Kylie Jenner is a beautiful woman. She's also rich and a celebrity who grew up on reality TV show Keeping Up With The Kardashians. For some people, that seems to be a green flag to debate her looks. For others, it gives them carte blanche to cancel every decision she has ever made on her personal style – including speculating that her new, more conservative aesthetic is the brainchild of boyfriend Timothée Chalamet.
A New York Times interview with Kylie that went live on March 7 – on the eve of International Women's Day – asked a question that has been on my mind since. “Has the face of any other woman of her generation been more seen or scrutinised?”, wrote journalist Jessica Testa.
Much has been made of the fact that, at just 17 years of age, Kylie revealed that her oversized pout was the result of lip fillers. In a 2015 episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, she admitted that having the cosmetic treatment in the first place stemmed from insecurity. "I have temporary lip fillers; it's just an insecurity of mine and it's what I wanted to do," she explained. In 2018 she reportedly had them removed.
It hasn't stopped people from commenting on her appearance. In January this year, Kylie attended the Jean Paul Gaultier show in Paris wearing a nude coloured mini dress with tulle overlay, which she paired with a natural ‘no makeup’ makeup look. Trolls went viral with comments on how dermal fillers, which she has been transparent about having, made her look “old”.
In the New York Times interview she spoke about the impact of this type of criticism: “It’s just years and years of not feeling like my face or looks are accepted," she noted. "There’s nothing anyone could ever say now that would hurt me.” Touching on her new fashion choices, which have included a “cottagecore”, floral maxi dress, she said: “It takes me a while after I have a baby to feel like myself again. Then you get your body back, and you’re like, ‘Wait, the trends have changed.’”
Let's not forget, Kylie Jenner is a 26 year-old mother of two now. I don't know about you, but I certainly don't dress the way I did when I was 17 (cargo pants are the exception to that rule) and I abandoned the glittery face stickers at least two decades ago. And yet societal beauty standards are imposing some sort of weird Peter Pan complex on Kylie, meaning she can't move on from decisions she made as a child and embrace a new personal style. She's basically damned if she does and damned if she doesn't.
In an interview with GLAMOUR about her first fragrance Cosmic, which launched March 7, she revealed: “I like to switch up my makeup looks a lot. I’ve been going for a more natural look, I wear a lot less makeup than I used to, especially on a daily basis. As for my hair, I've been on a natural hair journey, but I still love to change it up and experiment from time to time." I dare say most mums to a one-year-old can relate to that.
“I love scents that are memorable and a little intoxicating,” Kylie tells GLAMOUR.
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As a beauty editor, I do believe that 17 is way too young to have any sort of cosmetic treatment. I'm not alone, as it's now illegal for under 18s to have filler or Botox injected in England. But Kylie doesn't deserve to be the villain in that debate. What is ultimately important is that she feels confident in her own skin.
Also, more kudos to her for turning an insecurity about her lips into a business opportunity with the launch of her cult lip kits. Kylie Cosmetics, which she co-founded at just 18 years of age, and now includes the perfume Cosmic Kylie Jenner, is valued at $1.2 billion. Proof, if any were needed, that she has turned her fame and passion for beauty products into big bucks. Isn't it time we stop judging her face and start applauding Kylie as a successful business woman?
For more from Fiona Embleton, GLAMOUR's Associate Beauty Director, follow her on @fiembleton.
