About a week ago I got an email inviting me to the Chapel Street Kit store to meet Poppy King, the owner and brains behind Lipstick Queen. Being a young woman who grew up in Australia, I’m a massive fan of Poppy King. If you were an Aussie teenager in the 90s I bet this image will bring back some memories.
There were very few Christmas stockings in 1998 that didn’t have one of those babies in it. Does anyone else remember how big Shine pots were? You could barely clasp your fist around them and the gloss was revolutionary high shine, at the time we hadn’t seen anything like it. Such an iconic product. You can actually still get it in a limited edition Black Tie Optional collection. Consider it officially on my birthday list.
Anyway, back to Poppy. After finishing up with her first company the self titled Poppy range, Ms King relocated to New York, wrote a book and started a new company called Lipstick Queen. I interviewed Poppy about her latest products, her trend forecasts and the beauty scene in New York.
I wouldn’t say there’s any in particular, it’s pretty much up to the individual. It depends on your preferences, if you’re really into eyeshadow then Nars have some of the best eyeshadow, if you’re really into mascara then Dior has great mascara.
So you really mix it up and try different brands?
Yeah but I’m pretty lazy on the beauty side of things…
Exactly.
Going by what I’ve seen in New York we are working with fruit colours, fresh pops of colour. Not neon or artificial colours, just real juicy fruit colours.
I live in Nolita which is North of Little Italy and no I don’t have a physical store. My products are on the counters in Barneys and other department stores.
Poppy is this teeny tiny little blonde thing, extremely glamorous, very controlled and very cool. I’ll admit that 14-year-old Carly who first read about this amazing entrepeneur in Dolly magazine when I was in high school was swooning slightly.
Liptropolis in Central Park
Upper East Side
Soho
I find that I have a real affinity for beauty products when the person who made them is also the face of them. Like Poppy herself and people like Natalie Bloom.
Have you ever used a Poppy product? Did you have a giant pot of Shine in the 90s?
The Liptropolis Library was given to Smaggle for editorial consideration.
7 Comments
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Ooh! How lovely! I was an avid collector of the Seven Deadly Sins lipstick range back in the day. I did meet her a few years ago – she was very lovely and I’m so pleased for her success!
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I had a Shine pot for YEARS and never made it to the end. I’m not sure anyone has every made it through a Shine pot.
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I actually met Poppy on Sunday, and she was super-lovely. As you said, my inner teenager was shaking with excitement. I am a huge fan of her lip products, particularly the Red Sinner lipstick (it’s the perfect colour and it doesn’t budge).
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Author
I was going to on Sunday too but was busy! I’ve never tried Red Sinner but it’s definitely on my list.
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Oh wow, I loved Poppy. I’ve been meaning to pick up some of her new line so I can try it. I LIVED for the Seven Deadly Sins range, Indolence was the ant’s pants!
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I meant the range, I wasn’t talking about Poppy herself in the past tense
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I never had a Shine pot but I DID have a couple of the Seven Deadly Sins. Right at the height of the hype I brought a brand spanker home one day and put it on my bedside table. While we were chatting, a friend’s toddler found it. She decided to decorate my cat with it. I told my friend matter-of-factly what had happened. She thought that was delightful. No apology to me OR the cat. Shocked AND devastated!