 | Yep, I'm decrepit enough to remember the first incarnation of Poppy King's lipstick empire in ye olde 90's and was... how you say... impressed from afar by other peoples' impression of her product, since I never actually bought any. This time I thought I should help a sister out and invest despite my lingering amorphous private reservations. Not sure how that skepticism developed; maybe it was the relentless personality-cult hyping of King herself instead of the specific awesomeness of the lipsticks? That stuff always pings my don't-bother radar. |
| Damn that thing's unerring accuracy. It's not that Lipstick Queen Rose Sinner is a horrible product, but it is a mediocre one just as I secretly suspected, for all the line's personal curation and superabundant categories, which I will bitch about later. For a start, it's not matte, yo, and that pisses me off because I was specifically looking for a mid-pink to alternate with my favourite, Nars Dolce Vita matte pencil. Getting a wee bit sick of brands chucking the M-word around without following through with that definitive characteristic. I'd describe the finish as similar to one of the thicker MAC Amplifieds.   |  Rose is okay-comfortable whilst doggedly persisting in one's consciousness because the formula is quite thick and pigmented with a rather stiff, greasy mouth feel. It's more just a cheap feeling than an entirely gross one, despite the $36 NZ price tag. The stodginess is worst during the first couple of uses, presumably because the surface product has degraded slightly, but even so, anything more than a light brushed application revives the effect. The colour is... well, it's nice enough, except I bought from this line hoping for something less generic. It's a really flat, one-dimensional camellia or lolly pink that I would describe as neutral in that it will entertain both yellow and blue leanings depending on ambient factors. These sorts of colours actually suit me (rather than my just liking them) and should be dancing on my face like a tweaky freak on handbag night but Rose is just... pfffvvvfff. A 6/10 situation. I get a little bit of dry-down but still: not matte. There's a persistent degree of slip and even outward migration, especially after a cup of tea. A faint scent is detectable initially, cardboardy waxes and sweet nut oils but I didn't find it offensive. While Rose didn't leave my lips parched, it wasn't very moisturising either, which is peculiar given the emollient nature of its composition. Something nice- your 3.5g of lipstick comes in a classy matte black bullet and a box emblazoned with the sort of hand-drawn high-school art class aesthetic that I enjoy personally so I won't shit on that (however, the gold BP cartouche makes my design eye twitch with its crowded composition arrrghh!).  Like I already said, some of these objections are pretty personal and it's not like Rose is spectacularly dreadful in any particular direction. But this price-point is massively bloated with better options; if I'd wanted yawn-pink in an indifferent formula I could have gone to the fucking Maybelline stand and saved myself $20. Maybe your lip situation is too problematic for true mattes and this sort of textural compromise might suit your needs. Personally I'd go for the gorgeous Bite High Pigment or Urban Decay Revolution stuff if that was the case- same dollars and much dreamier formulas. |
Also: (warning- rant) Lipstick Queen's dipshit classification system needs a ruthless edit. It basically consists of giving separate lipsticks in wildly divergent finishes and even colours same/similar names. The Sinner range is supposedly all matte, the Saint stuff sheer or shiny (descriptions vary), so there's this Rose and another one in a different finish. WTF. Then there's a galaxy of miscellaneous stuff in between- random concepts issued under utterly uninformative kutesy kweative names and designations. Uh huh. I lost half an hour of my life trying to sort through that bullshit, which gives me extreme cat's bum face and a burning desire not to reward this taxonomic fuckery with precious $$$.
Will I wear Lipstick Queen Rose? Probably. I paid retail, dammit. Will I bother with its stablemates? Nope.
Will I wear Lipstick Queen Rose? Probably. I paid retail, dammit. Will I bother with its stablemates? Nope.
L2R: Nars Dolce Vita pencil, Lipstick Queen Rose (Sinner), Bite Rhubarb, MAC Hot Tahiti,
MAC Whirl, MAC Mehr, MAC Après Chic (LE).
MAC Whirl, MAC Mehr, MAC Après Chic (LE).
 |  |
L2R: Nars Dolce Vita pencil, Lipstick Queen Rose (Sinner), Bite Rhubarb, MAC Hot Tahiti,
MAC Whirl, MAC Mehr, MAC Après Chic (LE).
Dolce Vita and Whirl are true mattes, Aprés Chic is medium-glossy and you can see Rose falls somewhere between.
MAC Whirl, MAC Mehr, MAC Après Chic (LE).
Dolce Vita and Whirl are true mattes, Aprés Chic is medium-glossy and you can see Rose falls somewhere between.
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