There is one small compact that lives in the back of my makeup drawer that I bring out only for special occasions, like when I’m going to be on camera. It’s probably close to six years old, and it’s seen better days. But I can’t part with it, because the formula is just too good. That special little compact is the original KKW Beauty under-eye brightening powder, which—along with Kim Kardashian’s entire makeup and fragrance line—was dissolved several years ago to make room for something new.
Today, Kardashian is making beauty dreams come true by relaunching her makeup line under her skincare brand, SKKN by Kim. The first drop brings back some truly beloved favorites from the KKW Beauty days: 15 shades of creamy lip liner, 10 shades of the Soft Matte bullet lipstick, and a matte eye shadow palette full of everyday essentials. I caught up with the beauty and fashion mogul last week to chat all about how this new makeup collection came to be, and when fans can expect a return of their other favorite bygone products and Kim-approved fragrances.
Why did you decide to launch under the SKKN brand versus Skims or an entirely new makeup-only brand?
I had KKW Fragrance, KKW Beauty, and then I was gonna launch KKW Skin, but if you think about it, that’s three different partnerships, three different social media channels to run, three different calendars that I would have to partner up with, three different shipping charges for the customer—when it’s all under one beauty brand. So I always wanted to shut everything down and launch one beauty brand that would have everything you could imagine, from skincare, color cosmetics, fragrance, hair care, nails—whatever, you know, is under the beauty umbrella. When I was rebranding and thinking of a name, I always loved the name SKKN, not just for skincare, but spelled like that, because my initials are in the middle, obviously.
This new brand, I want it to be like 100 percent authentically me. I didn’t want to do all of the purple shadows and red lips and all this stuff that I don’t personally wear. I always wanted it to be just the products and the color tones that would enhance your skin and your skin tone. And to find, like, huge shade ranges and lips and lip liners and whatever we do, you know; or contouring, and all the stuff that we’ll eventually come out with—I always wanted one brand that can sell all of everything in every beauty category.
Lip Liner
With the name SKKN, does that mean, then, that you’re taking a skin-first approach to makeup? Does that mean you’re making products with skincare benefits in them?
Not every product. But some of the products will have hyaluronic acid, and just, like, formulas that are really moisturizing and nourishing for your skin. But I think it’s also just like with having just the essential nude tones. It’s just also enhancing your skin, enhancing what you want to look like, whether that’s a more natural look or whether that’s a fully glammed-up look. It’s just going to be the neutrals and the essentials that you need for your best skin for your best self.
Classic Mattes Eye Shadow Palette
Classic Mattes Eye Shadow Palette
Over the last few years, I’ve seen so much chatter about how your lip liners were so missed. People we’re still using them to down to, like—
Half an inch of a lip liner! I mean, I have people begging me … I have like major, major celebrities calling me, being like, “I’m begging you for this lipstick!” I would have like five left of stock from my personal stash, and I’d be like, “Okay, I’m gonna send you the last of the last.” So I was like, okay, we definitely have to launch with lip liners and lipsticks. We need to have more of a shade range, launch it with like a lot, and I am so excited because the response has been so amazing.
Do you think fans of the old KKW Beauty are going to be happy with the new products?
The amount of people that would just text me about everything! It just made me so happy that I could finally say, like, “It’s here. Finally!” It’s so funny that people write me for the most random shades, like, “Please, I need Nude 5.” And so I did a shade chart, so that people can see [that] if they liked a KKW Beauty color, then they would love this color from SKKN.
Soft Matte Lip Color
Soft Matte Lip Color
I still have—and use—my KKW Beauty under-eye brightening product, even though it’s expired. It’s one of my favorite products.
Oh, thank you. It’s coming back!
What’s one beauty product you’ve held on to for far too long because you love it so much?
I have some products that are totally discontinued from, like, Clé de Peau Beauté that are really interesting. I have all my MAC shadows and original brushes from high school. I have all of my Makeup Forever pigments from high school, maybe college. I have some wild stuff.
People assume that you must get your makeup professionally done every single day. So my question is: How often do you do your own makeup? And which of these new products are you reaching for the most when you do?
I pretty much can do my makeup in five minutes. And so when I do my makeup myself, I used to do all mattes before, and now I like a little bit more creams. So I’ll do like more cream bronzer, cream blush, cream highlighter. And then mascara and lip liner, that’s my go-to. I quickly do concealer, just to kind of spot on my face. But yeah, I love doing my makeup myself.
I mean, you get to work with the best makeup artists in the world. But also, I’m sure you’re very skilled yourself at this point, as well.
I’m not as skilled because I totally tune out when they do my makeup. But I’ve learned so many tricks. I’ve learned all the tricks. And then I have to schedule like full glam sessions where it’s like a lesson, so I can actually learn things.
Speaking of, what is your favorite product from Mario’s line? And what do you think his favorite will be from this?
Well, I love his cream blushes. They’re really, really good. But I’m super into cream blush right now. His line is amazing. He has great lip liners also. I love his cream blush right now.
Makeup by Mario Soft Pop Plumping Blush Veil Berry Punch
Makeup by Mario Soft Pop Plumping Blush Veil Berry Punch
Do you think his favorite product will be from from skin?
He loves a good eye shadow palette.
Beauty trends are moving so quickly these days. What is one trend you will never try? And one you just might never give up?
I am just not into colorful lips. I’m a very nude-lip kind of girl. I’m not really going to try crazy colors. And then something I would never give up is, I think, contour. I just love how it makes you look and feel.
You’re raising Gen Alpha daughters. What surprises or scares you about the way they approach beauty?
The creativity that my oldest daughter has of just loving to do makeup. She likes more of the act of it all, more so than anything. So she’ll come in with her friends and they’ll do a full looks, but it’ll be like, “Hey, I’m gonna make you look like the Grinch today.” Or “I’m gonna make you look like Pikachu today.” It’s always a theme. I think they’re a little too young to be in that tween conversation. They like characters, and they like to re-create a character and then go from there, which I think is always really cute and fun, but then they wash it right off before they leave the room. It’s not like they want to wear it out.
My last question: Everyone wants to know when the fragrances are coming back?
Fragrances are coming—I’m so excited. I think like for skin, it’s not just about skincare—it’s like taking care of all of your skin and feeling good all over. And so, fragrance you definitely spray on your skin.
Jenna Rosenstein is the Beauty Director at Harper's BAZAAR across both print and digital. While attending NYU, she held internships at Women’s Wear Daily, Bloomingdale’s, Harper’s BAZAAR, and Allure, the latter of which she parlayed into her first job as the Beauty Assistant. She left Allure three years later as the Senior Beauty Editor. She spent a few months at Refinery29 overseeing branded content in the same title, before finally landing back at BAZAAR to manage all beauty content. When she's not testing every lipstick known to mankind, getting zapped by new lasers, or interviewing experts and celebrities, you can find Rosenstein at home in New Jersey with her son, husband, and black cat named Maddie.
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