Kim Kardashian has 141 million followers on Instagram. On June 7th Kim Kardashian posted an Instagram announcing that her "ultimate body perfecting secret" is to launch on KKW Beauty on June 21st. Since then, Kim has made various posts advertising her new "body collection". Recently she has posted a video that reveals her painting her legs with liquid makeup, she writes, "I use this when I want to enhance my skin tone or cover my psoriasis. I bruise easily and have veins and this has been my secret for over a decade". Followed by "I've learned to live with and not be insecure of my psoriasis, but for days when I want to just cover it up I use this Body Makeup".
Isn't it bad enough that society already indirectly encourages women to wear makeup? Young girls look at actresses, models, influencers and celebrities every. single. day. Many of us want look like them, be admired like them, be like them. So at a young age, we learn how to put on foundation to even skin tones, how to conceal pimples and cover redness, then we practice how to bake and contour, and then we perfect our eye liner technique. We spend hundreds of dollars and fill our drawers with primer, concealer, liquid foundation, powder foundation, bronzer, highlighter, blush, lip liner, lip gloss, lip stick, eye shadow primer, eye shadow, mascara, setting spray, etc. Then almost, if not everyday, we paint our faces. We become society's expectation of feminine, of pretty, of perfect. (This is not to say that makeup is not a form of expression, personal choice, etc). This is to say that advertising makeup at all costs is not empowerment. To me, body makeup is not empowerment. Body makeup is crossing a line, it's going too far.
Millions of women, especially young women, follow Kim Kardashian. Her "body collection" advertisements are telling, are teaching women, especially young women, that they need to cover their bruises and veins, their psoriasis, their scars and rosacea, their hives and birth marks, etc. Her products have the words "skin perfecting" in their name. Her products are teaching girls that their skin is not already perfect. Her products are encouraging girls to start painting their bodies when they are done painting their faces. Her products are telling girls that natural is not good enough. And girls who look up to her, who want to look like her, be like her, will spend hundreds more in attempt to "perfect" their bodies. Earlier I included the part where Kim stated she was comfortable with her psoriasis, and that may be true, but Kim is 38 years old. The 13 year old girl that follows her, for example, who is just starting to learn how to accept her "imperfections", who is just discovering makeup, is going to think, is going to learn, is going to buy one of her "skin perfecting" body foundations, and she will never learn to accept or embrace her "flaws", the only thing she will have learned is how to cover them, and it will be because you, Kim Kardashian, taught her that.
Body Collection Products:
-Skin Perfecting Body Foundation $45
-Skin Perfecting Body Shimmer $35
-Body Brush $32
-Loose Shimmer for Face & Body
-Complete Body Shimmer and Brush Collection $200
Girls- you do not need skin perfecting body makeup. Your skin, your body, you- are already PERFECT.
Be comfortable in your own skin.
