Poppy King

You could perceive naming a lipstick company "Lipstick Queen" as arrogant.

Meet the woman who deserves the title: Poppy King.

Poppy started her first lipstick company in 1991. She couldn't find a good brown or deeper color and felt the lipsticks available were too greasy. She then created what she wanted: rich, opaque, pigment filled lip colors. Her first collection was called "Seven Deadly Sins".

POPPY was a success almost instantly in (her homeland) Australia and then she launched the line in the United States in 1993. She appeared in many top magazines and television programs around the world.

In 2002, after more than 10 years as CEO of Poppy Industries, Poppy King dissolved her company and later that year was named the Color Designer and Vice President, Creative Marketing for Prescriptives.

Poppy never stopped thinking of lipstick and lip products; so in 2006 she returned to having her own business. This time using the nickname friends call her: Lipstick Queen.

I have been wanting to look at Lipstick Queen ever since the product line was released in December (I still have about 20 lipsticks from her Poppy days so I know what a color and texture genius she is). I finally got to check it out at the Barneys New York in Chicago last weekend and I was not disappointed.

Lipstick Queen's first product collection offers 20 lipsticks. 10 shades in two different formulas, Saint or Sinner. Saint has 10% pigment and Sinner has 90% pigment. Sinner is labeled as a matte lipstick. Remember, this is Poppy King, so this matte lipstick is actually very smooth and creamy. The Saint lipsticks are sheer and moist and provide just enough color depth for those who like something a little lighter.

There are beautiful colors (Rust, Wine, Red, Berry and Coral) and gorgeous neutral tones (Rose, Natural, Pink, Nude and Rouge) that will have your friends oohing and aahing every time you wear your shade. I thought I would end up with a Wine or Berry Saint, but after testing a few colors in both formulas I ended up with Wine Sinner. I fell in love with the color and creamy texture.

You've also got to visit the Lipstick Queen website. My favorite section was Shades. After you choose between the Sinner and Saint categories you find yourself looking at the product packaging and all ten shades of lipstick. What makes this section unique is that you click on the shade you're interested in and a larger image of it appears with a description of the color (I compared my lipstick and can say with confidence that the color you're shown is very accurate).

Lipstick Queen is available at barneys.com and select stores.

Welcome Back, Poppy!! I can't wait to see what you do next.