When 15-year-old Isabella Haddad got a hold of her mom’s Chanel temporary tattoos, she and her 11-year-old sister, Sophia, playfully applied them to their lips. One year later, their creativity spawned the idea to create temporary appliques specifically for lips. And with the help of their dad, Jeff, an entertainment industry veteran, in May 2011 Violent Lips hit the market: ultra bright, bold lip designs that produced $2 million in first-year sales in stores such as Sephora, Ulta and Urban Outfitters. Over the next two years, the company expects to surpass $10 million in volume, especially with a push provided by a new mass market collection, Bella by Violent Lips, named after its young creator.

Most marketers beg and cajole to get shelf space, but Isabella said she had the opposite experience with retailers, who were reaching out to her for the temporary lip appliques. “We got into Sephora by pure coincidence,” she said. “We had a launch party in Vegas and our team walked into a local Sephora wearing Violent Lips. The District Manager happened to be there that day and freaked out. She made the call to headquarters and just like that we got into Sephora’s ‘What’s Hot’ merchandising section.”

According to Violent Lips’ Chief Marketing Officer, Ravid Yosef, the colorful lips target women aged 18 to 34 with “outgoing” personalities. And their uniqueness—they’re available in designs ranging from animal prints to school colors—allowed the tattoos to be sold in myriad doors. Next year, the company is looking to roll out Bella; mass retail contracts are still under negotiation. Ulta executives said Violent Lips was one of the most asked about products in recent years and that initial inventory often sold out of stores.

Violent Lips’ best selling products are the Glitterati Collection, a bedazzling line of glitter appliques, accounting for more than 30 percent of sales. The number-one selling single product is the American Flag design for lips. For holiday, Violent Lips will add Violent Eyes—yes, glitter tattoos for the eyes—with seven glitter colors including a Rainbow Glitter print. “While other eye transfer products do exist in the market, we are the first to accomplish this with glitter,” said Ravid.

Instructing users how to apply the lips is paramount, she added. “We spend the majority of our marketing budget on educational outreach through blog reviews, YouTube how-to videos and sampling boxes so that information on the application process is accessible to anyone looking for it.” Social media is even used to look for potential troubles that can be remedied. “If anyone even mentions having trouble with our product on twitter, we immediately ask how we can help and walk them through any issue they have,” she said.

Word of mouth has been what Yosef calls “priceless” and because the lips are so visual, social networking has caused a viral reaction. As far as growing to more retailers, interest is escalating. “Since we’re such a small company, I think a lot of people were waiting to see if we would last a year. Now that we have, and are looking to expand into mass, we are seeking the right distribution partners to grow the right way.”