Historically, any Kardashian-related fashion or beauty-related business venture has always given me the overwhelming urge to roll my eyes and ignore said product, whatever it may be. I admit that my bias is founded in nothing other than the kind of fatigue that occurs when a popular figure is so over-exposed in the media that you start to feel a bit….I don’t know…saturated.
Speaking of media overexposure, Kylie Jenner, the Kardashian who doesn’t go by the name Kardashian, has a lip gloss line that launched the 1st of April. And no, this is not an April fools type of arrangement, in case you were wondering. No, Kylie apparently is going to have a full-on cosmetics line…I think. It’s hard to know, because the lip glosses that have supposedly launched (at $29 each, no less) are all sold out on the website.
Kylie Cosmetics apparently launched earlier this year with a line of liquid matte lipsticks that were hugely successful. Having looked at the collection online, I can see the allure of theses Lip Kits, as they are called. They are ultra-saturated color, in some pretty interesting shades, many of which will work well on women of color, which is a huge tick in the plus column.
I have to give credit where credit is due here. The Kardashian women, led by Momager Kris Jenner, really do have a pretty good PR game when it comes to selling products. These girls are each bazillionaires in their own right, and despite the fact that they seem to have no obvious talents per se, everything they touch seems to turn to marketing gold, something very few people can claim. So perhaps it’s time for us to rethink the whole “no talent” label for these women. Whether this success is due to a very shrewd mother/manager or that same aforementioned media overexposure (or probably both), I can’t say.
And I also have to admit something else here. While it appears to be impossible to order one of these new glosses to try firsthand (at the moment), looking at the images on Jenner’s Instagram, I have to reluctantly admit that these lip glosses appear to be totally on point. While there aren’t a lot of color choices, there appear to be a range of “nude” glosses that again take into account skin color, and are available in some very useful shades. Like most women, I kill for a well-appointed nude gloss, and this one appears to be all that.
That’s not to say that there aren’t aspects of the Kylie Cosmetics line that aren’t side-eye worthy (after all, we would expect nothing less from a Kardashian). The line’s logo was the first thing that made me roll my eyes back in my head so hard, I nearly gave myself whiplash.
Like. Literally. So cute.
Yes. That’s the tag line. While I suppose it could be argued that it reflects the way its namesake patroness actually talks, it also is quite heavily derivative of the whole Rachel Zoe empire, and probably everybody else who lives in Los Angeles and has a hand in the fashion and beauty industries.
The other little bit of side eye, and I’m nit-picking here, is this webpage copy. This is probably because I’m a writer, but here is what’s written in the “about” section of the webpage.
Welcome to Kylie Cosmetics℠ by Kylie Jenner! Known for her love of cosmetic products and makeup, Kylie Jenner launched Kylie Cosmetics℠ in 2016 after the global launch of her wildly successful liquid lipstick + lip liner duo, the Kylie Lip Kit. After Kylie revealed the Kylie Lip Kit to the world, her fans wanted more. Kylie Cosmetics℠ is Kylie Jenner’s new launchpad for sharing her best kept beauty secrets to her fans. Kylie is currently working in the Kylie Cosmetics℠ Lab on a handful of new, top secret products she’s creating to help give you that perfect ‘Kylie look’. Stay tuned for more products coming soon! Kylie Cosmetics℠ products are not tested on animals, and all shades of The Kylie Lip Kit℠ (excluding Candy K) are vegan.
I think this bothers me because this is written to read like this is a pioneering effort on Kylie’s part. I think we can all figure out that Kylie would not be launching this line without some serious help (perhaps a little of Mom’s savvy PR help for starters). And I think portraying it like Kylie is actually in the lab conducting “top secret” cosmetic research in a white lab coat is beyond ridiculous. Wouldn’t you just rather see an honest account…something like “Kylie and Kris Jenner have teamed-up with the Vegan Cosmetics Company to bring you…” Or some such thing? Again, a small criticism, and Kylie Cosmetics looks like overall, it’s a very promising line, but still. I just can’t wrap my mind around a Kardashian in a lab.
#Like. #Literally. #Science, you guys.
