SKKN by Kim K: How to Turn Body Shame Into a Billion-Dollar Brand

SKKN by Kim’s minimalist packaging — marketed as “refillable” and “sustainable,” but criticised for being more aesthetic than ethical.

First, a line we won’t cross; Kim Kardashian can do what she wants to her body. The problem starts when those personal choices become a billion-dollar business model — one that teaches millions of women to see “normal” as a flaw that needs fixing.

When SKKN by Kim launched in June 2022, it was pitched as the future of skincare: “science-backed,” “minimal,” “refillable.” Everything about it whispered calm sophistication. But beneath the branding sits a clear strategy — take the same extreme ideals that made the Kardashian image a global commodity and repackage them as wellness.

That’s not innovation. It’s extraction. Extracting insecurity, turning it into aspiration, and selling it back as self-care.

Sadly, this isn’t a one-off. It’s part of a pattern that stretches back years. Remember Kimono in 2019? A shape-wear line so tone-deaf it took global backlash before being renamed Skims.

[SKKN is] a brand that had every resource, every platform, and every opportunity to lead differently, yet chose not to.

Later came SKKN+, a trademark dispute with a small Black-owned business who’d used the name first. Each time, the same pattern: the decision passes through countless hands, yet no one stops to ask how it will land until the damage is public. They’re symptoms of a culture where size and influence override accountability until the internet forces it.

Kim Kardashian, founder of SKKN by Kim — a brand built on the same beauty ideals that made her image a global commodity.

SKKN’s aesthetic is the purest expression of that same blind spot — a world of poreless, ageless, sculpted perfection. You don’t even need to read the copy to get the message: your skin should look like this. Every image reinforces a baseline that most people can’t reach, not because they’re lazy or careless, but because it isn’t real.

That’s where the psychological harm begins. You see an ad. You think you’re just looking at skincare. But your brain doesn’t read it neutrally — it starts comparing. That’s how advertising works: it activates self-evaluation, then offers the product as relief. Over time, those comparisons become constant background noise.

70% of young women in the UK feel worse about their appearance after viewing beauty content online.

Research shows this is not harmless. Studies from the University of Melbourne (2023) and the American Psychological Association link exposure to idealised beauty imagery with lower self-esteem, increased body surveillance, and greater internalisation of perfectionist standards.¹ ² The Royal Society for Public Health found that 70% of young women in the UK feel worse about their appearance after viewing beauty content online.³

This is the psychological pipeline SKKN profits from — not because it’s unique, but because it’s expertly executed.

Even the “science-backed” claim is designed to reassure sceptical consumers while maintaining control. The message isn’t 'understand your skin', it’s 'trust us to fix you'. It’s the same perfection promise, now wearing a lab coat.

SKKN also leans on the visual language of sustainability: smooth neutrals, refillable jars, words like “conscious.” But reports quickly noted that the packaging wasn’t recyclable, and the refills came with a luxury-brand price tag. Around the same time, Kardashian properties were fined for breaching drought water limits in California. Once again — optics of care, reality of excess.

Kim Kardashian’s SKKN brand extends the beauty ideals that shaped her fame — perfection repackaged as self-care.

So how do choices like this keep getting through PR? For decades, “aspirational” marketing has been the industry default — not because it empowers people, but because it teaches them to feel inadequate without a 'fix'. That conditioning starts young, and companies like SKKN thrive on it. But creating insecurities isn't marketing; it's manipulation.

The brands that cling to “aspirational” marketing aren’t visionary — they’re outdated.

But the shift has already begun. Gen Z and younger millennials are calling it out. They no longer buy into the fantasy of flawlessness; they want transparency, representation, and authenticity. The brands that cling to “aspirational” marketing aren’t visionary — they’re outdated.

And that’s where SKKN stands: a brand that had every resource, every platform, and every opportunity to lead differently, yet chose not to. Because profit is safer than progress.

This isn’t about one woman. It’s about a system that keeps selling psychological harm as empowerment. When a billionaire builds another fortune by fuelling the insecurities of millions, that’s not self-care — that’s greed, dressed in beige packaging.

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References

1. University of Melbourne, Advertising and Body Image Research Report, 2023.

2. American Psychological Association, Report on Media and Appearance Ideals, 2022.

3. Royal Society for Public Health, #StatusOfMind: Social Media and Mental Health, 2022.