Mar 6, 2012

Review & Swatches: Lime Crime China Doll Fantasy Eyes palette

This is going to be a review of Lime Crime's new palette, called China Doll.
This is NOT GONNA BE a review of the company, company's owner(s) or how they handle problems with customers or anything.
I'm aware of all the drama, and if you want to know more about it, use google or go to Ana's blog
____

But now to the makeup:

The package:

Yeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaw, the cute package is back! :D


Here's what was inside:
China Doll palette, mini eyeshadow helper (prime) , and a Lime Crime sticker (I wonder where have I seen glittering makeup company stickers before.. hmmmm).

So let's concentrate on the palette.

First of all, it's packed in box that looks like golden envelope:

Here's the ingredient list for the one's who are interested...  I admit that I still have no idea what ingredients are good and what are bad, so I'm not gonna analyze it at all:

Then we open the envelope to reveal the palette:

Tadah! The shadows are inside a purple tin case that has Lime Crime's favourite animal, Unicoorn:

On the backside there's a sticker showing the names of the colors:

When opened, there's a clear sheet with some purple ornaments to protect the shadows:

 And when we take that sheet off, we can access the colors:


AND if we take the colors away from the tin box, we get this:

The "shadow holder" is almost the same material they use in chocolate boxes :D It doesn't really matter, because you're not supposed to take it off from the tin case, unless you're a fanatic blogger like me :3

But since I am an fanatic blogger, I also popped out one of the shadows to check if there's any labels or anything on the bottom of the pan:
Well, as you can see, there weren't. Just glue.

Then to the shadows.

I think it's quite clear that these aren't for the people who fear using colors. All of these are super bright and bold.

Fly Dragon Fly:
Fly Dragon Fly is matte true red.

Some of you may remember my search for perfect red... :
The amount hasn't grown that much, but I've found a few of the perfect reds I've been searching:

 These few (three) perfect reds are MAC Basic Red pigment, which is well, true red, MUFE 949 Starpowder, which I love, and newest addition is Lime Crime's Fly Dragon Fly. It's awesome true red. Maybe a hint to orange, but still clearly RED.
It's also really pigmented and what's best is that it doesn't stain like many other reds tend to do.

Parasol:

Parasol is matte pale light baby blue.

Interestingly, I think I didn't own any shade like this before I got this palette. And I do have a lot of makeup :D I think it's quite unique color (you can tell if you know any dupes!).
Like Fly Dragon Fly, it's matte, and also really pigmented. And I think it's really pretty, too. 
Light blue is really hard to pull off I think (at least for me it is!), but this is too awesome a color to leave unused. 

Goldfish:

Shimmery yellow / gold.

Preeeettty! And very pigmented too. It's kinda similar to Ben Nye's Sun Yellow, but it's more opaque, warm and gold. Of all these colors this is probably the most usable in everyday use.

Jade-o-Lade:

Matte teal.

Or jade, what ever :D If used on dry lid, this is lighter, but if used on sticky (over primer) lid, this turns a bit darker, as seen in swatch.
I'm pretty sure MAC has a close dupe of this, but I can't remember what it is, I just think I've seen this color somewhere before.
This is also really pigmented.


Lotus Noir:

Matte black.

Well, I think it kinda obvious that this is the most dupable of these colors, since it's black.
It's kinda funny black though, where other black shadows leave matte, powdery finish, Lotus Noir leaves kinda oily finish. I don't mean that the eyeshadow would be oily, but the finish is. Kinda. Sorta. 
Maybe it's like MAC satin finish, but with matte color?
This could be a bit more pigmented, but it's not bad. 

Compared to MAC pan:


MAC eyeshadows hold total of 1,5g of product, Lime Crime pan holds 1,3g.
So you'll get a little less per pan.

Swatches:




Few example looks I've done using this palette:

Jade-o-lade, Parasol & Lotus Noir and Sugarpill lashes:

Fly Dragon Fly, Goldfish and Lotur Noir with Sugarpill lashes:

All the color from the palette & Sugarpill lashes:

Another look with Lotus Noir, Fly Dragon Fly and Goldfish:

Goldfish & Lotus Noir, and in the other one there's Jade-o-lade and MAC Unsquare:

Overview:

This is always the hardest part.

