For the past few days I have done nothing but eat, sleep, and breathe Lime Crime Carousel glosses. Now, I will go ahead and say upfront I don't care much for Lime Crime. I have two of their lipsticks, D'lilac and Cosmopop. They're just okay, in my opinion. I don't feel like they were worth $16.00. I have 3 dollar lipsticks that perform on par with them. I don't like the way Doe handles business, I feel like her ethics are quite questionable. These were bought before she released her 'China Doll' palette announcement, and to be perfectly honest I would have never bought them after that. The racial profiling of that campaign is appalling to me.
However, I bought them because I wanted to be fair, since it appears that Carousel Gloss is actually a good product. Putting the company's ethics aside, and focusing merely on the product, I'm going to give my honest opinion on each and every gloss. I've just seen too many reviews where the reviewer is obviously globbing on as much of the product as she can before taking pictures. I want to know what it looks like layer by layer, I want to know more than 'Really pretty color, not too sticky, smells great!'. So, I have gone as in depth with these products as possible. I have thought up questions, and then I discovered the answers myself.
This is going to be VERY long and VERY pic heavy!
Let me start off by sharing the actual description given on the Lime Crime website. According to the Carousel Gloss page, these glosses are cruelty-free and vegan. They offer "semi-opaque" coverage and glide on smoothly over bare lips or your "favorite lip stick".
❝Do you remember a time when a kaleidoscope or a treat like a candy apple could delight and inspire a sense of wonder? This season, Lime Crime invites you to experience Holiday magic by immersing yourself in simpler pleasures.❞ Taken directly from the Lime Crime website.
Candy Apple is described as, "Deep ruby-red with crimson glitter". Golden Ticket is described as, "Bronzed metallic gold". Loop-de-Loop is described as, "Deep sapphire-blue with iridescent sparkle". Kaleidoscope is described as, "Plum-purple with turquoise sparkle". Cherry on Top has the description, "This pink-red jelly gloss is packed with rainbow sparkle".
Each tube of Carousel Gloss comes in a six-sided box, done in a pastel purple, a foiled purple, and white accents. Three sides hold a foiled purple and white drawing of a carousel, while the other three hold information about the product. One side holds the name of the company, 'Lime Crime', while another holds the name of the product, 'Carousel Gloss'. The ingredients list is on the last side of the box, along with the company website, and product weight. On the 'top' of the box is a clear sticker with the product color on it, and on the 'bottom' of the box is the Lime Crime logo.
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When you open the box, you are greeted to the top of the actual tube's lid, which has a the unicorn art of the Lime Crime logo on it. It's embossed onto purple plastic, with a satin-like finish. The inside of the box is a mint green and has a piece of cardboard to help keep the tube from sliding around too much in the box.
The tube itself has swirls down the side, reminiscent of it's namesake- carousel. Other than being aesthetically pleasing in a novel way, the shape of the plastic doesn't seem to have much purpose. I myself seem to think the tubes roll away much faster and easier than plain circular tubes. This may or may not be in my head, but I almost couldn't keep a hold of them while using them, unless I set them upright. The molded plastic is 'cute' in a way, and goes along with the theme nicely. These are really tall tubes! Some of the biggest lip gloss tubes I own, as far as height goes.
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You can see the Carousel Gloss's tube size compared to some other brand's tubes.
From left to right : Inglot AMC gloss, Lime Crime Carousel Gloss, Kevyn Aucoin Cyber Lips Gloss, Mac Lipglass, Mac Dazzleglass Creme, Too Faced Glamour Gloss, Lime Crime Carousel Gloss, Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine Gloss, Stila Lip Glaze, Lorac Couture Shine Liquid Lipstick, Soap and Glory Sexy Motherpucker, Lime Crime Carousel Gloss, Mac Superglass.
When you finally open up the tube, you are presented with a typical 'vanilla lip gloss' smell. It's not offensive to me. I have heard other people have found them to be too 'chemically' or even 'rancid', and none of my tubes smelled anything like that. I can't discredit other people's experiences, but with these five tubes I only got fake vanilla. The applicator is in the form of a stubby little brush, which I didn't measure exactly. I've also taken the liberty of comparing different brand's brushes to the Carousel Gloss's brush. If you own any of the Lorac Couture Shine Liquid Lipstick then you are in for a familiar sight, considering their brushes are the exact same!
