Kontour like a Kardashian
We checked out Kim’s new hard-to-come-by makeup offering. See what our testers found
Should I buy it? When it comes to celebrity makeup lines — and clothing, lifestyle, alcohol — the conversation always comes back to one central question: Sure, those jeans/sunglasses/ lipsticks look good on famous faces, but will they work for the rest of us?
We posed that question when Kim Kardashian West’s new line, KKW Beauty, hit the market late last month and joined the masses in ordering her first product.
Not surprisingly, the queen of contouring started her makeup venture with a contouring kit, to the delight of fans who gobbled up the first batch in a matter of hours. (The kits were restocked on July 6 and promptly sold out again.)
We ordered the light color, one of the few still available when we pulled up the site, and got to work when it came in a week later.
THE PACKAGING
Even non-fans have to give the Kardashians credit for developing strong personas and sticking to them.
The KKW kit is more on-brand than an energy cleansing station at a Goop retreat.
Every bit of packaging, including the shipping box, comes in a Kim-flesh-tone hue, as if the woman who tried to break the Internet with her naked derrière has a nude Midas Touch.
THE PRODUCTS
Two suggestively shaped sticks come with each kit, one a darker shade for contouring, the other lighter for highlighting, with matte and shimmer sides. The slim size makes them easy to hold, and they have nice almondshaped tips so users can get a precise application along the nose and eyes.
However, there’s very little makeup in each stick. Think Birchbox-size sample. If we were math (rather than journalism) majors, we’d calculate how many uses one could get on average. But suffice it to say, a season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians will outlast this stuff.
The matte side also broke off during one of our first applications — luckily, we believe in the five-second rule and popped it back on.
The dual brush/sponge is also a good size but cheap-seeming, and the coarse brush feels as if it blends away the contouring.
We opted for a purist approach instead: a trusted beauty blender sponge and our fingers.
APPLICATION
The contour color glides on and blends smoothly. The silky texture makes it easy to rub off, however.
The matte highlighter, on the other hand, is a little cakey.
Call us jaded, but it’s hard not to assume Kim is always coated in heavy makeup, even after her recent adoption of the minimal trend. But the cream colors don’t feel heavy, a very pleasant surprise.
RESULT
None of our testers suddenly passed for a member of the Kardashian Klan. But the paler parties were left with slightly more prominent cheekbones and a light glow.
The color was much paler than anticipated, making us believe Kim’s tweets saying she uses the deep dark color when she’s tan. Where does that leave women with darker complexions? Most likely out of options.
OVERALL
The kit is a disappointment. Even our testers dedicated to Keeping
Up were ready to order Kris a glass of white wine before rendering their verdicts.
There are several positive attributes: attractive packaging, easy application, a minimal makeup feel.
But the chalkiness of the matte stick, cheapness of the brush and small amount of makeup that comes in each kit make it hard to justify a $48 price tag. And the limited colors mean the kits won’t work for many women.
In a crowded market, celebrities have to deliver more than on-brand aesthetics. If not, we’re heading for the adequate, if less Kardashian-esque, options available at the drugstore.