The Real Way to Drink a Cocktail With Lipstick On, Courtesy of Dita Von Teese

In the last leg of her four-city tour with French liqueur brand Cointreau, Dita Von Teese graced San Francisco with a night of cocktails, sultry performances, and high spirits. It was like a memory from Midnight in Paris—a space where mixology was a science, jazz was the preferred melody, and red lipstick was an artform.

It’s not often beauty royalty comes into town. With a successful Art Deco makeup collection, a second fragrance launching in December (and her first now available in the States!), and a DIY book for coming out next year, it was high time for a little redux on Dita's whirlwind year of beauty. Before wowing the audience with a coquettish routine complete with Swarovski lingerie and bright tropical feathers, Dita took time to speak to all of our burning beauty questions—even offering her unique, albeit event-appropriate solution for the red lipstick-cocktail conundrum.

Dressed in vintage and Christian Louboutin, the star was as stunning six inches far as she was on stage. It was hard not to become instantly transfixed (or, let's admit—slightly envious) of her creamy, porcelain complexion. Thank our lucky stars she's creating more makeup in months to come.

On her current makeup favorites...

“I’m pretty satisfied with the makeup I have right now because I’ve been able to create most of it. But I’m always questing for the perfect things—like the perfect foundation. I’m working with Art Deco right now to get it right. The one thing I’m always looking for is really beautiful containers, so I collect vintage lipstick tubes and try to figure out how to transfer my products. They don’t make things like they used to anymore. They just don’t have the tools to do it.”

On her new beauty book...

“With the book, I’m trying to reveal everything that I can. I’m leaving no stone unturned—whether it’s embarrassing or not. I’m trying to lay down everything that I know, and asking other people about things I haven’t tried myself—like plastic surgery or even injectables. I want it to be honest, genuine, and detailed—and that’s why it’s taking so long. It’s a big task.”

On drinking cocktails with lipstick...

“I quite like leaving my lipstick prints in places. I think it’s kind of chic. A matte finish is usually a good way to keep lipstick in place, but that’s a general rule. I don’t mind leaving my lipstick print on a napkin or on a glass. I’ve always fantasized about having an art gallery showing of all my napkins because they look kind of exciting. That’s a joke, by the way.”