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From top to bottom:
Mac Superglass
Lorac Couture Shine Liquid Lipstick
Lime Crime Carousel Gloss
Too Faced Glamour Gloss
Mac Dazzleglass
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See, the Lorac applicator brush is the same exact one used for Carousel Glosses.
I've seen people like the stubby brush, I've seen people hate it. I myself don't find it that annoying, I can apply the product precisely with it. It does take a little longer to apply completely since you are painting your lips with a tiny surface area, but that doesn't bug me very much. It only takes me about 30 seconds to apply two coats of the Carousel Gloss. None of my brushes arrived frayed, though I've heard that's also been a problem for some consumers.
So, for the packaging of the product, I'll say I'm very pleased. I'd give it a 4 out of 5. It's creative, fun, and gets the job done. The lid doesn't screw off too easy, the shorter brush actually probably helps it from fraying, and it's original. The only reason I won't give it a 5 out of 5 is because I know some people don't like the stubby brush, as well as for the fact that it's a really long tube. Forget throwing it in your pocket, it would be easier to carry around in your purse.
For reference, here is what my naked lips look like in indoor light.
Here is what my naked lips look like in outdoor light.
Candy Apple
"Deep Ruby Red with Crimson Glitter"
From my perspective, Candy Apple's color is pretty accurate to the description. It's crimson glitter suspended in a pinkish red base. However, I find that on the lips it's not quite as dazzling as the website's advertised image.
Here are my swatches of 'Candy Apple'. This is with indoor lighting, and one coat applied. By one coat, I mean I opened the tube, and applied the product that came out onto the brush to my lips. I did not dip back in at all. Freshly applied gloss.
Here are my 'Candy Apple' swatches with outdoor lighting, and one coat applied. This is FRESHLY applied gloss, no time has passed from application to picture.
As you can see from my swatches, they aren't as intense as the image they show on Lime Crime's product page. So I decided to go for a second coat.
This is two coats, indoor lighting, freshly applied.
This is two coats, outdoor lighting, freshly applied.
As you can see, the gloss got more intense and began to look more red than pink. It's still not as dark of a red as the product page, and not near as glittery. The product page says that their swatch is shown on bare lips, but I was not able to achieve the same color they got on their website.
I only wore Candy Apple from 8:34pm until 10:38pm. That's a little over two hours. However, this is what I experienced in those two hours.
Applied two coats at 8:34 pm.
8:47 pm - I can already feel the product migrating to the insides of my lips.
9:04 pm - I am eating gloss, getting it on my teeth. Took some pictures.
9:34 pm - Still looks good, hasn't migrated as much as Loop-de-Loop.
9:50 pm - Took more pictures, doesn't seem as glossy anymore.
10:38 pm - Drank a few swallows from my water bottle, took photos. Definitely faded.
The above three pictures show 'Candy Apple' after one hour of application.
I've got gloss on my teeth, and it no longer looks as 'glossy'.
The above three pictures show 'Candy Apple' after two hours of application.
Pretty much all of the gloss and glitter is gone- just what shifted to the inner corners of my lips and the inside of my lower and upper lip. Bear in mind, I did not eat- only took a few swallows from my water bottle.
I finally removed the product- and oh my god did that take crazy amounts of work. It took a tissue, an Almay oil-free eye makeup remover pad, and then more tissue and even a dry wash cloth. After all that there was STILL a stain. This gloss Stains MAJORLY! I guess not the worst, since it is red, but it bugged the crap out of me.
Over all, Candy Apple felt gritty, applied easily, and faded before 2 hours were up even though I wasn't talking or moving my mouth much, and only drank a few times. It doesn't feel uncomfortable on my lips, until the gloss migrates into my inner lip. Then it gets gummy right there, and ends up in my mouth and on my teeth. The color is kind of close to how it is advertised, but not nearly as dark. I like the actual color, and the pigmentation- but it fades terribly.
