Fabulous Friday: 10 minutes with Lipstick Queen creator, Poppy King

After I tried Lipstick Queen’s Invisible Liner a few days ago – a magical discovery if ever there was one – I remembered how much I loved Poppy King’s lipsticks back in the 1990’s, and how much I am loving what she is doing now. She is truly devoted to the task of creating the perfect lippy, and executing that task with sass, smarts and style.
Feeling inspired, I decided to try and track her down via the big dirty beast known as Facebook, and what do you know? Within 24 hours we were having a quick chat about her reincarnation of sorts as Lipstick Queen, and delving a little into her life-long obsession with lipstick.

What is your very first lipstick memory, Poppy - a teacher's devotion to a cherry red, your own early efforts?
Playing dress ups with my mum’s Biba lipsticks and feeling like I was a superhero female as soon I put it on.

Did you ever envisage that you would make your love of lipstick your career, your life even?
Only in my wildest dreams did I think I could make my living from the exploration of what defines female glamour, and my devotion to the icon of that, which I think is lipstick... So in other words no, I never envisaged it - I just hoped for it, and somehow that hope came true and has been coming true ever since.

What is the single most important thing that you keep in mind when creating a lipstick?
How can I make a woman feel intelligently more beautiful and connected with herself.

How do you name your shades? They are some of the best monikers for beauty products that I’ve found…
They come from the mood of the product. I design lipstick and gloss stories with a mood in mind, and make sure that the names reflect that.

Where do you find inspiration for new colours and textures – has moving to New York been a big influence?
New York has been a big influence in my life ever since I first travelled here as a little girl. It is about hopes and dreams and that influences everything I do, but in terms of the colors and textures it comes from customers and art/film/books - in that order.

What is your "Desert Island" shade, the one you can't do without?
Red Sinner...it makes me feel capable of doing anything - even finding my way off a desert island!

What do you think of the "strong eye means no strong lip" rule - is it made to be broken?
I actually think it is the freshest way to wear a strong lip... it stops it from being too retro looking.

I love your Invisible Liner, how on earth did you think about creating the one thing that every lipstick lover has needed?
I wanted women to have no excuse not to wear lipstick...especially not the old “bleeding” excuse.

What is the next move for Lipstick Queen?
Weird, wonderful and wearable lip creations!