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Thursday, 1 August 2024

INTERVIEW: Poppy King, and her lipstick comeback!

Poppy King is such an industry stalwart and innovator, and gosh it's good to see her back in the makeup biz where she belongs, and made such serious inroads back in the 1990s.

They say if you have experienced a fashion trend the first time around, then perhaps you should not engage in it again...

I'm guessing this is a loose rule... flouro: a hard no, unless for fancy dress. 1960s fashion, always IN.

What about makeup? What if an impactful trend resurfaces?

An innovative concept stands the test of time, and taps into nostalgia... who were you the first time around when you bought the product?

Then add the curiosity factor: I wonder if it's a new formulation? Is the colour the same, has it been tweaked a tad to reflect an updated cosmetics colour palette?

Add in the absolute magic of social media - the right TikTok colour swatch clip, or an unboxing Reel and voila... you have a renewed hit on your hands.

We can't think of a better, more gorgeous example of this than the Poppy King brand.

After calling New York home for the past 21 years, the Melbourne residing entrepreneur is based back in Australia.

She has a new manufacturing base in the city, and has, at time of writing, re-released the iconic, everyone can wear universal shade...

The 'Original Sin' red.

According to the brand website:

"Original Sin is the lipstick, where a golden snakeskin finish meets apple.

An entirely new metallic idea of red. A temptation to grapple."


And I can vouch: it is the most gorgeous shade of red I have seen... so versatile, so pigmented, a touch of metallic which really adds to dimension to lips, and reflects like just so beautifully. It's that fail safe red that somehow suits every skin tone, you simply can't get it wrong with a slick of this colour on your lips.


EDIT: since publishing this post, Poppy has announced she is bringing BACK several Poppy King faves:

They are:

Indolence

Anger

Avarice

Envy

Decadence

Vanity

Lust


Known as the 'Lipstick Queen', Poppy King began her business venture at the age of 18, in 1991. Searching for lipsticks that gave her that old-Hollywood look, Poppy created the Poppy King brand herself.

Her business flourished into a very successful venture, even garnering her the title of 'Young Australian of the Year' in 1995, and reported profits of $6.5 million.

Fast forward, after several years of sky-high success, and being the absolute hottest thing in Australian makeup, with much deserved kudos for being a disruptive innovator and producing an exceptional product, by 1998 Poppy Industries had sadly entered receivership, and in 2002 Estee Lauder bought the brand, which saw Poppy move to New York to work for the company.

With Poppy's return to Australia with her new company 'Lipstick Queen', the relaunch has heralded back in the original matte lipstick formulas, her original manufacturer from Melbourne and her original vision.

I had all the Poppy things:

From buying ALL the 'Seven Deadly Sins', to investing in the Poppy King Shine Pots complete with the 'gift with purchase' red satin-y bag (which I just uncovered again in my makeup stash!). 

See the original advertisement below:



All up, the brand boasted 21 shades.

Fresh from her New York base for over two decades years, Poppy explains in our interview:

"It’s a relaunch from the original factory, not a relaunch into the beauty world," says Poppy.

Poppy acknowledges that the year 1998 was a "difficult period with investors."

"There was lots of publicity around the problems", before adding:

"It was reported as a scandal - a very common story at the time", Poppy reveals to Josie's Juice.

She adds: "The business was sold to those who own Harris Scarfe."


It's no surprise Poppy is a thoroughly hands on businesswoman.

She's across all the elements: from packaging, marketing, and of course those incredible formulations.

A pioneer is her field, she agrees she has always had an "unconventional approach to marketing." 

Most important of all is that "people coming back from that era saying how much they remember and like it."

And you'll see evidence of that on her Instagram, with the very people who bought Poppy King lippy the first time around remain deeply loyal aficionados of the brand and its performance.

Discover it all right here: https://poppyking.com/

And follow Poppy on her socials journey HERE.





Poppy King today; photo: Justin McManus.




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