Kim Kardashian Faces Backlash After Launching New Skincare Line: SKKN

As of late, any product that Kim Kardashian and her team creates, it turns to gold. Once the divorce of Kim and Kanye went public, speculation around whether or not Kim would remove “West” from her name began to grow. At the time, Kim went by “Kim Kardashian West” on all platforms and products, specifically with her beauty lines: KKW Beauty and KKW Fragrance. Not long after the speculation began, the KKW Beauty social media pages went dark and no new products were introduced. Was Kim rebranding the products to only say Kim Kardashian? Did she decide that she wants to do a complete product overhaul (like Kylie’s makeup products)? No one was sure of what Kim’s next move would be.

On June 1, 2022, Kim Kardashian announced her new skincare line: SKKN by Kim. The new product line consists of a nine step regimen that costs anywhere from $37 - $95 per item. The least expensive items are the Cleanser ($37) and Toner ($38) while the Oil Drops and Night Oil take the spot for most expensive at $95 each. Many fans were excited to hear about Kim’s new products, but disappointed at the high cost. SKKN is not for people who prefer to stay on the more “affordable side of skincare”, because the entire set costs $673 (if you buy the entire collection as a set, you will save $98 and get it for $575).

Although people were excited to see Kim’s new ambitions, many were skeptical about the name, because it’s nearly identical to Lori Harvey’s skincare brand, SKN by Lori Harvey, and SKKN+, a skincare studio in New York. Based on trademark documents, we can see that the founder of SKKN+, Cydnie Lunsford, applied for her trademark on March 28, 2021, while Kim applied for SKKN on March 30th (It’s unsure of Lori Harvey’s trademarking timeline). Kardashian has received a lot of backlash on her name, especially since it’s trumping over a black-owned business that has been around since 2018. Lunsford has since filed a lawsuit against Kardashian for trademark infringement due to the similarity in the names and the fact that she filed her application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office first. Kim’s lawyer, Michael Rhodes, has denied the allegations that Kim has done anything wrong, and is planning to fight back in court.