Get kissed by the moon. The original lip illuminator — sheer snowy white with silver and gold shimmer, worn alone or layered over any lipstick.
Ice Queen has been discontinued along with the wider Lipstick Queen range. The distinctive silver tube with icicle patterning makes it identifiable on eBay and Poshmark. Because the formula is pale and sheer, secondhand tubes are usually still usable if stored properly. The Ice Queen Story palette — which paired Ice Queen with Wine Sinner — occasionally surfaces as well. We recommend the alternatives below for ongoing use.
Ice Queen was Lipstick Queen's most otherworldly product — the brand's own description invited wearers to "get kissed by the moon and travel to intergalactic gorgeousness." A sheer snowy white lipstick flecked with silver and gold shimmer particles, it occupied a category that barely existed before it: the lip illuminator. Just as a cheekbone illuminator catches light and adds dimension to the face, Ice Queen applied the same logic to the lips — using shimmer to create the illusion of fullness, light, and crystalline beauty.
The packaging was an extension of the concept: a matte silver tube etched with icicle patterns, inspired by Erté's Art Deco illustration Sleeping Beauty, with its crescent moon and silvery palette. Inside, the white bullet itself — sheer enough to be translucent, luminous enough to catch the light from across a room — looked almost too beautiful to use. The dual-use function (standalone or topcoat) meant Ice Queen could multiply your lipstick wardrobe at a stroke, converting any cream, satin, or matte shade into a shimmer finish with a single gliding pass.
Ice Queen launched for Holiday 2014 as a winter seasonal product, though its appeal and continued availability made it more than a seasonal novelty. The concept arrived in a press release that described it as bringing "a whisper of silver and gold and a hint of iridescence" — language that positioned it firmly in the territory of magic and mythology rather than conventional cosmetics. Bloomingdale's described it on launch as "the hottest new trend for lips," framing the concept of a lip illuminator the same way skin illuminators had been positioned in the years prior.
The packaging was the product's first statement. The matte silver tube was etched with a repeating icicle pattern that became the product's visual signature. Tinsel Creation — one of the earliest reviewers — recognised the box illustration as being influenced by Erté's Art Deco illustration Sleeping Beauty, with its reclining figure in a snowfall and its crescent moon and silvery palette. The Art Deco connection was apt: Ice Queen had the same sense of cool, modernist glamour that defined Erté's best work — beautiful in a way that felt simultaneously futuristic and timeless.
Ice Queen was also sold as part of the Ice Queen Story palette at $45, pairing the sheer illuminating white with Wine Sinner — a deep, creamy matte — in a storybook-packaged duo. The combination was deliberately theatrical: alone, each shade was ethereal or richly chromatic; together, layered, the result was a seductive claret with a luminous shimmer surface. This kind of deliberate product pairing was characteristic of Poppy King's approach to colour throughout the brand's history.
Ice Queen's dual-use design as both a standalone and a topcoat was its most versatile feature. One pass of Ice Queen over any lipstick converted it from cream, satin, or matte into a shimmer finish. Reviewers consistently noted that one coat was optimal — too much produced an overly frosted effect. Here are the pairings that worked best.
Ice Queen's formula was built on the same Castor Seed Oil and Candelilla Wax base as the broader Lipstick Queen range — giving it the characteristic buttery glide and comfortable wear that reviewers associated with the brand. The key departure was in what it contained instead of pigment: rather than colour additives, the formula was loaded with Mica (CI 77019) and Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), which together produced the sheer snowy white colour and the silver-gold shimmer effect.
Titanium Dioxide at high concentration produces the opaque white associated with white-out lip products; in the sheer concentration used in Ice Queen, it produced a translucent pearlescent white — enough to lighten the lip and create the snowy effect while still allowing the natural pink of the lips to show through. The Mica particles, coated to reflect both silver and gold wavelengths, contributed the bicolour shimmer that gave Ice Queen its characteristic flash — appearing silver in cool light and golden in warm light.
