Is Kim Kardashian hinting at a few new cosmetic procedures? On August 18, the entrepreneur posted a photo dump on Instagram, featuring pictures from a recent trip to Korea. With her best friend, Lala Anthony, and sister, Khloe Kardashian, in tow, the trio’s photoshoot showed them all having some good girl time on a private jet (casual), but from the outside looking in, I was left with…questions.
First and foremost, let's start with some observations. All three of the ladies were wearing the new (and perpetually sold out) Skims Face Wrap, which the brand claims can support someone’s jaw and sculpt the area over time. Secondly, they were all clad in oversized coats, but it is currently summer in both Korea and the United States of America. Lastly, Kardashian was wearing what can only be described as an oversized nylon stocking, which she proceeded to pull up and wear as a bodysuit. Since my expertise lies squarely in beauty, I’m going to ignore everything else going on in the pictures and focus on the use of the jaw bra.
While that may sound like a colloquial term that I made up, it’s not. Jaw bras are facial compression wraps that are typically used for post-surgical or cosmetic procedure recovery in order to help with swelling and to keep all that freshly done work in place. My question about Kardashian’s product is two-fold. Did she and her friends get cosmetic procedures in Korea? It is the plastic surgery capital of the world, and tourism to the country specifically for cosmetic procedures has spiked over the past few months. Still, what could they have gotten done to warrant the use of a jaw bra? There are no bruises or any apparent swelling, so why do they have them on? In the era of celebrity transparency (spearheaded by Kardashian's younger sister, no less), I will be the brave one to ask about the cosmetic procedure that was so alluring that it made Kardashian get on a 12-hour flight to experience it.
Next, Skims advertises its face wrap as a product that can be worn every day. (This is where I’d like to double down on the fact that I work in beauty for a living. I am an expert in my field.) With this context, why do I, as someone intimately familiar with this space, and you, as a consumer, only see the creator of this face wrap wearing it after a trip to the plastic surgery capital of the world? Why is this product not a part of Kardashian’s daily beauty regimen? What makes the Skims face wrap any more special than the one that plastic surgeons have been using for decades? (Editor’s note: It’s because you don’t need it and there’s nothing particularly exceptional about it.)
I know the magic of the beauty industry. Hair, makeup, body, and even nail products can be an incredible avenue to practice self-care in a real and meaningful way. On another hand, as a product obsessive, I also get the urge to want to try every new beauty tool and treatment on the market. That being said, I want you to hear me when I say the following: wearing a face wrap is never going to give you a sculpted jawline. Can it give you great results after, say, a cosmetic procedure like facial balancing, where you could then theoretically wear the wrap to keep the filler in place? Sure. Post chin implant surgery? Absolutely. But wearing a jaw bra by itself will not do anything to your jawline.
So before you rush to press add to cart, I implore you to take a moment and really think about what this product can do for you in this era of your life. Are you going to Korea to get beauty procedures done any time soon, á la Kardashian? In fact, do you have any procedures coming down the pipeline that you may actually need this for? Even a small case of Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) pain? No? Ok. Put the credit card down and take a breath. You aren’t the audience that Kardashian is marketing to at this time, no matter how glamorous she may look in her private jet, and that’s ok.
