Poppy & I
If you’re from Australia, you know who Poppy King is. She is the world’s #1 Lipstick Queen who launched her groundbreaking brand of lipsticks at the age of 18 in 1992. I remember people pointing out similarities between us in the past but didn’t realize why until I read her book, Lessons of a Lipstick Queen. This book quickly became my business bible – thumbing through its pages felt like reading about my own past, present and possibly future! If you’re a young entrepreneur, interested in becoming one, or simply want a fresh dosage of GLEE to inspire you, I highly recommend it!
A few weeks ago I found a comment from Poppy herself on my blog:
“Hello and Congratulations!
I love everything about what you are doing and you are an inspiration to ME! You have such a fab concept and I wish you every success with it. Whatever you do just keep being YOU and keep going. This is special and the beginning of something great.
I can tell.
Love,
Poppy”
Holding a big lipstick prop at the Lipstick Queen’s offices
I came out to support her launch of Fired Up lip gloss and got to meet her in person. Her sunshine personality is capable of winning anyone over; and the girls who work with her, Cara & Kelly, are some of the nicest people I’ve met in a long time! When I got to visit Poppy’s offices in downtown Manhattan, I was in heaven – leopard print, poppy flowers, lips & lipsticks everywhere… Poppy and I share a hobby of collecting makeup-related items, although, admittedly, Poppy’s collection is much more lipstick-centric. :)
Full outfit, Pocky in hand :)
I wore No She Didn’t in public for the first time that day. I got all sorts of reactions – younger kids love it and are naturally drawn to it, adults try to act like it’s not there, haha. No negative reactions so far, unless you count one guy mumbling “Someone is still in character”, probably referring to Halloween. ;) You know what else is strange? I found myself fighting the urge to smile at random people all the time! It was pretty awesome all in all. :D
I still can’t get over how bright, yet insanely amazing, that lipstick is!
Beautiful!
OMG ! You’re lucky ! You met one of your idol and she work on makeup ! I wnat to meet you one day…
Lucky.
I can’t get over how fabulously opaque your lipsticks are! It’s making me really exciting to get my Retrofuturist in the mail! =D.
Woohooo! No She Didn’t looks far more different on you than it does on me, but I think I’m going to take it out again tonight. I got stared at a lot when I wore Airborne Unicorn — but not nearly as much as the blue. :D
Oh wow! I wish could handle that much color. I don’t know why, but I’m scared of colors. Especially wearing something that’s not black/gray/white. Sometimes I can manage to wear something dark-blue or very dark green. That’s pretty much it. So please, continue being a colorful awesome person!
So inspiring to meet one of your heros! :D
Ha ha. That is such a typical “grown-up” reaction – either pretend it’s not there or make a snide remark. Kids are so much more fun.
I am in total awe of Poppy – she seems AMAZING. As do you.
i have to get those damn lipsticksssssssssssssssssss………drooling!!!
Wow! That blue pops! <3 it!
hahaha oh no he didn’t say that, lmao!! It’s ok Doe people don’t know how to react to “different” i get that a lot with what i wear…BUT LOVe the color..can’t wait to try some of your lipstick and write about it! I need to check them out! woot! oxoxoxo
Kids are cool and some adults, well they stop dreaming at some point and have no room for imagination…those are the ones who die within! oxooxoxox la la la!
Oh how exciting! Words of wisdom from the idol herself. And you got to meet with her! Nice. :)
Love the look btw. The colors! the colors! (^_^)
The colour is so gorgeously vibrant! It looks wonderful with the eye glitter.
I hope that you wear your blue lipstick more, so I can see your beautiful colourful outfits! Don’t care about what people says, they are not original. When I dress in strange outfits, they all say the same: hey, it is not halloween! xD
Hi Doe,
I remember Poppy King releasing her lipstick line clearly! Being an Aussie she was/is an inspiration to all us Aussie girls. I thought she was a genius for making Matte lipstick (something you couldn’t get at the time). I hope your future is as bright (geddit?!!) as Poppy’s turned out to be.
XX
Wow, round here even the children snigger and point.
But it’s worth being ridiculed for the old ladys who every so often come straight up and complement me,
“I saw your hair earlier, and just had to come talk to you, it’s fantastic.”
That one was a particular favourite.
I love old women.
Anything that makes you want to smile at strangers is a very good thing! And sometimes sticking out in a crowd is fun and positive.
PoisonberryPie Reply:
November 25, 2009 at 10:46 pm
I agree ^^
I haven’t worn ‘No, She Didn’t’ out yet, [mainly because I haven't had anywhere to go xD], but I will soon. I wore ‘Airborne Unicorn’ out the other day and got a ton of compliments, even from my grandma [which is saying a lot]. Keep it up Doe<33 I can't wait to see what you create in the future. :3
I hope you’ll wear it more often. I love to hear the reaction of the people who see you! Also, blue lipstick make your teeth looks whiter, haha!
