Slay, Dragoness. Blaze Together. With names like these, Kimmy Cosmetics’ hemp and 24K gold lipsticks and lip balms offer luxury with an edge. Hand laid gold flakes and a unique blend of ingredients combine to set this lip line apart. Essential oils like lavender and eucalyptus enhance healing properties and add a fresh aroma that other lipsticks lack. It’s vegan, it’s hemp, it’s gold — rub your lips with cannabis and activate a glimmering, golden glow.
Kimmy Tan, San Francisco area artist and creator of Kimmy Cosmetics, started making lip balm in October 2016. Also a professional tattoo artist, Kimmy has experience working with colors and skin tones. “My knowledge in painting [and] color theory really came in handy in creating the perfect shades for lipsticks. I wanted to create colors that flattered every skin tone and made everyone feel beautiful, a product that made people feel like royalty whenever they held it.”
In a box covered by bong breathing dragons, my order of Kimmy Cosmetics’ arrived. Lipstick names like Blaze Together and Dragon’s Blood were inspired when Kimmy’s friends and social media fans started calling her “The Dragon.” She had fire red dreadlocks and, as she describes it, “a propensity to blow huge clouds of smoke from my joints.”
Kimmy hopes people feel happy, special, and royal when using her products, “the gold patterns are unique, just like the person holding it.”
The 24K gold was a go-to ingredient for Kimmy. “Back in Beijing, where I’m from, gold is very popular. I grew up watching my beautiful mother apply and rub gold sheets on her face. She claimed it was good for maintaining her ageless, ethereal complexion,” she said, “I didn’t believe her at first, but she’s 51 years young and her face has perfect skin!”
A Huffington Post article by Dana Oliver called, “Here’s Why Gold-Infused Skin Care May Not Be Worth The Hype,” featured Tabasum Mir, a skin care physician in cosmetic dermatology and cosmetic laser surgery. Mir says “the metal can calm acne inflammation, reduce skin redness and protect against free radicals that lead to wrinkles and sun damage.” However, she adds that there’s no existing scientific research that determines gold to be a better antioxidant than any other. Mir’s bottom line; “Nothing is wrong with using gold, but it could just make the cream feel more cosmetic.”
Compared to other gold infused beauty products, Kimmy’s lip line is natural and reasonably priced. “It is the dangerous additives and sky high prices that dermatologists warn us against,” Kimmy explained. “Kimmy Cosmetics have no chemical additives,” she confirmed. The chapsticks sell for $9 and the 24k lipsticks are $20. Kimmy’s number one priority is to keep prices affordable, she said, “so everyone can feel like royalty!”
Even the lipstick tubes have been luxefied in curved, golden bottles shaped to fit perfectly in the palm of one’s hand. “The fancy packaging is a play on the words Dragon Queen. The tip of the bottle is highlighted and painted to look like a dragon’s tail, and, of course, a crown on top,” Kimmy described. “Each one is personal and just for you, which is why I also use pH-sensitive pigments as a base for all my colours, minus Lavender Gold, so you’ll truly feel unique.”
The lipsticks are matte, the balms are moisturizing, and the 24K gold flakes add a touch of sparkle. “Rubbing your lips together,” Kimmy wrote in one of our email conversations, “breaking down any visible gold leaf as you’re applying the lipstick, activates the gold, [and…] makes a great, subtle golden sheen.”
The first ingredient is hemp infused coconut oil, which conditions the skin and offers pain relief. Hemp oil is rich with antioxidants, vitamins, and keeps color vibrant. “I’ve tested all the other oils, and hemp oil lasts the longest and ensures the richest color,” Kimmy said. A 2010 study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology showed that the endocannabinoid system is critical to the life cycle of skin cells, and can help maintain healthy, youthful skin.
A couple other ingredients are Cannabis Sativa seed oil, good for rash prevention and acne relief, and Lavender oil. “Lavender oil is natural, ultra rich in antioxidants, stimulates blood flow, which gives the lips slight lip-plumping qualities, and calms anxiety,” Kimmy said. “This is great for the Lavender Gold balm, which applies clear, and can be applied on your temples and under your nose, to double as a headache reliever.”
Kimmy recently developed a temperature-sensitive, color-changing lipstick dubbed Medusa. “I noticed that darker lipstick makes me less approachable to strangers,” Kimmy described, “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if my lipstick shifted to something way darker when I went outside?’ I could go from ‘Let’s blaze’ to possibly ‘Please don’t talk to me?’ I developed a formula that’ll express all sides of you — the light and dark side!”
Kimmy said she wanted to create her own take on Medusa’s story, turning people into stone. “That’s why our “Medusa” changes from a Strawberry Velvet to a dark purple when it gets colder. It gives you that stoney Medusa vibe as if you really could turn men into stone or ‘get stoned’ yourself… get it?,” she asked.
I got it, loved it, and highly recommend this vegan, hemp, and 24K gold lip line.
To learn more about Kimmy Tan Cosmetics, visit:
Web: kimmytan.com
Instagram: @kimmycosmetics and @artsandkush
Email: contact@kimmytan.com
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