I like this palette. It looks nice and feels nice. I love the idea of the tin box, it's something you can use after the makeup is gone.
I love the colors. They are bold, bright and pigmented.
Of course this isn't for everybody. If you don't like bright colors, it's not for you. But if you like ie. Sugarpill's colors, you'll like these too.

I would've loved it even more if it would have had also a highlighter color, so you could have done the whole makeup with just one palette.

The price is $34,99, and if you divide it with 5 (5 shadows), each pan costs around $7. For me it's cheap. I live in a country where drugstore brand eyeshadows cost around $12-20 per pan, so $7 is cheap.
And like I said, you'll get the tin box too :D

This palette makes me kinda sad that Lime Crime has the reputation it has. Because this really is a great palette.


You can buy it from Lime Crime's website. They ship internationally.

18 comments:

  1. I like Parasol a lot. It reminds me a lot of MAC's Clear Sky Blue pigment.

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  2. I love the Chinadoll palette! What I liked most about it is how soft the shadows are!It is unfortunate that there is some negative views on this. But as an adoration for color and also Sugarpill this is a great addition to my makeup collection! Good job on the eyeshadow looks!

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  3. Great review like always, maybe I'll get the palette myself I was doubting it but it seems good enough!!! thanks darling =)

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  4. Wow! I didn't thought about all this makeup possibilities with China Doll palette *-* Simply fantastic!

    I'm not a big lover of yellow eyeshadows, but this Goldfish one... got my total attention! Shiny and Pretty <3

    =*****

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  5. I love the look with the Lotus Noir, Fly Dragon Fly, and Goldfish. Can we get a tutorial? pleasepleaseplease?

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  6. I have a question for you-- You seem to make false lashes look realer than I've seen them. Is it because they're nice ones? Or is there some trick I don't know? Thanks!

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  7. Finally a good review with swatches, you know hoe long I've been looking for a good review of this palette? It looks good and I'm glad the swatches are good, even the light blue colour. That's a pretty difficult colour and it looks pigmented, I like that. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Does Lime Crime have a low cost/ bad quality reputation? I do not know anything of this brand as it is not known at all in my country (Spain)..It has some similitude with Sugarpill hasn´t it?

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    Replies
    1. They have has several problems with several things, I suggest you check out Lipstick&Lightsabers blog, if you'd like to know more: http://www.lipsticksandlightsabers.com/search/label/Lime%20Crime

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    2. They do continue to have lousy customer service. I bought one item during one of their sales and it didn't match the product description. I complained and they didn't handle it well. They basically told me to get lost and I did. I will never buy from them ever again.

      Jangsara, you are such a talent. If you want an awesome red, try ADDICTED from Beauty From The Earth. It's my absolute favorite.

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    3. I love Addicted too, it's my favorite red ever<3 Thanks for doing this review, I love your swatches and your review is very thorough. Now I want this palette a lot, since I'be been searching high and low for a good pale blue matte shadow. The gold and red also look lovely! I like the green too but I wish it was a bit lighter, I don't use deep teals much. Still nice colors. Thanks again :)

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  9. Hi!! I follow you on fb...I'm your italian fan (sorry for my unstable english XD)...I think that every one of your make up are amazing and very ipnotize! I'm so happy to find you on blogspot, so I can follow you here too :)
    I would be very happy if you want to pass on my blog too and I'm gonna be flattered (hope you understand)of your visit!Thanks :) have a nice day ^_^ Valentina

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  10. I LOVE Goldfish *-* thanks so much for swatching the colors :D
    xoxo

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  11. Awesome review and, as always, I LOVE your looks! I'm always so inspired by them <3

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  12. The color the the Jade one is similar to is MAC's pro color Bottle Green.
    Thanks for the swatches.

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  13. This is an Awesome review of Lime Crime. I'm not up to date with any drama with them but these colors along with your talent are Beautiful. I would love to see the looks in a step by step tut, if you have the time. You are such an inspiring lady. <3

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  14. Wow,
    I am a regular reader of yours. Of course, I don´t comment every time but I wanted to tell you your work is incredible. I wish my eyes would look so neat and well blended. When I use more than 2 colors of eyeshadow, my eyes just look like a muddy mess. So thanks for sharing your skills and your inspiration with us.
    Lots of hugs from Germany

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  15. You`re so talented! I love your make-up :)

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