I had the pleasure of learning about a company called Body of Royalty, started by Houston-based entrepreneurs Jermelle F. Pitts and Joseph Chargois. They sent me some lipstick and lip gloss to sample from the collection, which includes, Queens Rage, Innocent and Natural Beauty.
Here’s a live version of each product in front of a white background for a good idea of the pigment:
And here’s a darker background:
Both photos were taken without flash, because I felt flash would take away from the true hues of each lipstick, but I like the colors. They glided on smoothly and felt emollient, luxurious and non-drying, which is the brand’s goal. They describe their products as a luxury cosmetic brand created for the young, elegant and sophisticated woman, but more on that later.
The top color is the gloss in Innocent, the middle color is the Queens Rage lipstick, and the bottom color is lipstick in Natural Beauty.
Each color, even the gloss, had a buildable finish, so it’s easy to control how you want them to look. My favorite is Queens Rage because I’ve been a sucker for the red lip since I was five, even though I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup (it started with watching my mom). Queens Rage is a creamy frosty cherry-toned true red that channels Hollywood glam, Natural beauty is a creamy frosty pinky-coral neutral, and Innocent is a pink subtle shimmery gloss.
The brand also carries eye shadows, mascara, lip balm, shadow primer, lashes and they eventually plan to expand to foundation. Right now the price points range from about $11 to $15, so these products are definitely for when you want to pamper yourself.
My husband happened to walk into the room as I was trying on the Queens Rage lipstick and his first comment was, “Ooh.” That is a big deal. He never comments on my makeup so it prompted me to ask the owners what they’re favorite products are since they are also of the XY persuasion (you should, of course, wear colors because you like them but it’s nice to be admired too).
Here’s what they said:
Jermelle: My favorite lipstick is First Time. It is pretty red lip and I think every girl needs a red lip no matter what your skin tone is. I hate when women say “I’m too dark for a red lip.” A red lip is sexy on every woman it’s about finding the red lip with the right undertone or putting primer on the lips first. I also think that a red lip makes your teeth appear whiter. My second favorite is Jet Setter. When we first launched the line, Jet Setter was one of our most popular shades. It is an orange lipstick and the press and beauty blogs loved it. My next favorite would have to be the Domme eye shadow which is a black eye shadow. I love a smoked eye. It’s so dramatic and bold.
Joseph: I love our Envied eye shadow. It’s a vibrant sea foam green that looks great on every skin tone and gives a nice pop of color. I love our lip gloss Innocent, because it is a beautiful nudey pink/brown that is subtly loud. My favorite lipstick is High Class because it’s a matte, plum color that’s very dramatic and classic.
As far as makeup trends for 2014, hey say it’s time to break away from the norm and get bold:
The ombré lip is going to be big in 2014. We are seeing more and more of that on the fashion runways. Our favorite Ombré lip is Scandal and Jet Setter, it looks so dope. We have been seeing a lot of our consumers playing with the ombré lip on Instagram and we love it. The super dramatic cat eyes will be popular too. Beyoncé did it in her video with Frank Ocean and we liked that look a lot. It’s very dramatic and over the top.
I give their lipsticks an A and look forward to trying more products. You can purchase Body of Royalty products by heading over to the company website. As I mentioned earlier, the brand plans to launch a line of foundations but in the meantime, they’ve announced Diamond (from Crime Mob) as their first celebrity brand ambassador. If you’re interested in how Jermelle and Joseph launched their company, why they teamed up with Diamond and why they decided to get into the makeup business, check out my interview with them over at GangStarrGirl.com.
Disclosure: I was sent Body of Royalty products for consideration. I did not receive monetary compensation. All opinions are my own and were not influenced by outside forces as I have full editorial control over Grunts and Glam’s content.
