Beauty, Lips, Lipstick, Makeup, Mid-Range Brands, Review, Swatches

Every now and then, makeup companies make a bad move that makes us side eye them a little. Lime Crime, however, is notorious for consistently making bad moves so a lot of makeup junkies tend to avoid their products like the plague because of them. I’ve always found makeup fun and stress relieving so I consciously avoided Lime Crime too because there was just way too much drama and controversy surrounding them. But I have a hard time resisting a good sale so when Dolls Kill, a secure site (shade but no shade), marked down a chunk of their Lime Crime stock after New Year’s I figured it was a good time to finally give them a fair shot.

Lime Crime is known for their whimsical lipsticks and Velvetines which have gained a cult following despite all the drama so I was curious to see if they were the hype. I haven’t tried the Velvetines I ordered just yet but I have put Airborne Unicorn to the test. To sum things up, I’m glad I didn’t pay full price for it. Airborne Unicorn is one of Lime Crime’s most popular Unicorn Lipstick shades so I was expecting a really great formula but I found it was just meh.

Airborne Unicorn is absolutely stunning with its majestic bright purple packing with stars and cute unicorn imprinted on it. The lipstick itself is also quite beautiful in the tube. It’s a cool violet with a slight pink undertone that would get any purple lover’s engines revving. However, the formula leaves a lot to be desired. Especially for a $20 lipstick.

Airborne Unicorn applies just fine with a creamy texture that isn’t exactly lightweight but it doesn’t feel heavy either. It glides on full coverage in a single swipe and looks lovely against my complexion but the formula just doesn’t sit well with me at all. Literally. Airborne Unicorn doesn’t exactly absorb into the lips like most lipsticks. Instead, it sits on the lips rather unnaturally making it hard to blend in with a lip liner–which is definitely needed. My biggest gripe with Airborne Unicorn though is that it’s also quite drying and it doesn’t seem to last long at all.

Airborne Unicorn hangs on for around 2-3 hours before fading into a bright lavender stain that’s not very flattering thanks to dry, thicker texture. I was quite shocked when I wore Airborne Unicorn to work one day and it barely made it to lunch time before it was fading away and making my lips beg for moisture. It’s not the worst formula I’ve ever tried but it was definitely a heartbreaking experience because Airborne Unicorn is one of the most beautiful purples I’ve ever seen. However, it requires too much maintenance to get it to behave. Which is unappealing for a $20 lipstick. I’m used to exfoliating and prepping with a balm beforehand but Airborne Unicorn requires a nice balm underneath, a lip brush (for precise blending) and lip gloss on top to help it live up to its full potential. Sadly, I just don’t have the time or patience these days to sit around forcing Airborne Unicorn to work and I’m guessing most of you don’t either. If you do, I’d say wait until you can catch Airborne Unicorn on sale like I did. However, if you could live without the drama of Lime Crime and the fussy formula that comes along with Airborne Unicorn then this is a lipstick you can easily skip.