photo courtesy of Twitter
Iconic Harlem native Lil Mama, whose real name is Niatia Jessica Kirkland, took to Instagram on April 30 to announce an upcoming drop of her very own makeup brand. Over 15 years after Kirkland released “Lip Gloss,” she used the video to show off her makeup brand Vaniteaset and her new jewelry line “It’s Poppin’,” designed in collaboration with a popular hip-hop themed streetwear company – Aporro.
The Instagram video features an instrumental of “Lip Gloss” playing in the background while Kirkland sat at a blinged-out pink vanity with rollers in her hair. The post was captioned,
“@vaniteasetcosmetics X @lilmama X @aporrobrand. It’s Poppin” Collection: Coming Soon.”The 33-year-old rapper showed off some of the makeup pieces that would be included in the Vaniteaset line. Included in the video were brushes, bright highlighters, an eye shadow palette, and a pinkish lip gloss. On the jewelry side of “It’s Poppin’,” the camera panned to show silver-plated name necklaces, charm bracelets, and even an on-brand lip gloss-filled locket.
Kirkland isn’t new to beauty collabs, though. Back in 2020, the rapper worked with I-Envy by KISS to drop a limited edition 3D lash line that was popularly sold in beauty stores across the nation and featured four different styles of eyelashes.
Kirkland told Page Six at the time of the release that she could later see herself becoming a beauty mogul.
“I definitely see myself becoming a mogul in the beauty world. I definitely have to put out a lip gloss line. People thought I would do that before I put out an eyelash line; that’s why I didn’t do it!”
She added that if she got to work with anyone after the lashes’ release, she would’ve liked to work with Oscar-winning actress Regina King. Kirkland explained, “I love Regina; she is a legend,” The Harlem native added, “I loved her in ‘Boyz n the Hood,’ when she drank the whole 40! To see someone grow from that porch to becoming a director and still have the same charismatic personality and understanding of where she is from … she is still pushing the culture forward.”
“I just think she is an incredibly powerful woman.”
The release date for Lil Mama’s Vaniteaset and “It’s Poppin’” hasn’t been announced yet.