I'd have to give Candy Apple Carousel gloss a 2 out of 5. I wish it didn't fade so easily/quickly.
Pros: Pretty color, nice smell, doesn't feel too heavy or sticky on your lips
Cons: Not color accurate, gloss tends to mirate if you use more than one coat, stains so bad, fades super quickly.
Loop-de-Loop
"Deep sapphire blue with iridescent sparkle"
Loop-de-Loop out of the tube is pretty accurate to the product page on Lime Crime's website. It's not exactly sapphire blue, but it is a dark blue. It just seems kind of 'dirty' to me. Like there is a grey tint to it, rather than pure sapphire blue. The glitter doesn't look iridescent either, it seems more to just be blue and pink glitter. Maybe the pink glitter has a purple duo chrome but other than that, it's doesn't shift very much. On my lips it's next to nothing like the advertised lip swatch.
Here is 'Loop-de-Loop' applied to lips in one coat, and photographed in indoor lighting. Freshly applied.
'Loop-de-Loop' in one coat, outdoor lighting. Freshly applied.
As you can see, Loop-de-Loop is NOTHING like advertised, at least with one coat. The product page says their swatch is done over bare lips, so I decided to try a second coat to see if that would help.
'Loop-de-Loop' after two coats, indoor lighting. Freshly Applied.
'Loop-de-Loop' in two coats, outdoor lighting, freshly applied.
Now, two coats later and it looks more like the official Lime Crime lip swatch. However, on my lips it looks much more streaky in indoor lighting, not as dark of a blue or intense of a blue, and definitely not as much glitter.
I wore Loop-de-Loop from 5:50pm to 8:27pm. This is what I experienced:
5:50 pm - Applied two coats of gloss.
6:00 pm - Some gloss has migrated to the inside of my lips, getting goopy. It sticks together when I open and close my mouth.
6:30 pm - I have ingested some of the gloss. Ew.
7:01 pm - Gloss has migrated to inside of lips and outline of lips.
7:05 pm - Took pictures, and mashed lips together to try and redistribute migrated gloss. Minimal results, it doesn't want to migrate back.
8:15 pm - Get a snack of mushrooms with dressing, and some crackers.
8:25 pm - Finish eating, taking care not to touch the food with my lips much.
8:27 pm - Take pictures, and remove.
The above five pictures are after one hour of application- notice the fading, the migration, and how it got on my tongue? This was before I ate or drank anything, and I wasn't talking or singing at all.
The above five pictures are after two and a half hours. I had eaten my snack at this point. Even though I did my best not to let the food touch my lips, it still faded big time.
This shade was even harder to remove than Candy Apple, and it stained just as bad, if not worse. This one wasn't so much fun when it stained, because it left behind a blue/purple tint. Not something I'd want to deal with often.
Loop-de-Loop wasn't very gritty or sticky, and it applied smoothly to my lips. It was rather streaky though, and it also likes to migrate to the inside of your lips, as well as the inner corners and the outline. When it migrates you get product on your teeth and in your mouth. I didn't find that it was true to color, especially on bare lips in two coats. It fades worse than Candy apple, and even quicker.
This gloss scored a 1 out of 5, it was absolutely terrible.
Pros: Doesn't feel too bad while you're wearing it, it's a unique shade and it smells nice.
Cons: Migrates, not true to color, fades quickly.
Golden Ticket
"Bronzed Metallic Gold"
Golden Ticket is described rather accurately. It is pretty metallic, and while there is a lot of 'shimmer' there is no actual glitter. It's not a flashy 'golden' gold, for lack of better wording. It really does have a bronze to it, it kind of tones it down- makes it a little darker. On my lips, it is similar to the image used on the product page, but not completely accurate.
This is 'Golden Ticket' one coat, indoor light. Freshly applied.
'Golden Ticket' with one coat, outdoor lighting. Freshly applied.
'Golden Ticket', two coats, indoor lighting. Freshly applied.
