WHO: POPPY KING
WHAT: THE LIPSTICK QUEEN
WHERE: NEW YORK, USA
VISIT: www.lipstickqueen.com
FFF LOVES….her signature matte red lip and the pop of leopard skin she often wears. A thoroughly modern femme fatale…
What are your staples?
Leopard print anything and vintage dresses.
What are your indulgences?
Handbags!
What can’t you live without?
Handbags, shoes, cuffs and bracelets.
What is past its use-by-date?
Stripes. I am just not feeling stripes…
What is your wardrobe craving?
Anything by Derek Lam this season.
About Poppy King (in her own delightful words!):
“I started my own lipstick brand in 1992 in Melbourne Australia when I was about 6 months out of high school and had just turned 18. I did this not because I was a chemist, a make up artist, a designer or anything else (I was barely an adult and sometimes wonder if I am one yet!) I did this because I couldn’t find any lipsticks I liked. They were all thin, slimy and too greasy feeling. Plus there were no deep colors or browns and most reds went pink. I wanted lipsticks that gave me the look of the 1940’s. Rich, opaque and filled with pigment. So… On a whim I found manufactures to mix up some lipsticks, a business partner and the nerve to approach a few stores. It became a runaway success! For 12 years I had a brand called Poppy that specialized in all sorts of lipsticks and lip glosses (I am obsessed with the lips and every possible color, texture, finish and technology there is to make your lips look amazing). During those 12 years I experienced many of the ups and downs involved in running a business so when I was approached in 2002 to move to New York and join a large cosmetic company I decided it was time for me to try something new.
Which I did… However my fascination, obsession and borderline insanity regarding specialized lipsticks and lip products would not leave me. So last year I decided once again to return to having my own business and the obsession that has been with me since my school days. The obsession for designing unusual lipsticks infused with all the glamour, the fun, the style and the cheekiness that is inherent in being female. Lipstick Queen is not your average brand…. Everything you see, feel, touch and experience with it comes directly from me to you. I am still not a chemist, make up artist or anything else. I am just like you… I am a customer and as a customer I want something truly special… So that is what I put into every shade, texture and finish. A very special eye and a very committed soul!”