There isn’t a Poppy King product in the whole Lipstick Queen collection that I wouldn’t gladly get to know. Even the colours I know won’t suit me I hover over, greedily eyeing them like the luscious sweetie coloured bonbons they are, willing my skin to allow me to wear ALL THE LIPSTICK. *shakes fist at an unfair God*
*Sigh*
That said, I’m lucky enough to be able to get away with the brighter colours, which is arguably much more fun. (“BEGONE, NEUTRALS!”) and with a John Lewis gift card burning a hole in my pocket, I tried the patience of the kindly lady at the LQ concession to breaking point as I ummed and awwed, swatching and dabbing and sniffing and wiping things on and off me while she gamely kept up a running commentary as to what colours I might want to try, while all the time I had my eye on the prize.
The Silver Screen collection isn’t new -it came out last year. But in all honesty, it’s taken me a long run up to squaring paying thirty five of your English Pounds for a lipstick with myself. I mean -£35! It took me about five goes to get to the Tom Ford concession in Selfridges to buy Scarlet Rouge when it came out, and even then I was hyperventilating, and have asked for them as presents only ever since to spare myself the soul searching as to whether they’re ‘worth it’.
Mind you -ain’t she a beauty?
The bullet is housed in a wonderfully heavy silver case with a magnetic closure that slides lid and bottom together with a fantastically satisfying whoomp. You know just by looking at this lady that she’s a player.
‘Play It’ is a deep hot pink with a beautiful creamy, rich formulation that LASTS. Boy does she hang around. This is a lipstick that would benefit from being kept in check with a lipliner, especially as you won’t end up with the ring of doom as soon as you’ve had a cup of coffee**
**I say coffee, I mean wine. Obviously.
I think that the beauty of the more expensive formulation (she says, desperately trying to justify an insanely expensive product to herself), is that you often get a depth of colour that you just can’t find in drugstore brands. Hot pinks can often look brassy and cheap to my eyes, with the balance of blue to pink a little skewed in favour of one note shouty shades. As I get older I increasingly look for hydrating, beautifully formulated lipsticks in tones that are jewel like, but not about to take over my entire face.
Lipstick Queen always delivers on this front, and I find that the colours last on my lips much longer than other brands. While I completely agree with Sali Hughes that nothing is more fun than the ritual of reapplying lipstick, so there is no need to spend a fortune, when you find a colour that really lights up your face, you can’t get the money out of your purse fast enough.
For comparison: L-R *all Lipstick Queen* Endless summer in ‘Aloha’, Sinner in ‘Hot Rose’, Silver Screen in ‘Play It’ and finally ‘Medieval’. All in natural light.
The Hot Rose Sinner pigmentation is definitely longer lasting, but a touch more drying on my lips. ‘Play It’ has a comfy, hydrating quality that just edges it for me. (you can see the sheen in the photo above). Plus it contains peppermint oil, so it has a lovely tingle when you apply.
Finally, a blurry on-the-lips shot: clean skin, no foundation or powder.
Even though I suffer from rosacea and have naturally pinkish undertones, on my Celtic winter-toned skin this just seems to work.
And because it made me think “How many LQ lipsticks do I actually HAVE…?”
Lipstick Queen is available in the UK mainly through Space NK
Full disclaimer: ‘Play It’ was bought with cold, hard cash.
Atomic Mutton Beauty 