pH-Transforming Metallic Lipstick — 70s Disco Tribute
A soulful indigo blue in the tube that transforms into a metallic raspberry pink on the lips — the disco ball made wearable. The most glamorous and shimmer-rich entry in the iconic LQ transformer collection, with Calcium Sodium Borosilicate interference pearls that give the result its characteristic metallic glow.
Blue By You was a Space NK global exclusive for March 2018 before wider rollout. It has since been discontinued. The distinctive blue metallic tube with the raspberry-pink label on the base appears occasionally on eBay and Poshmark. We recommend the alternatives below as your best ongoing options.
Blue By You launched in March 2018 as a Space NK global exclusive — the fourth confirmed pH-transformer in the Lipstick Queen range, after Frog Prince (green→pink), Hello Sailor (navy→berry), and Mornin' Sunshine (yellow→pink). The concept was the 1970s disco decade: "emanating the free-spirited glamour of the 70's, a playful tribute to the lavish glitz of the decade" — referencing the blue eyeshadow trend, the first love and heartbreak energy, the disco ball's medley of glistening light. The shade started as a soulful indigo blue, visible in the tube as a vivid blue-violet with pink sparkles already running through it — and transformed on the lips to a metallic raspberry pink.
The metallic quality was what distinguished Blue By You from every previous LQ transformer: it contained Calcium Sodium Borosilicate (the interference shimmer particle from Black Lace Rabbit, Eden, and Altered Universe) and Synthetic Fluorphlogopite — producing a pearlescent, disco-ball glow on the result rather than the sheer, clean finish of the Frog Prince. Blue By You was explicitly a statement lipstick; its result was not subtle. It shared the same Mango Seed Butter featured in the Frog Prince formula and added Manganese Violet as an additional pigment creating the blue-violet depth in the tube colour.
Blue By You arrived in March 2018 as what Ulta described as "a playful tribute not only to the blue eyeshadow trend of the decade, but the special memory of your first love and the beauty in your first heartbreak." The concept was purely 1970s — the decade of Studio 54, the first wave of disco glamour, and a period of beauty so maximalist that blue eyeshadow was not a statement but an expectation. Poppy King took that maximalism and turned it into a lipstick that was blue in the tube and pink on the lips.
The Bloomingdale's reviewer who bought two tubes described the experience precisely: "the best bit is watching bright blue transform into bright pink on your lips." Another reviewer called it "like magic" and noted the metallic finish as distinctly disco in character. The Space NK exclusivity for March 2018 was the brand's way of positioning Blue By You as a special, limited-release transformer — not a permanent addition but a limited glamour statement tied to the disco tribute concept. Lola's Secret Beauty Blog called it "LOVE LOVE LOVE" and confirmed it to be comfortable and moisturising despite the visible sparkle.
Blue By You was the fourth confirmed pH-transforming lipstick in the Lipstick Queen range. All four share the same core mechanism — Red 21 (CI 45380), a halogenated fluorescein dye that is colourless at acidic pH and intensely pink at neutral/alkaline pH, responding to the natural pH of the lip surface to produce a personalised pink result. The transformer's result varies with each person's individual lip pH.
The key distinction between Blue By You and the other three transformers is the metallic shimmer in the result. Frog Prince, Hello Sailor, and Mornin' Sunshine all transform to sheer, clean, non-shimmery pinks and berries. Blue By You transforms to a metallic raspberry pink — the Calcium Sodium Borosilicate and Synthetic Fluorphlogopite remain in the transformed result, giving it the disco-ball glow that the other transformers lack. The shade in the tube also appears more dramatic — a vivid blue-violet with visible pink sparkles already running through it — making it more theatrical in the tube and more iridescent on the lips than any of its transformer siblings.
The Blue By You formula shared its Castor Oil base and most of its conditioning complex with the Frog Prince — the shared heritage of the transformer collection was evident in the overlapping ingredient architecture. But three additions made Blue By You formulaically distinct: the Calcium Sodium Borosilicate interference pearl, the Synthetic Fluorphlogopite premium mica, and Manganese Violet (CI 77742) as the inorganic violet pigment creating the blue-violet tube colour.
