“It's nothing short of an Australian small business fairy tale that's about to unfurl.” 

Poppy King was barely out of high school when she launched her first company in 1991, quickly gaining a cult-like following for her dreamy 1940s Hollywood-inspired matte lipsticks. 

By 1995 she was Young Australian of the Year, but not long later the company fell apart amid investor disputes.  

The young entrepreneur moved to New York to work for the famed Lauder cosmetics brand. “My office was on the 39th floor of the GM building opposite the Plaza Hotel. I walked past Tiffany's every morning,” King enthuses. 

Now, some 30 years since the launch of her lipstick empire, King has revealed exclusively to Curveball she's returning to the Australian market with a brand new line.  

Find out what King learnt from her first business collapse, how she views the current influencer-inspired cosmetic industry, and why she’s going all-in on a new lipstick line made in the very same factory as her first product. 

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Curveball is the show that leans into life’s messy moments! It’s a production of Deadset Studios.  

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This episode was produced by Grace Pashley and edited by Liam Riordan. Executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made.