Ipsy January 2017 Lime Crime Lipstick Mix-Up

So, if you read our post about the January 2017 Ipsy Glam Bag (see this post), then you likely know there was an issue with the Lime Crime lipstick.  I’m going to start from the beginning about this issue, so go grab a glass of wine, sit down, and relax!

I’ll first address the “elephant in the room,” and that’s the Lime Crime brand itself.  I’m aware that there’s been a lot of negative press regarding Lime Crime, for many different reasons.  I’ve read about things like credit card issues, security, customer service issues, and accusations of unethical behavior against the company’s founder.  Despite the negatives, I also know of some positives- even picky people like Nick V. Hernandez have a favorable opinion of the products.  Personally, I’ve never tried the brand, but they have some gorgeous shades of lipstick, so I’ve been open to trying them.  I don’t like to “bash” a brand without experiencing it for myself.

FYI- My Ipsy subscription is not free, I pay for it.  My Ipsy account is tied to a different email address, a free one, that has nothing to do with this website.  So, when I correspond or do business with Ipsy, they don’t know I’m a blogger.

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At the end of 2016, Ipsy offered full-sized Lime Crime Metallic Velvetines liquid lipsticks in three shades, for 350 points.  (If you’re unfamiliar with Ipsy, you get points for reviewing the products you get in your bag each month, and those points are redeemable for cosmetics products.)  The three shades were Lana (bronzey-brown), Mercury (a lavender), and a light pink shade with a name I can’t remember.

Well, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try out the Lime Crime brand.  I didn’t have to spend any money, and I could find out for myself whether or not the actual formula is any good.  Since I’d be getting the lipstick from Ipsy, it automatically removed some of the potential issues I’d heard about regarding dealing directly with Lime Crime.

I loathe pink, and I didn’t feel the Mercury would look right on me, so I chose the bronzey Lana.  I was really excited to get my hands (and lips) on this to experience the brand for myself, finally!  Then it wasn’t in my next bag!  This was simply a timing issue, though, and not an error by Ipsy (read more here).

Then, on January 11, I got an email from Ipsy, about the Lime Crime lipstick I ordered with my points.  It said that I would be getting “a slightly different shade” than what I ordered.  It also said they refunded the points I used, plus gave me some extra to make up for it.  Although there were only three shades offered by Ipsy, and none were similar to the Lana I ordered, I know the formula comes in quite a few shades.  I figured maybe there was a shortage, and Lime Crime sent similar shades.  No big deal, they gave me my points back, plus more points, and I was still getting a full-size lipstick.  Peachy-keen!!

It occurred to me that since this happened to me, it may happen to others as well, so I decided to email Ipsy’s customer service just to see if they would elaborate on the issue.  I let them know about my aversion to pink, and how I didn’t really want a light shade, so I was perfectly happy with a “slight” difference in shade.   (Not that it matters, since they refunded my points, right?)

They replied pretty quickly (January 12), and told me I’d be getting the shade Mercury, calling it “a little different.”  No biggie, it’s a beautiful shade.  Not what I wanted, and not a shade I would wear regularly, but I’ll try anything (just check out our posts…lol).   Although, Mercury (pale lavender) is not just a “little different” or “slightly different” from the bronzey-brown Lana.  But again, it’s a free lipstick, and I have more points than I did to start with.

I did want to find out more info, though, because on January 13, one of our readers commented on our post about the December Ipsy bag.  Rainshadow Noba mentioned she got an email stating her Lime Crime lipstick would be a different shade than what she ordered (see comments on this post).  At this point, I knew I needed to try to find out if this was an Ipsy issue, or a Lime Crime issue.  So, I messaged them again, and mentioned that Mercury was quite a bit different from Lana, and asked if they could tell me what happened.

Ipsy was great about getting back with me, and told me that the two shades got mixed up.  They again apologized for the inconvenience, and reminded me about the points refund (which is awesome).

They still never said who messed up, but I didn’t press them any further.  I imagine it’s a pretty embarrassing situation to mix up two shades, when tons of people ordered them.  I felt that if it was Lime Crime’s fault, Ipsy would be far too classy to say so, anyway.  The Mercury shade, although not what I wanted, was still beautiful, and I could always give it away and make someone very happy!  (Then spend the points they gave back to me on something else…)

Today, my January Ipsy bag arrived (see this post), and I was super excited!  I noticed that on the package’s closure, there was a piece of packing tape.  Odd, since the padded mailers are self-sealing, and they’ve never done this before.  When I opened it, I pulled out the Lime Crime box, and it said “Lana,” the shade I actually ordered.  A-ha!  So, it was Lime Crime that messed up, and put the wrong lipsticks in the box!  WRONG.  I opened the box, and it was indeed the bronzey brown Lana.  Be still my beating heart!

It’s still a crapshoot as to what happened, and how this mix-up came to be.  A possibility, given the circumstances, would be that Ipsy somehow put the wrong shades in the wrong packages, and ended up catching the problem, so they emailed their subscribers proactively.  Then, maybe they were able to open the packages, replace the wrong shades with the right shades, then tape them back up.  Or, maybe the tape was just a fluke and has nothing to do with the problem.  Maybe Lime Crime did actually put the wrong shade in some boxes, but not in others.  Who knows…???  There are still numerous possibilities.

What I DO know, though, is I think Ipsy did a great job of trying to correct the whole thing.  The only thing I would have done differently is that I wouldn’t have used the terms “slightly different” or a “little different.”  That’s pushing it too far, and I think they should have been more up-front about this.  HOWEVER, Ipsy was proactive and willing to address and remedy the problem before the shipments even went out.

I now have a FREE full-sized Lime Crime Velvetines Metallic liquid lipstick, in the shade I chose.  I also have even MORE points than I had to start with, before I ordered the lipstick.  To top it off, the customer service person I communicated with was very friendly!  So, as far as fixing a problem, even if I’d received the wrong shade, I would have to give Ipsy an “A” for this.

Well done, Ipsy!  🙂

Ipsy Glam Bag is a beauty subscription service.  It’s just $10 per month (free shipping) and you always get more than $10 worth of products.  You can cancel any time.  Click here to subscribe or for more information!

Do you subscribe to Ipsy?  Did you get a Lime Crime lipstick?  Did you get the shade you ordered?  Scroll down to comment below!