The pH-transformation mechanism was identical to Frog Prince: Red 21 (CI 45380), the halogenated fluorescein dye, was the active transformer. Red 21 exists as a colourless/yellowish compound at acidic pH and converts to an intensely red-pink compound at physiological pH (around 7). The natural pH of the lip surface triggers this conversion — producing a personalised pink result that varies from person to person based on their individual lip chemistry. The stronger the result, the more alkaline the lip pH. The indigo blue tube colour was achieved by Red 21's combined precursor state with Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), and Red 27 (CI 45410) — together creating the deep blue-violet at the lower pH of the bulk formula.
The conditioning system added Mango Seed Butter (Mangifera Indica) — the featured nourishing active also in the Frog Prince and Jean Queen formulas, providing a rich, creamy skin-softening quality. Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate was the stabilised, oil-soluble Vitamin C antioxidant (also in Frog Prince Blush). Meadowfoam Seed Oil, Hydrogenated Olive Oil, and Sunflower Seed Oil provided the multi-oil conditioning complex. Shea Butter and Shea Butter Extract (both present — the whole butter for richness, the extract for lightness) completed the moisturising system. Tin Oxide was the reflectivity booster for the borosilicate particles.
As confirmed at Lola's Secret Beauty Blog, Beauty Bridge, Lookfantastic, and Strawberrynet (all consistent):
Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Vegetable Oil (Olus/Huile Vegetale), Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax (Candelilla Cera/Cire De Candelilla), Beeswax (Cera Alba/Cire D'Abeille), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Ozokerite, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Phenoxyethanol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Hydrogenated Olive Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Silica, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Extract, Tin Oxide, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090), Red 21 (CI 45380), Red 27 (CI 45410), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850).
Highlighted ingredients are key actives or structurally distinctive components. Red 21 (CI 45380, also written as Red 21 or Eosin Y) is the pH-responsive halogenated fluorescein dye — the transformer mechanism. It converts from colourless/pink at low pH to intensely red-pink at neutral/alkaline pH, responding to the lip surface's natural pH. Calcium Sodium Borosilicate (CaNaBS) is the interference shimmer particle producing the metallic glow in the result — also in Black Lace Rabbit (gold), Eden (green), and the Altered Universe gloss series. This is the ONLY confirmed LQ transformer formula containing CaNaBS. Synthetic Fluorphlogopite is the premium synthetic mica providing smooth, uniform metallic lustre. Manganese Violet (CI 77742) is the inorganic violet pigment contributing to the tube's blue-violet depth — along with Blue 1 Lake and Red 27 — not seen in other LQ transformer formulas in this series. Mango Seed Butter (Mangifera Indica) is the featured nourishing active, also in Frog Prince. Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate is the oil-soluble stabilised Vitamin C antioxidant. Both whole Shea Butter and Shea Butter Extract are present — the full butter for richness, the extract for lighter texture in the outer formula layers. Tin Oxide is a reflectivity booster for the borosilicate particles. Ozokerite is the mineral wax providing structural stability.
Three lipsticks that capture Blue By You's defining virtues — the colour-transforming magic, the metallic shimmer result, and the metallic raspberry-pink that appears on the lips.
For fans of the Blue By You transformer concept specifically — who loved the magic of applying a coloured lipstick and watching it become personalised pink — the Frog Prince Lipstick is the original and most available ongoing version of the same core mechanic. The Frog Prince uses the same Red 21 pH-transformer system, the same Castor Oil base, and the same Mango Seed Butter nourishing complex. The result is a sheer, soft personalised pink rather than a metallic raspberry, but the transformation experience is equivalent. The Frog Prince is the transformer that started the category for LQ and remains the most beloved and most available.
For fans of Blue By You's result specifically — the metallic raspberry pink that appeared on the lips — Charlotte Tilbury's metallic shimmer lipstick formulations in the Pillow Talk family (particularly the Pillow Talk Intense with gold shimmer) deliver the closest premium equivalent to the iridescent, metallic quality of the Blue By You result. They are not pH transformers, but the metallic shimmer raspberry-pink register and the "dancing queen" glamour energy of the Blue By You result is most precisely matched by CT's shimmer-infused formula in adjacent berry-pink shades.
For fans of Blue By You's disco-era sparkle dimension — the shimmer that made the result feel like the inside of a disco ball rather than a conventional lipstick — Fenty Gloss Bomb in Fussy captures that same "raspberry pink with iridescent shimmer" quality in a non-transforming gloss format. The Gloss Bomb's signature quality is exactly what Blue By You delivered on the lips: a shimmering, light-catching, universally flattering raspberry-pink that photographs beautifully and works at every hour of day. Non-transformer but the closest in-market shimmer-and-raspberry equivalent.