Kim Kardashian Doesn’t Need Red Lipstick To Make A Statement, Thank You Very Much

After 15 years of on-screen family fun and countless hours keeping up with her on social media, you’ll notice that Kim Kardashian’s gone through her own cycle of aesthetic “eras.” There was the period marked by the star’s dedication to extra-long hair extensions and dramatically smoky eyes, the times she experimented with extreme, icy shades of blonde, and the stretch where she wanted absolutely everything — from her face to her electronics collection — to be dusted in luminous sparkle. None of them, though, had the staying power of Kardashian’s neutral makeup and wardrobe. She’s so dedicated to the soothingly pared-down color palette that she even designed her home and assorted brands around it, essentially ensuring everything she touches becomes minimalist and elevated. But as Kardashian explains in an exclusive new interview with Bustle, her now-infamous love for beige, cream, and nude-pinks is about so much more than chasing a trend.

To celebrate the launch of the SKKN BY KIM debut makeup collection — it’s Kardashian’s first foray into cosmetics in years — the star spoke with the outlet all about her relationship to beauty, how it’s changed over the years, and how it affects her businesses. “I think you always have to also be super true to who you are, and I always, always just wanted neutrals,” she explains to Bustle. She considers the SKKN customer to share her style and, accordingly, just released a line filled with soft matte eyeshadows in easygoing colors, lip liners, and lipsticks in your-skin-but-enhanced tones. Accordingly, each shade is called Nude.

After years of trial and error to find her own aesthetic, Kardashian seems to have a strong sense of exactly what fits it. She also considers the prototypical SKKN BY KIM customer to share her outlook, which is why she chose to launch with a fleet of easy-to-use nudes over flashier options. “The SKKN customer and me as a person, we're never going to be that person that has red lips and all of this bright stuff, like purple eye-shadow,” she tells Bustle. “All the stuff that I used to do for people because everyone thought, oh, let's try this, it's fun. It was so fun for the photoshoot, but I realistically might not have worn that.”

In a way, Kardashian’s helped rehabilitate the neutral color palette’s image, transforming it into something that feels exciting, fresh, and downright sexy. Even without a statement lip or intense eye makeup moment, she always finds a way to stand out.