Now, I don't have a collage of two coats taken in outdoor lighting yet, but that will be up soon. On the website, they describe the Carousel Glosses as coming "alive in indoor lighting". I've found the opposite is true for all of the glosses except Golden Ticket. It swatches better under indoor lighting, than outdoor lighting. That doesn't change the fact that it still isn't nearly as opaque as shown on the product page- but here's the thing. On Golden Ticket's product page, they don't mention this shade being swatched on 'bare lips'. So maybe they used something under, to make it more opaque. The advertised lip swatch makes Golden Ticket seem MUCH more yellow gold, rather than bronze gold. In realty it's bronze gold. Not nearly as bright.
I wore Golden Ticket from 10:45pm to 1:15am. Here's what I experienced:
10:45 pm - Apply two coats of gloss. It applies the smoothest of any that I've tried so far. Feels very creamy, no grit at all.
11:15 pm - I can feel that some of the product has migrated to the inside of my lips. Other than the migration, it still feels very smooth. Not exactly 'light' but not 'heavy' either.
12:05 am - Took pictures. has faded considerably, and migrated to the outline of my lips. Haven't spoken much, and had around 3 swallows from my water bottle.
1:15 am - Took pictures, then removed gloss.
The above five pictures are after one hour of application.
The above five pictures are after two hours of application.
This was the easiest shade to remove, it only took a bit of tissue paper. It didn't stain at all, and I liked that. Golden Ticket was the creamiest and most comfortable shade to wear, however it did fade and migrate considerably. It wasn't sticky at all, and probably felt the best of all the shades.
I give this a 4 out of 5, for feeling good and being pretty close to color accurate- even if the opacity can be greatly debated. The product page doesn't say swatched over bare lips, so I'm not sure if they are advertising it as gloss only or not.
Pros: Creamy, smells nice, comfortable, fairly true to color, doesn't stain, easy to remove
Cons: Fades quickly.
Cherry on Top
"Pink-red jelly, packed with rainbow sparkles"
I'm going to say this up front. Cherry on Top is my favorite out of all of these. It's the one shade I would buy again. It's a gorgeous neon pink color, so vibrant it does look a little red. It doesn't have rainbow sparkles though, they are pink sparkles. Even though it's my favorite, it doesn't live up to it's official lip swatch on the Lime Crime product page. The official swatch looks much more red, and much more vibrant.
'Cherry on Top' in one coat, indoor light, freshly applied.
'Cherry on Top' in one coat, outdoor lighting, freshly applied.
'Cherry on Top' in two coats, indoor lighting, freshly applied.
'Cherry on Top' in two coats, outdoor lighting, freshly applied.
See, it's just not quite as red as they advertise it to be, but I still think it's a beautiful color. I find it rather gritty and kind of sticky though. I prefer to wear it as a single coat, rather than a double. For one thing, the single coat is more wearable, for another thing it's more comfortable to wear that way.
I wore 'Cherry on Top' from 1:20am to 3:25am. Here is what I experienced:
1:20 am - Applied two coats of gloss. Feels gritty and sticky. Seems to be heavier than the other glosses.
2:10 am - has migrated to inner corners of lips, and the inside of both my lower and upper lip. Still very bright and glossy though. Took pictures.
3:25 am - Took pictures. Still vibrant, though it migrated like the others.
The above five pictures are of 'Cherry on Top' after an hour of wear. Notice, it's still bright and glossy- but there is a lot of migration.
The above five pictures are of 'Cherry on Top' after two hours of wear. Still bright, a little less glossy- and a lot of migrating to the inner corners of my lip. Also there is a little bit of feathering.
This was also another kick in the teeth to remove. My poor lips are never going to forgive me. Ever. It stained worse than Candy Apple did, leaving my lips clown pink. If it was a little less pink, the stain might be nice, but it's an unnatural pink tint that I don't really like. However, this gloss actually wears, and wears well. Except for the migration, it's almost perfect. It also isn't accurate to the swatch on the product page, but it's still a lovely color.
I give this one a 4 out of 5 also, the only things that bring it down are the fact that it isn't as advertised, and the migration issue with having to use two coats.
