When Will Kim Kardashian Stop Selling Solutions to the Problems She Creates?

SKIMS: Solutions For Every (My) Body

SKIMS

“The innovation never ends.” That’s the bold phrase Kim Kardashian’s fashion brand SKIMS used to announce their latest release: a face shapewear collection, launched on July 29th. Yet, as we take a closer look at this seamless sculpting face wrap, the tagline doesn’t exactly fill us with optimism about the beauty industry’s future direction.

Back in October 2023, SKIMS already had us raising our eyebrows (and maybe a few other things) with their unexpected line of bras featuring built-in nipples. Perhaps the inspiration was drawn from an iconic episode of Sex and the City, where Samantha strategically placed sticky silicone nipples under her tops to attract attention, famously declaring that “nipples are huge right now,” especially in fashion magazines, and adding cheekily, “those girls are either tweaking or wearing [fake nipples].”

The same kind of split reaction has followed this latest beauty item—the seamless sculpting face wrap—dividing people into two distinct camps. On one side are those who are tweaking, not with excitement, but concern, pointing out how the Kardashian empire continues to project their own insecurities onto the masses, only to offer a solution to the very problems they helped create—conveniently, through their own products.

 

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On the other side are the enthusiastic wearers, proudly flaunting their results online after the product quickly sold out. They’re boasting about snatched jawlines, glowing skin, and dramatically sculpted faces—all seemingly achieved overnight, as if by magic.

But before we delve into the nuances and opinions of both camps, let’s take a moment to break down exactly what this face shapewear mask is, how it works, and whether it’s truly “a must-have addition to your nightly routine” or morning ritual, as the brand suggests in one of its Instagram posts.

To describe it briefly, the SKIMS Seamless Sculpt Face Wrap is a piece of “sculpting fabric”—the same kind Kim uses in other SKIMS garments like bodysuits and tank tops—combined with a strip of Velcro that secures the wrap at the crown of the head. It’s also made with so-called “collagen yarn,” a material the brand claims offers added skincare benefits.

If you’re wondering what the hell collagen yarn even is, you’re not alone. Many people are scratching their heads over this buzzword. When The New York Times asked SKIMS to elaborate on the material, the brand stayed silent – leaving even more room for skepticism. From what we can gather, it’s essentially a fabric infused with collagen, supposedly designed to enhance skin elasticity and give a radiant glow.

@kimkardashian

So, the idea here is that this combination of sculpting fabric, collagen infusion, and compression will shape your face, snatch your jawline, reduce puffiness, and leave your skin looking plumper and healthier—all by wrapping your head in what closely resembles a post-surgical compression garment. Sounds futuristic? Maybe. Revolutionary? Possibly. A little dystopian? Definitely.

But is squeezing your face at night—the only time of day you can truly rest—really worth it? And what exactly are we sacrificing our sleep for? Just to wake up with a sculpted jawline that’ll likely return to its natural shape within hours? And what’s wrong with a human chin to begin with? If Kim Kardashian is insecure about hers, maybe that’s something to take up with her surgeon or therapist—instead of turning it into yet another public fixation.

To be fair, SKIMS isn’t the first brand to jump on the face shapewear trend. Brands like Skin Gym and Korean beauty labels such as Numbuzin have been offering similar products for a while, with TikTok influencers seamlessly incorporating them into their 10-step morning skincare routines. We’ve also seen a flood of devices designed to sculpt facial features—especially jawlines. And now, the tech is going even further, with cosmetic procedures like the injectable “Jolie Profile” promising razor-sharp jawlines through contour-enhancing fillers.

You might think: well, no one’s forcing us to use these masks or get these injections. True—but when your feed is flooded with flawless faces insisting there’s something wrong with having cheeks or not having razor-sharp chin, it starts to get in your head. Especially during those formative, vulnerable teenage years. You begin noticing flaws you never considered before—and might never have, if it weren’t for the constant pressure to perfect.

 

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It’s heartbreaking to witness the lengths women go to each day—waking up early to layer on products, going to bed late after scrubbing it all off, only to reapply a new set of overnight treatments. Nighttime used to be the one moment we could forget about our appearance. But now, even in our sleep, we’re compressing our faces into headgear, designed more for post-operative recovery than casual beauty. All to wake up with a so-called “snatched face.”

But the catch is that even sleeping in a collagen-infused face shapewear mask all night won’t give you lasting results. Sure, you might see a slight lift or glowy look immediately after taking it off—but within a few hours, your face will return to its natural shape.

And as for the so-called collagen yarn? It’s unlikely to do much for your skin. Collagen molecules are too large to penetrate deeply through the skin via fabric, and there’s a notable lack of scientific studies or medical evidence to support the brand’s claims.

Even with basic common sense, this looks like little more than clever marketing—a way to sell another overpriced piece of fabric that offers minimal benefits and, in some cases, might even cause harm.

Wearing the same non-breathable mask night after night isn’t exactly hygienic. Trapped oils and bacteria can lead to clogged pores, irritation, or breakouts—especially for acne-prone or sensitive skin types.

So maybe, instead of spending our money on something that won’t improve our health—or might even make us feel more insecure—we should think twice. These products do more to pad the bank accounts of celebrities chasing surgical perfection than they do for our well-being. And then those same celebrities turn around and sell us an illusion, claiming their looks came from a $50 face wrap.

Maybe it’s time to take a cue from Samantha in the early seasons of Sex and the City—when “[she] just happened to love [herself] the way [she] looks”. No filters, no sculpting, no masks. Just real confidence with self-acceptance.

Words by Dana Shmhya