The conditioning formula was notably rich for a shimmer-forward product: Shea Butter appeared twice (as Butyrospermum Parkii and as Butyrospermum Parkii Butter Extract), alongside Mango Seed Butter, Meadowfoam Seed Oil, Hydrogenated Olive Oil, and Sunflower Seed Oil. This oil and butter complex made Ice Queen significantly more moisturising than comparable shimmer lip products, though reviewer Tinsel Creation noted it was not quite as moisturising as the brand's claims suggested on its own, recommending applying over lip balm for best results when worn solo.
Apply a single light pass from the bullet directly to bare or balm-primed lips. One coat delivers the ethereal snowy shimmer; two coats pushes toward an obvious frosted look that reviewers described as "too 1980s." For a softer effect on cool or neutral complexions, pressing the lips together after application diffuses the shimmer. On very warm or deep skin tones, the white base can appear stark — layering over a base lip colour is recommended.
Apply one light coat of Ice Queen over any dry lipstick shade. The shimmer particles adhere to the lipstick surface and convert it from a cream, satin, or matte into a shimmer finish. One coat is always enough — Ice Queen will not significantly alter the underlying colour, but will add the silver-and-gold shimmer dimension. Works best over darker shades (navies, purples, wines, reds), where the shimmer contrast is most dramatic.
Apply Ice Queen to the centre of the lips over a base lip colour — leaving the corners and outer edges with the original shade — to create a dimensional ombré effect. The shimmer concentrated at the cupid's bow and the centre of the lower lip produces the same illusion of fullness that the highlighter-on-lip-contour technique creates. Particularly effective over medium-toned nudes and roses.
As listed on the 0.12 oz formulation (Olivela / Cosmetics Now / Ulta):
Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Vegetable Oil (Olus/Huile Vegetale), Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax (Candelilla Cera/Cire De Candelilla), Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Beeswax (Cera Alba/Cire D'Abeille), Ozokerite, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Phenoxyethanol, Alumina, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Hydrogenated Olive Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter Extract, Mica (CI 77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).
Highlighted ingredients are key actives. Mica and Titanium Dioxide together produce the sheer snowy white base and the silver-gold shimmer. Shea Butter appears twice (as Shea Butter and as Shea Butter Extract) for maximum conditioning effect. There are no additional colour pigments — the entire visual effect is produced by Mica and Titanium Dioxide alone. Paraben-free, sulfate-free. Made in Canada.
Three products that deliver the spirit of Ice Queen — the same sheer shimmer illumination, the same topcoat versatility, and the same frosty, ethereal quality on the lips.
The closest modern match to Ice Queen's concept of a sheer, glowing lip product that works alone and transforms other lip colours as a topcoat. Crystal Kiss is a sheer, iridescent gloss with the same pearlescent quality as Ice Queen — it allows the natural lip colour to show through while adding a dimensional shimmer that catches the light in the same way. The Collagen Lip Bath formula is among the most nourishing available, which addresses Ice Queen's one noted weakness (modest moisturisation on its own). Equally beautiful worn alone or layered.
For those who valued Ice Queen as a topcoat above all else, Dior Lip Glow Oil in 000 Universal Clear is the finest available replacement. A clear, sheer oil that adds gloss and a subtle shimmer dimension to any lipstick applied underneath — layering it over a dark wine or deep red produces a result similar to Ice Queen over Wine Sinner. The Dior formula is significantly more moisturising than Ice Queen alone, and the slightly higher gloss level provides even more dimension. The shimmer is subtler than Ice Queen's silver-and-gold flash, but the overall effect is comparable.
For fans of Ice Queen who loved it specifically for the lip illuminator concept — the idea of highlighting the lip contour the way you would the cheekbones — Rare Beauty's Soft Pinch Luminous Powder Blush in Joy (a sheer, golden-champagne shimmer) can be used as a lip topper by very lightly pressing the tiniest amount onto the centre of the lips over a base colour. This was a technique ice-queen devotees discovered after discontinuation, and it produces the closest approximation to Ice Queen's golden-in-warm-light, silvery-in-cool-light shimmer effect.