11-Feb-08 10:00 AM CST

View From the Top - Poppy King

View From the Top - Poppy King

We're shooting the breeze with Poppy King, CEO and President of Lipstick Queen, who is currently in London promoting her new lipstick line in 53 Space NK Apothecaries around the country. Poppy has been crossing the Pond for the past 12 months since launching LQ in the USA, and she's chatting this month with Mary van de Wiel, Brandstoryteller and founder of A New Brand Landscape & Co., about The Art and Business of doing lipstick deals around the globe!

Tell us about the Lipstick Queen line and what the LQ is doing in London this week?

I am here promoting, training staff and generally spreading the word (talk about word of mouth..ha ha) about Lipstick Queen my latest line of Lipsticks that sells in Space NK. I come back and forth to London about every 6 weeks to work with Space NK, their staff and press. I love London and I have to say, coming from New York makes it a little easier than when I used to come from Melbourne! Lipstick Queen is a very specialized line of lipsticks in just 10 shades BUT the 10 shades that I consider the ultimate classics. Flattering, wearable with just a little rock and roll attitude. There is a twist...the 10 shades come in two strengths....SHEER (Saints)with 10% pigment and OPAQUE (Sinner)with 90% pigment. So every shade has a Saint and Sinner version. Like all of us!

When did you launch and how has the world embraced the Lipstick Queen?

Lipstick Queen launched in the US in January 2007 in the US (through Barneys and boutiques) and in August 2007 in the UK (exclusive to Space NK). So far the response has been amazing! It is being described already as a "cult brand" which basically means that women are recommending it to other women because the colors and performance of the product is so great. It has that kind of "viral" element that you always hope for in a product but can never guarantee it. It is up to the customers to decide and the verdict so far is YES to Lipstick Queen. I am thrilled because there hasn't been a lot new or chic in lipstick for a while as the focus has been on lip gloss. I have nothing against lip gloss whatsoever....but it was time to remember that lipstick can be great fun as well....not just something from a past era. As it turns out I was at the beginning of a trend back towards lipstick. All the magazines have been screaming that lipstick is back and that it is all over the catwalk (not literally!) but on the models.

What was the defining moment when you knew you were going into the business of lipstick?

It happened towards the end of 2005 when I had just left my job at Estee Lauder (the job I moved from Australia to New York for after my lipstick brand Poppy came to an end). Many of you Aussies may remember the Poppy lipstick brand in the 90's and some of the trials and tribulations I got into along the way. After those 10 years in my own business when Estee Lauder came a calling to see if I would work on one of their brands (Prescriptives) I decided to give the corporate world a try. I was there for 3 years and learnt a lot but it wasn't for me as I am more entrepreneurial. To that end I started writing a book about how we all can be entrepreneurial and how I did it when I was 18 and set up my own lipstick business. Both a guide and a memoir of sorts. It is called Lessons of a Lipstick Queen and is coming out in the US this May. I loved writing it so much that I quit to focus on it and in the process decided that i would like to start a lipstick business again. I realized that my passion for this one particular area was as strong as ever and as I mentioned above....it was becoming a lost art. Lipstick that is. So I spent the first 6 months of 2006 writing and then the last 6 months putting developing Lipstick Queen.

Do you see any difference between the way Australian and American women think about lipstick or the way they look?

I think Australian are women are much more adventurous than American women. It must be our terrain and landscape. American women are very nice but more conservative on the whole. They need a lot of reassurance in the area of their self image. More than Aussie women who tend to make up their own minds more. America is so celebrity obsessed i think it undermines women's ability to trust what they see in the mirror and allow themselves a choice to look different. The great thing about American women is that there a millions and millions of them so you only need to convince a very small amount relative to the population to have a viable brand. Thank goodness for the likes of Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman who have changed the perception of Aussie beauty away from the beach.

What needs to happen for women to start taking their choice of lipstick seriously?

Women need to understand that an interest in fashion and beauty need not undermine their intelligence or seriousness. It is a form of language, a visual cue to the rest of the world of who your are and what you value. It is the words that we see but don't hear. Like anything it is best in balance with everything else in life and should not be the main focus. but i know so many women who are so embarrassed to admit that they care about this stuff regardless of whether they are working in the professional world or working in the world of being a mother. The way you feel about yourself is expressed in your visual cues. My hope is that women everywhere start being more active in their own image rather than following some standard. Lipstick can be a tool towards making that statement...that you are in charge of your look.

Now that you have been living in the USA, what’s still the most Aussie thing about you? and the most American?

The most Aussie thing is the way I hail a cab....I often yell OY without even thinking about it! The most American is what I have to do once I am in the cab....which is to turn all my "T's" (which we Aussie's pronounce as T ) instead of D which is how the Americans say it. I live on Mott St but unless I say it as MODD St...I don't get home.

What’s the smartest bit of advice you’d give people interested in breaking into the beauty industry?

That customers are never idiots. To have any lasting success in the beauty industry you HAVE to have a good product that delivers on the promise. So many people assume that it is ALL marketing when in fact it ends up being much more about the product than the marketing if you want to build a brand and not just a fad. So leave the smoke mirrors out of your business plan and concentrate on the bona fides.

If there’s one thing you want our readers to remember about the Lipstick Queen, what would that be?

A sense of empowerment. That, in some way, the product, the brand and even the ups and downs of my story leaves them feeling more empowered and more confident to give things a go. Most importantly to give themselves a go!

What’s ahead for Poppy King? Are you embarking on a new line of products? Fashion? Homeware?

I have more lip products and colors and textures coming out. The book which I mentioned and more writing. And of course my launch of Lipstick Queen in Australia which I am planning for September this year. I can not wait to get the lipsticks back to Australia and back to the women who loved it last time and have always encouraged me more than they know.

I don't see myself doing any other cosmetics other than lip products because that is where my passion lies and as I said...the customer knows the difference between something designed with genuine passion and enthusiasm and something that is just there. Fashion...No. Home-wares...you never know BUT if I were ever to do any other product away from the lips it would be hand bags, My second love. Lipstick and hand bags...it doesn't get better than that for me. As long as I am wearing a lipstick i love and sporting a wonderful bag I feel ready for the world.

What keeps you up at night?

Question 10 keeps me up at night....."What's ahead for Poppy King?" The world is an amazing place and the journey full of surprises. So what's ahead......we are all in it together!