Drag queen Lush Monsoon peered at herself in a small mirror as she prepared for her performance. Delhi’s Kitty Su was opening the first weekend of Pride Month with a Vietnam-India showcase. Saraya Abdoul St Laurent, her drag niece Irina “The Diva” Wakanda, and Valentina, all from Vietnam, were set to perform, and Monsoon alone was to represent India on the five-by-five platform at The LaLiT.
That’s when Monsoon’s drag sister Hash Brownie stopped her from using the lipstick. The red wasn’t deep enough. Use this, she said, pulling out what looked like a miniature ball gag: a bright red ball surrounded by two black cylinders on each end. It was Hotline, a red liquid lip shade, Brownie designed.
The range was launched on 1 June. Brownie worked with Kitty Su to develop three shades, the first offering of KittySu Beauty, owned by Keshav Suri and his husband Cyril Feuillebois.
“I always manifested working in the makeup industry, but never got the opportunity. One day, Cyril suddenly called me for a meeting. And then he told me he wanted me to do KittySu Beauty,” Brownie told ThePrint over a call.
Feuillebois had likely remembered her from 2019, when Brownie put him in drag for an event. She became his drag mother. When he was all decked out, the founder of Kronokare Cosmetics joked that he looked like his own mother.
Brownie knew from the get-go that she didn’t want to have a makeup brand that puts out 500 random shades. She thought back to the one thing she really needed and was missing from the Indian market: a black liquid lipstick.
“You see goth culture in India; everybody’s into BlackPink, BTS. But nobody is creating black lipstick. Retail brands, if they think a shade isn’t selling out a lot, they stop making it,” Brownie said.
She decided to fill the gap. She chose red because it’s a classic, and Brown because it works with every skin tone.
“Red is timeless. But the red that goes with all skin tones is a cooler shade, with some blue in it. And you don’t find that in liquid lipsticks,” she added.
Hotline in the making
Brownie was involved in product design and marketing. She was particular about using “clean ingredients,” she said, and wanted several samples. Finding a manufacturer who would take her seriously was half the challenge.
The Amritsar-based manufacturer she settled on was the only one ready to listen to her and develop a product she could call her own. When asked for a name, however, she happily said she’d like to gate keep them.
If other drag queens want to launch their own makeup lines, they’ll have to do their homework. (A Google search is all it takes, but don’t quote me on that.)
During her research, Brownie also looked at Chinese manufacturers before ultimately going with the Amritsar-based unit.
“The Chinese give you free samples. They’re pretty convenient that way. They actually listen to you. They listen to you very carefully,” Brownie said.
Also Read: Indian drag scene is a messy place—and yet full of possibilities
#TestedOnDragQueens
For the packaging, Brownie took inspiration from the first-ever Kitty Su party she attended.
“It was like a dungeon. And people were free. They were able to wear whatever they wanted to wear; nobody could trouble them. Whether it was with the bouncers or in the washrooms… That’s where I understood the true meaning of inclusivity. It mattered a lot,” she said.
The packaging reflects the dungeon scene: metal chains, spikes, and blood red lips. The box carries the label “#TestedOnDragQueens”. But Brownie maintains that the lipsticks are for everyone; she is quite accepting of straight people. And just as well, the Rs 2,450 price tag made me do a double-take.
Then again, the only lipstick I’ve ever bought was a waxy Rs 200 bullet from Westside. A fierce they/them in Pune asked to borrow one, and when I presented it—with no small amount of pride—they tried it on the back of their hand and returned it promptly with a smile. Suffice it to say, I am no Bretman Rock.
One of the many things that gave American drag queen Trixie Mattel her substantial wealth was her makeup brand, Trixie Cosmetics. Which is why Hash Brownie’s lipstick line seems exciting. It’s one small step for a drag queen, one giant leap for the Indian drag scene. After all, how long will desi queens juggle a boring job to keep their art alive?
Views are personal.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)