the first place and wait until now. This made Doe Dear, Owner and Creator, mad and did made some mean comments about how it was the crowd’s fault for buying her products in the first place.

My Thoughts: I agree with a lot of the YouTubers that this was not handled very professionally as it should and not only that was kept in secret for months. I remembered how I had my account compromised after purchasing something from the Lush UK website a few years back, which they did contact me saying “Yeah, we got hacked and you may have been compromised!” Which I was one of the people and my card company contacted me about it, which the good thing was that the purchases were declined which was good in the end. Still, LimeCrime should’ve announced this sooner than later and more money could’ve been saved from being taken. Another good example of companies who had it done to were of course Target and Neeman Marcus at the end of 2013 and they alerted everyone that there was a security breach as soon as they noticed it. Again, LimeCrime waited later than sooner.

Now to the post about it’s the customers’ fault for buying, a lot of YouTubers agree that is a poor response to what had happened and I agree with it. A company, independent or not, tend to rely on the customers and how they care about them and the service they give even after a bad experience. I had bad experiences in the past and have had a level head when it comes to that because I want to be treated right by the company and how hard they’re willing to fix it. If the company doesn’t reflect good customer service then why bother dealing with them. For instance, I had a bad customer service experience with the Airport Location at Lush and the Florida Mall location did understand what I went through and were even surprised with the rash I got from a dusting powder, yeah I didn’t go back for three or four years to the airport location but it looked like they improved on it. Another example is how Ipsy has really good customer service even in high volumes. Recently I had problems reviewing my items I received due to the new formatted website and they were able to help me out by having me send my thoughts so they can plug them in. We both understood that it is not easy technology can be difficult, especially with my end in using screen readers, still it helped me and they are friendly when it comes to their supporters. But what LimeCrime said about their customers really shocked me because it kind of continued into about MAC and how they should purchase them when they are lower than they are. After hearing that part in the videos, I was pretty apalled! MAC is an equally good make up brand and their customer service is even better than LimeCrime’s from my experiences in their stores! Yeah, you’re paying $16 for lipsticks from both companies but MAC does have the bright colors and do the nude colors too and have great pigmentation on top of it. With hearing this comment and so many other things, it brings me to this…

My Verdict: I won’t be supporting LimeCrime once I use up Airborne Unicorn! I heard things in blogs and in the videos against what had happened that LimeCrime has sold repackaged products, that they aren’t really vegan on top of it since there are times that Beeswax was used in the past, and on top of it that some of the products aren’t the same as they are advertised. As in, someone bought Cashmere, a Velvetene liquid lipstick, and it is supposed like a khaki toned color according to the site and the person who bought it didn’t get it, they got it a deep brown instead. With me and products, I would get what I expect from people describing the color to me or researching the item in how they bought is not what it was supposed to be. I know the net would take it to great lengths but seeing some of these accounts, especially with the hacking happening, it can happen to anyone wherever you buy things. Even with the quote about it being the customers’ fault for buying items, we do buy things if we like them and we can’t always find everything in-store which makes us go online to find it.

Alternatives to LimeCrime: Like many places on the web and in drugstores, a lot of companies do make neons and pastels, and even the wacky colors if you like just like what LimeCrime does. One of them that is starting to get their company out there is The Lip Bar. I heard of these guys after BoxyCharm announced that Charmers will be getting a lipstick from these guys and got me to look and see who they were, as in watching the Shark Tank episode with them and look at their site, they are pretty much a lipstick company that gives bold colors and are handmade as well! They do cost a bit more but can’t wait to see what they are like when I get my box and of course reached out to them to hoping do product reviews. Another company that has the weird colors and don’t cost a lot is of course Hot Topic’s make up line, Black Heart Beauty! They even have a blue lipstick which I remembered seeing on the Hot Topic website. And of course they do sell LA Girl cosmetics so you can look for the Neons pallet. And of course even NYX has the neon colors with their Macron lipsticks, Maybelline does the Rebel Blooms collection, and so many other companies even did neons last year! You don’t have to purchase LimeCrime if you are going for neons and pastels for your make up collection. I am getting more into MAC since I do love their lipsticks and blushes. I do hear good things about their eye shadows and may dive into those at some point. Still, if you’re into drugstore stuff like I am, there are companies that do pastels and neons that are way cheaper and have good customer service on top of it.

Well, that is it for this post! What is next on Nerdy Shique Universe? Well, a Pokemon cosplay post of course, which I am going to focus on trainers, rangers, and gym leaders for it since it’s easier that way! And of course, in one weekend is Omni Expo 2015! Can’t wait! Stay tuned!