What's the deal with Lime Crime, the "most-hated" cosmetic company on the 'net?

Lime Crime, a cosmetic line that's accused of repackaging cheap generic products and infamous for threatening people who give it bad reviews, is the subject of a gripping profile by Arabelle Sicardi.

Born from the primordial pixels of Livejournal, the amount of internet drama here is breathtaking. It's a multidimensional labyrinth of "fake deaths, Nazi costumes, legal threats against 13 year-old girls, hacker attacks, class action lawsuits, FDA warnings, credit card fraud, cold sores, and questionably named eyeshadow palettes."

Lime Crime's marketing blunders are most spectacular, combining the sanctimonious insensitivity of a fashion house with the mediocrity of an internet rebrandeur.

Trouble came around again when Lime Crime launched the China Doll palette in 2012. You can imagine the reactions they received when they used a white model to portray a fantasy of Chinese beauty — particularly given that the model is wearing Japanese garments rather than traditional Chinese qipao. The palette description read:

"Don't let her milky skin, pouty mouth and flushed cheeks fool you, underneath the poised facade, there lies a heart of a tigress."

They did not issue an apology for their Asian fantasy — they apologized that people were offended by it. Which is not precisely the same thing as apologizing for their mistake. In the post, Deere describes cultural appropriation as "cultural exchange," and says it is vital to ending racism.

Here is a low-res photo of the proprietor dressed as Hitler for Halloween.

Cool enough for Sephora and Urban Outfitters.

Update: A media director from StatusLabs, an online reputation management service, asked us to update this post with a response to it on behalf of Lime Crime, which we're happy to do.

I'm reaching out on behalf of Lime Crime regarding the Racked article summary you posted today.

While Im' sure not intentional, a couple of the statements you made are inaccurate and misleading:

1. Lime Crime has never threatened anyone over a "bad review," but have had to take legal action in legitimate cases of libel.

2. No one has ever contracted a "cold sore" after using Lime Crime products, and Arabelle never claims as such in her story either.

​I respectfully request that you please update your story accordingly.