TESTING OUT MAKEUP FROM BRANDS I WOULD NEVER BUY! (Or Repurchase)

I only deal with cruelty free brands, so I omit a lot of brands on the basis of animal testing (such as for sales in China), but there are also brands that are cruelty free that have had enough drama to put me off ever buying/repurchasing or endorsing the products on my blog. I had been following the Oh Dear Doe Deere Tumblr (and forums) for a few years, and the amount of brands that come up as dodgy definitely put things into perspective.

I'm open.

I have purchased from some brands that have recently been under fire for dodgy practices, but I won't mention them because of their previously clean track record, but I have recently been gifted some products from questionable brands that I would never have otherwise purchased or accepted as PR samples. I'm here to set the story straight and test out these products behind the controversy for quality and hype factor.

Disclaimer: As with my regular “use your best judgement” advice for purchasing beauty products tested on animals, I'd like to say the same thing here about these brands I personally boycott; it's really your decision if you do purchase from these brands, I simply discourage and would seek alternatives. It doesn't affect me if you buy from them.

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JEFFREE STAR COSMETICS

Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipsticks in shades "Androgyny" and "Posh Spice".

THE BRAND

I have purchased from Jeffree Star in the past. The brand was almost perfect and we had thought Jeffree wasn't going to stuff up his reputation by saying or doing something off-putting, especially after being a problematic internet figure prior to launching his own makeup line. I even met him, he was very pleasant, but after his drama filled hate-fest over the end of his friendship with Kat Von D, and then quality control issues with the Skin Frost range, it was no surprise people went on to boycott the brand. Jeffree had been known to be controversial in the respect that he has said things that are racist, sexist, and just plain old not okay, but it was his hypocrisy and conduct, such as his Twitter rants that he deletes after posting, that really ruined it for him.

PRODUCT

Velour Liquid Lipstick 5.6mL in shades “Androgyny” & “Posh Spice”  - $24.00AUD each [Purchase]

Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipsticks.

I bought these a while back at IMATS in 2015, so they are well past their prime and need to be chucked. I bought the first release of Androgyny and immediately fell in love with it, I found it to be such a flattering neutral colour, and even on my whiter than a ghost skin, it looked good. It actually looks good on anybody of any skin tone, that's what the hype was about! Posh Spice did make its way into several looks that I did, and I did find it to be a beautiful shade of lipstick. The formula is like any other liquid lipstick, they ALWAYS wear out very quickly on me, but the choices of colours available in the range are vast.

Jeffree Star is absolutely gorgeous and has talent as a makeup artist, but it doesn't reflect as well on who is and how he conducts himself as a person.

THOUGHTS

Aside from the small quality control issues after some of the Skin Frost highlighters arrived smashed and the lack of customer service, the products themselves have proved to be worth the hype. I just won't personally support his business in the future.

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MORPHE BRUSHES

Morphe Brushes 125 "Soul of Summer" palette.

THE BRAND

Morphe is owned by members of the same family of those who own Crown Brushes. Crown is a well known international professional brush supplier and purveyor of private label products that they have manufactured by a factory in China, as do Morphe. They do not manufacture their products themselves, and they offer the same or very similar products They will even private label products upon request (acting as a middleman). Makeup enthusiasts have found the same products available at wholesale price on AliExpress, possibly through the same manufacturers. Why resort to a middleman when you can get the product direct? The problem arising was the quality and the emphasis that Morphe designed & manufactured their own palettes.

Another issue was their teaming up with big influencers to promote their basically, cheap and generic products. There is, and never will be anything unique about the brand. Goes to show that marketing strategies work, they're extremely popular.

PRODUCT

125 - “Soul of Summer” palette - $28.00AUD [Gift]

Swatches over foundation.

Upon first looking at this palette, I thought “I have so many of the same eyeshadows in various forms, pressed singles, loose, in palettes”, I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. I firstly swatched the palette over foundation, using a brush. It's almost disappointing?

I then tried out some of the shades on my eyes, with some other matte shadows, it was equally as disappointing as my swatches. I even used an eyeshadow primer.

Eye look using three shadows from the Morphe 125 "Soul of Summer" palette with matte NARS eyeshadows and Kat Von D Lock-It Eyeshadow Primer in "Light".