Pros: Long lasting, pretty color, close to advertised color, comfortable on lips, smells nice
Cons: Stains really bad, hard to remove, not totally color accurate
Kaleidoscope
"Plum purple with turquoise sparkle"
Kaleidoscope's described color matches it's true color pretty well. It is a plum color, and it does have turquoise glitter in it. Like 'Loop-de-Loop' though, it's kind of 'muddy'. It feels to me like it has a grey tint to it, it just isn't a genuine purple. I can't really describe it, but the lip swatch on the product page makes it seem so very dark purple. In reality, it's got a greyish cast.
'Kaleidoscope' in one coat, indoor lighting, freshly applied.
'Kaleidoscope' in one coat, outdoor lighting, freshly applied.
'Kaleidoscope' in two coats, indoor lighting, freshly applied.
'Kaleidoscope' in two coats, outdoor lighting, freshly applied.
Kaleidoscope is the most disappointing, in my opinion. Not that I really cared about it- I have no intention of wearing a dark purple out unless it's for halloween or some sort of special event. But this is the one I found LEAST like the advertised image. Now, they do describe it as a plum with the words, and that's what it is- more of a red based plum color. However the official swatch is dark blue-based purple. They say it is swatched on 'bare lips' so I'm not sure what I was doing wrong. In fact, for experimental purposes- I went ahead and did 5 coats.
3 coats
4 coats, yes that is product on my teeth.
5 coats, with flash
5 coats, with flash. Product on teeth- and yes it is dripping from my upper lip.
There you go, five coats and all I've managed to do is make it goopy-er, sparkle more, and slightly more opaque. It still is more red based than blue. This color is nothing like how they show it on the product page, and that's upsetting.
Anyway, I wore 2 coats of Kaleidoscope for about an hour. Because I was going to lose my sanity if I wore it for any longer. It's sticky, made my lips itch, and it migrates as bad as Loop-de-Loop does. I mean- every single shade migrates, but this and Loop-de-Loop were the worst.
The above five pictures are after 30 minutes of wear.
The above four pictures are after an hour of wear.
The gloss got streakier as the gloss began to migrate, and the migrating gloss gathered into little clumps of annoying. After an hour, simply moving my lips around got product on my teeth as you can see. I feel like this shade was on the fast track to fading more, but I just couldn't keep on wearing it. The migration of the gloss was so annoying, and felt so bad.
It didn't really stain too bad, left a bit of a purple tint that wasn't very hard to remove.
I'd give this gloss a 1 out of 5.
Pros: Smells nice
Cons: Migrates the worst of them all, gets on your teeth and in your mouth. Doesn't match the advertised picture at all.
Moving right along, I'd like to talk about a few other things. First of all, on the Carousel Gloss product page, the author says,
❝Carousel Gloss boasts semi-opaque coverage combined with bursts of nebulesque sparkle that comes alive in indoor lighting.❞ Taken directly from the official Lime Crime website.
I read that, and I pondered over the word 'nebulesque' for a moment. See, the word 'nebulesque' doesn't actually exist.
If you google the search term 'nebulesque', google will bring you to a deviant art page for a drawing titled 'Nebulesque' and also to a song titled 'Nebulesque' by a female artist called Tonica. The rest are all references to the Lime Crime page. Now that i'm pretty sure this isn't an actual word, I have to assume the author made a word for the term "reminiscent of a nebula".
A nebula is defined as 'clouds of gas or dust in interstellar space' by Merriam-Webster.
So then I would guess they're trying to convey that these glosses have 'colorful' sparkles. I just had to point that out, because I know a lot of words and that one stumped me, then I realized it's not a word. Unless someone can prove me wrong?
The author also uses the word 'luxury', which is ironic considering that these glosses are on par with a luxury price tag, but not as far as quality and name recognition goes.
Now, you're thinking, "Luxury price tag? I know they're 17 dollars, but that's really not that much when you look at other lip glosses."
You're right, the price of the tube is just $17.00 USD, that's more than Mac lipglass ($15.50) and less than NARS lip gloss ($24.00). So, I bet you'd be stumped for a second if I told you Carousel Gloss is the fourth most expensive gloss I own. What it comes down to is price per gram. I went ahead and worked out the price per gram of some of the glosses I own.
