Kim Kardashian On The Skin-Care Product She Can’t Live Without: “Maybe It’s An Age Thing”

Let it be known: as far as holidays go, Kim Kardashian is way more into Christmas. "I’m so not a Thanksgiving person. Don’t like it," she tells Refinery29. This isn't entirely shocking — history has shown she is a very generous and excellent gift giver, much like the rest of the Kardashian-Jenner clan (remember when Kris Jenner gave all of her kids matching electric cars?!) It makes sense then that she decided to launch the very first SKKN By Kim Pop-up at Westfield Century City Mall just in time for peak holiday shopping season, making it even easier for her Los Angeles fans to snag some presents. "I think it's so important for people to feel and test the products. I think it's definitely different than when you're ordering something online," she says during a surprise appearance for the shop's opening day. Kardashian has found major success with her SKIMS Pop-Ups, so doing one for SKKN was the next natural move for the beauty entrepreneur. "I’m so used to that DTC model. I love explaining about texture and talking about what the products do, but it’s a whole different experience for you to feel it and try it for yourself — to feel the packaging and see what we’re all about."

If you're curious what SKKN By Kim products she recommends picking up for your loved ones, Kardashian says that right now, she's all about exfoliating with the Exfoliator ($55). "I never really exfoliated as much as I do now. I started to get some breakouts not too long ago and it wouldn’t go away and I wasn’t exfoliating often enough, so now I exfoliate like two or three times a week." She also recommends her oils — the Oil Drops ($95) and the Night Oil ($95) — mixed with a moisturizer. "I was never an oil person until Joanna [Czech] came into my life. Everyone had a night oil and I never gravitated to that because, I don’t know, I had spray tan on my face and I didn’t want to take anything off with an oil," she explains. Now, Kardashian says she can't live without an oil. "Maybe it's an age thing."

We have to assume that like the rest of us, Kardashian doesn't solely use one product line — her SKKN By Kim — in her beauty routine. After all, she's constantly sharing different brands on her social media, especially those of her fellow celebrity beauty brand founder friends and family. In fact, earlier this week, she was seen at Hailey Bieber's Rhode Skin birthday party with her daughter North. We ask her if she feels competitive at all or if she truly loves to use other beauty products made by her friends.

"I think everyone in this space would be lying if they said they weren’t competitive, right? But it’s not really against anyone else. I’m more competitive against myself and what I have coming out and what I would want to perfect," she tells Refinery29. Even though the beauty market is beyond oversaturated — particularly with famous people slapping their name on a cream to make a quick buck — Kardashian believes there is a place for everybody. She points to Bieber's Rhode Skin as an example.

"I love what Hailey is doing, I think it’s so perfect for her. I love her lip balms. I have them all over my house, so I did come [to her dinner] for the free lip gloss," Kardashian says, half-jokingly. She shares that she's such a big supporter and fan of Rhode Skin that she even sets reminders on her phone for when the products are restocked. It's hard to believe, but she appears to be serious. "I don't bullsh*t and won't have the product around if I won't genuinely use it," even if it is from one of her friends. "My bestie just started Nez, a deodorant line, and I was posting about it a lot and she was like, 'Oh my God, I wasn't expecting you to post about it that much.' But I genuinely love it and have them all around my house and in my gym. When I genuinely love a product, I love supporting my friends that are working their asses off and killing it."

Kardashian isn't the only one in her house who loves beauty, which is likely why she has her favorite makeup and skin-care products in all her rooms — to share with fellow beauty lover North. Kardashian tells me that her 9-year-old daughter loves to watch makeup and hair tutorials on YouTube. "She figured out how to do her hair on YouTube. She really wants nothing to do with me and watching me get my makeup done," Kardashian laughs. But she doesn't necessarily love beauty in the same way her mom does — Kardashian says that North is very into special effects, movie makeup, and prosthetics. "If she does good and earns a prize, her reward is going to Naime's or Frends. She'll go into the [special effects] section and talk to the people that work there. We'll spend hours there, getting all the stuff." Kardashian says this has caused some tension between her and North, because "every day, my glam room is a complete mess. Our biggest fight is who is cleaning up all this fake blood over my counters." But ultimately, Kardashian says it's fun to see North grow her love of makeup, like her.

Other beauty items you might find lying around the Kardashian household? Press-on nails. While Kardashian did go for a long while rocking her natural length, she has started to get back into extra-long, stiletto manicures — but only for special occasions. "I can't type with nails, so I need to always have short nails," she says, briefly flashing her neon green press-ons (custom-made by nail artist Kim Truong) before popping off her pinky nail to show just how temporary they are. "I did them in the car and they're coming off in the car [on my way home.]"