THOUGHTS

I do believe some of this brand's products may be suitable for the pro-MUA's kit, such as the brushes, but the hype over the brand is just over the top for what it actually is, generic private label products. There are far better run businesses that would more benefit from your dollars.

Edited to add: The above statement about the pro-MUA kits are based on my experience with Crown Brush.

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LIME CRIME

Lime Crime VELVE-TIN and Diamond Crushers.

THE BRAND

Lime Crime was the company who gave way to the “problematic brand” and my boycotting journey. I once almost bought a Unicorn Lipstick, but I didn't, and I'm glad I didn't. The company's owner, Xenia aka Doe Deere, has been an internet figure since LiveJournal was a thing. She started out in fashion, where the drama started, then moved to makeup, entailing a repackaging “scam”, then her past caught up with her upon gaining cult status for Lime Crime. What hasn't she done?

I'll let you read about Doe Deere and her terrible business history here, but for TL;DR purposes:

No responsibility for actions

Racism

Poor customer service

Data breach

Poor quality products

Inability to take constructive criticism, or criticism at all

Holier than thou attitude about products

Jealously towards other fashion and makeup entrepreneurs

Claiming to be vegan when lipsticks contained non-vegan ingredients

“Misprint”

Lies and deceit

Unoriginal ideas being spouted as original ideas

Hypocrisy

Note that this company has such a bad reputation that many indie makeup brands including Jeffree Star Cosmetics refuse to allow any stockists of Lime Crime to stock their products.

PRODUCT

Fuchsia VELVE-TIN 2.07mL x 3, shades include “Taffeta”, "Gigi" & "Posh" - $40.00AUD [Gift]

Lime Crime Velvetines in "Taffeta", "Gigi" and Posh.

This tin contains three Velvetines, two are metallic and one is matte. The amount of product in these is 2.07mL vs the 2.6mL you get in the full size. It's a bit ridiculous that one full size is a whopping $29.00AUD, compared to the $24.00AUD I paid for Jeffree Star (note, this was a special sale price, it has gone up since the exchange rate became worse, they're about $30.00AUD now), for more product and arguably, a better product. I actually really love Posh, and Gigi is something I would wear on a regular basis. They smell like vanilla cupcakes and the formula seems to have gone from a runny silicone liquid (as described in past batches), to a slightly thicker mousse-like texture. Gigi smells a bit like plastic, compared to the other two shades.

As you can see, Gigi is slightly lighter than Jeffree Star Velour in Androgyny and slightly more red than my current fave, Aisa Cosmetics (Aussie brand) Matte-Netic in "Bodacious". Lime Crime have done a lot of wearable nude shades despite marketing themselves as being "out there". Feels like there's a little bit of hypocrisy.

Comparison between lipstick colours.

Diamond Crushers 4.14mL in “Fluke” - $27.00AUD [Gift]

Lime Crime Velvetines in "Taffeta", "Gigi" and "Posh", topped with Diamond Crusher in "Fluke".

This liquid shimmer "lip topper" is pretty cool and I really do like the colour, but I seriously can do this with any lip-safe loose pigment eyeshadow that has some shimmer or glitter. It smells like fruity candy, which is also pleasant. After about half an hour of wear, I had glitter in my mouth.

I also had to have a laugh at the description of the product:

"Wanna sparkle like a fairy on acid? Get the effect of *crushed diamonds* on your lips, cheeks, and anywhere else on your body with a swipe of a wand! Can be worn by itself or over matte lipstick without making it run. And did we mention it smells like strawberries??" - Lime Crime

I also used it on my cheekbones as a glittery highlighter. It feels weird and the flecks do kind of fall off.

Do I look a "fairy on acid"?

THOUGHTS

It's really hard to hate the products based on the frustration this brand's operations have caused. I really hate to say it, I like these. It's such a weird feeling!

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I hope that this clears the air a little bit on these brands and shows that hype doesn't always mean a well run business, or good products.

Have you purchased from these brands? Let me know what you think!

Items in this post were either received as gifts, or purchased by me. My thoughts are honest. For my information, please see my Disclosure Policy.