A beauty dream cut short
Kim Kardashian has officially pulled the plug on her skincare and makeup line, SKKN by Kim, just three years after its much-hyped debut. The announcement, shared on the brand’s official website, confirmed the beauty line will shut down completely on June 29, 2025.
The farewell message was heartfelt: “With deep gratitude, we share that SKKN BY KIM will be winding down operations and officially closing… While this chapter is coming to a close, the commitment to innovation, self-care, and skin confidence that SKKN embodied will live on in new and exciting ways.”
But for fans and critics alike, the news wasn’t entirely surprising.
A luxury line that struggled to connect
When Kardashian launched SKKN in 2022, she envisioned a one-stop beauty empire. In her own words to Harper’s Bazaar, she dreamed of building a brand that offered “everything under the beauty umbrella” from skincare and cosmetics to fragrance and haircare.
The reality, however, was far less glamorous. With a nine-step skincare routine priced at over $600 (about R10,000), the brand’s luxury positioning alienated much of Kardashian’s fan base.
One social media user summed up the backlash bluntly: “It was too expensive for below-average ingredients. If people want to pay top dollar for skincare, they will buy medical-grade products instead.”
Another was even harsher: “SKKN shouldn’t even exist, especially with Kylie’s beauty brand already successful.”
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Skims outshines SKKN
The closure also highlights an important reality: not every celebrity beauty venture is destined to succeed. While Skims, Kardashian’s shapewear and lifestyle brand, has skyrocketed to a valuation of $4 billion (about R69 billion), SKKN never managed to carve out the same cultural or commercial impact.
Earlier this year, Skims absorbed both Kardashian’s majority stake and Coty’s 20% share in SKKN by Kim, signaling the inevitable.
A pattern in celebrity beauty?
Kardashian isn’t the first celebrity to face turbulence in the beauty space. The market is crowded, and audiences are increasingly skeptical of paying premium prices for products tied more to a famous name than proven results.
Still, Kardashian framed the closure not as a failure but as an evolution: “The commitment to innovation, self-care, and skin confidence… will live on in new and exciting ways.”
What those “new ways” are remains to be seen, but if history is any guide, Kardashian will likely pivot toward ventures that mirror Skims’ mass appeal rather than SKKN’s exclusivity.
SKKN by Kim may be shutting down, but it leaves behind a cautionary tale about the celebrity beauty industry: star power can grab attention, but price, product quality, and accessibility still decide who wins.
Source: IOL
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