Kontrol

Kontrol

It’s Kylie. You don’t need a last name.

Volume 9
Volume 9

She’s the creator of a multi-million-dollar beauty enterprise. She’s been in Forbes, she’s been in Time, she’s starred in two reality TV shows, she’s a mom, she’s a daughter and sister. Once she tweeted about not liking a Snapchat update and the company lost 1.3 billion dollars. Scroll anywhere and you feel her reach. As she was coming of age, she was also setting a global beauty standard: full lips, doe eyes, button nose. She’s basically the face of Instagram, the OG insta-baddie. There’s no denying her impact. Now, at 25, we all know who she is, and she knows who she is.

 MONOSUIT bodysuit; DILARA FINDIKOGLU custom belt; ALL–IN STUDIO boots.

Nicolaia Rips: Hi, Kylie! Where are you right now?

Kylie Jenner: I am at my house in Los Angeles in my dining room.

NR: What are you working on currently?

KJ: I’m working on my cosmetics line. I think my love in life, my passion, is makeup. That’s where it all started. It’s what keeps me going every day, being creative on Kylie Cosmetics. I started my brand when I was seventeen. I’ve grown so much, I have such a different vision for what I want it to be. I used to do a lot of limited-edition collections which are so fun, but my goal is to continue to elevate and extend the core line. This year and beyond we’re looking to do things we’ve never done before. You know, skin and eyes and mascara and all the essentials that you need. I’m just like, rebranding. 

THIERRY MUGLER leather moto jacket.

“My mother had the greatest makeup collection. She had all these beautiful Chanel eyeshadows that I was obsessed with.”

NR: You have this quote on The Kardashians where you talk about how these are the years that you’re supposed to be having fun, naked on a beach somewhere. How do you straddle being a hot twenty-five-year-old, and also a mogul and mom? 

KJ: It’s very hard! I’m just kidding. No, it’s really such a blessing that I’ve been able to live and experience so much life at such a young age. I have two kids, I’m 25. Honestly. I’ve never been happier. As I get older, I get more appreciative of my life, my family, my friends and having all these opportunities.

DILARA FINDIKOGLU skirt and bra.

NR: How has your approach to beauty changed since becoming a mother?

KJ: Oh, it’s changed so much. It’s made me love myself more. I see my features in my daughter and my son now, but you know, my daughter looks like me. I get to see my beauty in her, and it’s made me love myself more for sure. Beauty is always changing for me.

 

ATSUKO KUDO bodysuit; ALL-IN STUDIO sequin skirt; VEX thigh high stockings; BY FAR mules.

NR: What beauty advice would you give Stormi?

KJ: That she’s perfect the way that she is. Be confident, always be confident in yourself.

NR: When you were younger you spoke a lot about your lips as a source of insecurity. Then you took that insecurity and created an empire. Can you talk about navigating that?

TSUKO KUDO latex corset and briefs; WOLFORD tights 

KJ: I think a big misconception about me is that I’ve had so much surgery on my face and that I was some insecure person, and I really wasn’t! Yeah, I love full lips and wanted full lips, but growing up I was always the most confident person in the room. I was the girl performing for everyone. I had my one lip insecurity thing, so I got lip filler, and it was the best thing I’ve ever done. I don’t regret it. But I always thought I was cute.

NR: What was your first experience with makeup?

KJ: My mother had the greatest makeup collection. She had all these beautiful Chanel eyeshadows that I was obsessed with. And so many lipsticks. I would just play in her makeup and get in trouble. When Youtube came around I’d watch tutorials just to do my makeup to go to school.

NR: Do you have any new makeup tricks you have learned recently?

KJ: I think less is more. I’ve really gotten down my full look, it’s still the same look but way less. I’m just embracing my natural beauty, my freckles and my bushy brows.

“Really all I do all day is apply blush, sauna, workout and work.”

NR: If you could give me one recommendation what would it be?

KJ: Either the infrared sauna or my glow balms. Really all I do all day is apply blush, sauna, workout and work.

NR: You were really big on Tumblr in high school. I remember following Kalifornia Klasss. How does the internet inspire you and how has your relationship with it changed?

KJ: The internet is amazing because obviously that’s where I started my business. It’s been great for me to connect with my fans but now I think it’s about finding balance. There’s a dark side to it. It’s just about finding that balance.

NR: If you could be on any other reality TV show, what would you be on?

KJ: Oh my God, I don’t really watch a lot of reality TV. This is hard. I would never switch up and leave Hulu and my sisters.

“Beauty is always changing for me.”


NR: You couldn’t do, like, Survivor?

KJ: No. But. I think I would be good at it.

NR: Do you have any secret skills?

KJ: I feel like I’m really good at everything that I put my mind to.

NR: Do you believe in manifestation? 

KJ: I do, to some degree. I think the energy you project with your thoughts is very powerful.

NR: What was your biggest teenage rebellion?

KJ: Oh, I stole my mom’s car a lot. Because we grew up in Calabasas, which is outside of the city, it was very crazy if you went like 45 minutes into LA. It was a whole new world. So, I used to steal her car. Sorry, I’m eating.

NR: What are you eating?

KJ: Chicken and rice. I used to take my mom’s car into the city, and I would make sure I was home before my parents woke up, which was at like 5:30 in the morning. I had to be home between 4 and 4:30am. My mom caught me once and we had this huge meeting. She was like, “I know you’ve been coming home every morning at 4am and this can never happen again!” That was probably as bad as it got. I’m sure they already knew that me and my friends were sneaking out. We literally had to pass their bedroom to leave the house.

NR: Say you’re getting ready for a night out now. What’s your ideal night?

KJ: I value a lot of personal time. So, I usually have people over for dinner, or I go to someone’s house, or if we’re going out somewhere usually my friends come over and we get ready together.

NR: I love the girly-girliness of getting ready with your friends. It’s the most fun thing you can do.

KJ: It really is.

NR: Do you have any recurring dreams? 

KJ: I did as a child, but not anymore.

NR: What were they as a child?

KJ: They were about aliens. I watched the scary alien movie Signs a little too young and now I have this fear of aliens. But I’m also really fascinated by them.

SARAH APHRODITE dress.

NR: Do you believe in ghosts?

KJ: Yes.

NR: What are you most proud of?

KJ: My kids. Experiencing pregnancy and motherhood.

NR: Do you want to have more kids?

SAINT LAURENT by Anthony Vaccarello leather trench coat, dress, briefs, and buckle mule sandals; Kylie’s own bra.

KJ: I don’t have a number in my mind. Some women do but I don’t really have a plan. I think that whatever happens is meant to happen.

NR: Did you always have that feeling about your life?

KJ: Like whatever happens happens? I think I’ve always felt that way. I believe things are written for us. Whatever is gonna happen, it’s gonna happen. But I also feel very in control of my life and my decisions.

 

"Kontrol" by Ilya Lipkin in HommeGirls Volume 9

Makeup Mary Phillips
Hair Jesus Guerrero 
Nails Zola Ganzorigt 
Set Design Robert Doran 
Casting Greg Krelenstein 
Production Starkman & Associates
 
 
 
  Published May 2023 for HommeGirls Volume 9