Classic chic and future glamor coming together.
Dude.
How does one ROCK blue lipstick so much, without looking like they just pigged out on toothpaste?? It’s not fair.
I’m so happy for you!! :)
I don’t know why you’d asume Australians would have any idea who Poppy King is. I’m Australian and had no idea who she was. I looked on Wikipedia to find out and apparently her Australian stores went under in the late 90s when i was just a child. Maybe older people might recall her, but i’ve never even heard her name, besides on your site, or read anything about her.
I must say I love the contrast on the blue lisptick and your hair, it makes your teeth look amazing, that’s for sure!
That is awesome! I love Poppy King! And that blue lipstick–woowoooo!
I love everything on her site! I told one of my teachers who likes lipstick about her. I am in love with that red color that is universally flattering. And I would love to try blue lippy! I’m a teenager so I don’t think I’d get too many strange looks.
And BOO to people who give YOU strange looks because you wear blue lipstick. Just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean you have to be uptight. People read all kinds of things about what looks “mature”. WHO ARE THEY TO DECIDE? Maybe always playing it safe and looking down on people who are different isn’t very mature. I was reading a beauty book and it said wearing bright colors isn’t an attractive look for an adult. Who says?!
Haha sorry about my rant.
Love, Michelle C.
xoxo!
Why on earth would you fight that urge?!
But what an honor. You must be so proud.
I love your lipstick!!! like omg
Its so freakin amazing.
And ive GOT to know what Poppy is wearing
I swear
haha I actually thought “No she didn’t…” when I saw the photos!!!
It’s so strange, at first glance I thought it looked horrible but I kept staring for a minute or so and I have decided that the blue is delicious and the children were right :)
Bisous xx
~ awesome that you met poppy king
hey i just saw that and it made me think about you, i wanted to show it on twitter but my account is private >.> so anyways, did you see the enxt China Glaze collection?? omg so candyfuture!
http://www.thefreshfiends.com/china-glaze-up-away/
<3
I bet this was a ‘pinch me’ moment where you got to meet someone you look up to so much! Her book is inspirational and I appreciate her candor and her down to earth approach. I love the photo of you two!
I read the “fighting the urge to smile at random people” bit and thought “Well why would you fight it? I do that all the time. It’s always a mood lifter when people smile back, why wouldn’t you want to do that?” then remembered… You live in New York! :P
No She Didn’t looks so beautiful on you, not just because you’re gorgeous, but b/c you have red hair. I’m in NYC, and I promise if I see you walking on the street, I will beam at you, so you can smile at a random stranger! :)
Did you try a new hair colour?
It must be hard NOT to smile in that blue! :) I love seeing it on you in these every day wear kind of shots. It’s so great!
Oooh, thanks for the link to Poppy’s website! Lately I’ve been terribly tempted by everything black; black lipstick, black lipgloss, black nailpolish… Her black gloss looks nice, maybe I’ll give it a go.
Didn’t see you at DOV! Were you there and I just missed you? Though looking that bright, how could you be looked over?!
light of the upper two photos is unfortunately too strong to show no she didnt in its full beauty, but very nice though!
I’m so excited for you! It feels so great to get positive feedback from the people you look up to & who have made it in the business. I am opening an online vintage/jewelry/home shop at the beginning of the year and felt so great after meeting Matti Majava, the first person to open a vintage shop in Finland (in 1969). He also went on to develop the famous Finnish jeans brand Beavers, which everyone was crazy about in the 70s and 80s. He was really excited about my business idea, gave so much positive feedback and just wanted to help. Gleeeee!
I don’t know how I feel about that lipstick. I think the reason no one does blue is because it makes you look dead, and unfortunately it doesn’t make you look any less so. =(
Maybe with some bright cheery blush?
I met Poppy a few times while working in cosmetics. She’s definitely an inspiration. Very cool that you got to meet your idol! She doesn’t look like she’s wearing any sort of lips though which is odd for the lipstick queen!
Sounds really exciting! I wore No She Didn’t in Paris last week. Got some great reactions!x
The lipstick looks wicked! i want it!
Let me go pester my mom for some money…
come visit my new blog:
http://underuroobasumbrella.blogspot.com/
:D
I’m actually not a fan of No She Didn’t…and this sort of sealed the deal. I wish I could say what it is about it, maybe I’m just boring and old now.
Although congratulations on meeting Poppy king! what an honor!! and your outfit is totally cute as all heck.
That is so exciting about your meeting with Poppy King! I have to say that No She Didn’t is my favorite of all the shades, mostly because blue is my favorite color, but also because I don’t think anything like that existed before now! Thanks for making awesome colors like that a reality.
I love it! Good for u 2 wear it out in public…I did a couple weeks ago. I will again this weekend and post the comments I receive….I will wear it to Mall of America:)
i love how brightly dressed you always are and how confident you wear it [: true inspiration! x
Nowadays, you must be super creative to have a good business idea that works.”,-