$9.74 per gram - Mac Dazzleglass
$9.57 per gram - Stila Lip glaze
$5.59 per gram - Too Faced Glamour gloss
$5.00 per gram - Lime Crime Carousel Gloss
$4.59 per gram - Lorac Couture Shine Liquid Lipstick
$4.19 per gram - Mac Superglass
$4.00 per gram - Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine gloss
Now, I went ahead and worked out the price per gram of well known, very high quality, top of the line glosses.
$8.00 per gram - Clé de Peau Beauté lip gloss ($48.00)
$5.38 per gram - Chanel Glossimer lip gloss ($28.50)
$5.35 per gram - Guerlain kisskiss gloss ($30.50)
$5.26 per gram - Yves Saint Laurent pure lip gloss ($30.00)
$5.00 per gram - Lime Crime Carousel Gloss ($17.00)
$4.58 per gram - Dior Addict Ultra Gloss ($27.50)
$4.52 per gram - Giorgio Armani Gloss D'armani ($28.00)
$4.42 per gram - Givenchy lip gloss ($26.50)
Lime crime is more expensive per gram than Dior, Armani, and Givenchy! It's only 38 cents cheaper than Chanel, 35 cents cheaper than Guerlain, and 26 cents cheaper than Yves Saint Laurent. All of those are well established, been around for YEARS beauty companies.
Maybe you're thinking, "I don't want to plop down thirty dollars for one tube of gloss" and that's fine, but let's really think about this for a moment. Carousel Gloss comes with 0.12 fl oz. of product, that's tiny. One of the smallest amounts of product I own in a gloss. Too faced is on par with 0.12 fl oz., Mac Dazzleglass is half as much at 0.06 fl oz., and Stila lip glaze is a fourth less at 0.08 fl oz.
All the luxury brands I compared it to have at LEAST 0.19 fl oz. With Carousel gloss, you need more than one coat to get close to the advertised lip swatches on the site. They fade after 2 hours, some sooner. So if you use a lot, and have to keep reapplying, that means your product is going to be long gone in a not so very long time. Unless you only use it for 'special occasions'.
Also on the Lime Crime website, they describe the glosses as being 'semi-opaque' which could mean just about anything. Which bugs me. It's like they gave themselves a LOT of wiggle room. All of the shades say they were swatched on bare lips except for 'Golden Ticket'. Which makes me think she either layered Golden Ticket over something, or the author forgot to mention it for that one. It's a bit hokey if you ask me, but it could be an honest mistake.
Now for the final shebang of my honest opinion on these glosses. They aren't worth the money. The only shade I truly enjoy is 'Cherry on Top', and even then I prefer it as one coat- which is barely anything like what the website shows. The website promises a lot of things that I didn't see. None of the pictures truly matched how they swatched for me, some of the color descriptions are different as well. At $5.00 per gram, I'd better be getting something FANTASTIC. Not just a 'unique color'. I don't want a 'unique color' if the gloss doesn't even perform well, there's no point. I think that the advertised lip swatches are highly manipulated in photoshop or some other editor, and that's after the model puts on five or six layers- maybe even SEVEN layers of the gloss. Which won't last for more than fifteen minutes before the gloss is migrating, and you're swallowing globs of gloss.
I'm not satisfied with any of these glosses, except for Cherry on Top. If you want to buy them, go ahead- I'm not gonna stop you or judge you. I can just think of better things I'd want to spend my money on. Better glosses even.
This -is- my unbiased opinion, if you think I'm a Lime Crime hater who's hell bent on destroying her- you're wrong. I'm just a little fish who was interested in bringing an honest review to the internet. Yes I follow DoeDeereLies on Tumblr, yes I dislike the company and most of the products I've tried from them, but that doesn't mean I'm out for Doe's blood. Besides, I wouldn't waste over $70.00 USD just to trash Doe, that's retarded.
You might have had a different experience with these glosses- and if you did, I'm so glad that you got your money's worth. I didn't.
Here's a picture of my cat Fred, just because.
