Make Up Guru Doe Deere Is An Instagram Sensation
@doedeere / Instagram
With the most recent runway shows a blur of no makeup looks, it’s easy to forget about color. Not Doe Deere, the founder of Lime Crime makeup. She has championed highly pigmented, colorful makeup (think of Serpentina lipstick, a deep green, or Orchidaceous eyeliner, a pinkish purple) and whose website asks, “What if makeup did more than just cover up imperfections?”
She has a dedicated flock to the tune of hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers who love her grunge-anime-My Little Pony look, all blue hair and shaggy sweaters and glitter. They love tagging their lavender eyeliner and matte black lipstick #limecrime. There’s even an online crew who calls themselves Team Candyfuture, “a society that helps spread the word about Lime Crime.”
Before Doe was Lime Crime’s self-made “Unicorn Queen,” she was Xenia Vorotova, living in a small town in Russia who moved to New York City as a teenager. I chatted with Doe, 33, from her home in Los Angeles about building a makeup empire, her love for Clueless, and spirit animals.
Yahoo Style: Why did you decide you needed to start a makeup line?
Doe Deere: I couldn’t find stuff I liked, like purple lipstick, or makeup that went on the same way that it looked in the package. I had a blog and would do makeup tutorials on it pre-YouTube. It was such a novel concept that people gravitated to it and I was known for featuring unusual colors and these girly, very expressive concepts.
YS: But you had zero experience or connections, right?
DD: I googled “cosmetic manufacturing”! I found labs and called them up and a bunch turned me down immediately. And then I just refused to take no for an answer and found a lab to work with. I started a very small line of 13 shadows, then 10 lipsticks and it took off right away.
@doedeere / Instagram
YS: You’re about to introduce a new palette that’s 90s-inspired, very rusty and reminiscent of the late make up artist Kevin Aucoin.
DD: Yeah, were coming out with Venus palette at the end of October. They’re the new neutrals, edgy colors. It’s a grungy look, with a reddish brown eye. We are known for color, so this is an experiment.
YS: Was your mom into makeup?
DD: She wasn’t a makeup fanatic. You always hear those girls who talk about remembering watching their moms put on red lipstick. I do remember asking her why she wore makeup and the answer stuck with me: “I do it because it improves my mood.” A touch of mascara or concealer, that’s the real magic of it.
@whateverlulu, @dafnekitty, @zitapun / Instagram
YS: You have a really huge Instagram following with all those fan portraits of you.
DD: It’s this phenomenon. I even created a hashtag — #doedeerefanart — to try to feature them on my account. They take it to a whole next level.
YS: What are your obsessions besides make up?
DD: I’m really into dolls, anything Victorian or witchy. Oh, and I really love the movie Clueless. I always say don’t trust anybody who doesn’t like Clueless.
@doedeere / Instagram
YS: You call yourself the Unicorn Queen. What is that about?
DD: The unicorn is my spirit animal, hands down. They’re a symbol of being different—you’re not really a part of the pack, if that makes sense. You’re an outsider, but at least you get to be rainbow and beautiful.
