>
All products featured on Glamour are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Depending on your age, your point of reference for Kimora Lee Simmons is probably pretty different. You might know her as the youngest model to walk a Chanel show (she was only 13!), as the mastermind behind streetwear brand Baby Phat, or—if you’re a Gen Z baby (hi, me)—as the over-the-top diva boss in her reality show Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane. But no matter when she hit your cultural consciousness, you without a doubt know one thing: Kimora Lee Simmons is an icon.
I’d always wondered if the fabulous persona she embodied on the show was an act, but mere minutes into our phone call, it became clear that’s just her. She’s 100 percent devoted to glamour and beauty but also incredibly real. For example, after explaining how difficult the pandemic has been with five kids in the house (ranging from kindergarten to college), she gave me this advice when I responded that I don’t have any: “Live your life, spend your money, save your money, then think about it. And wear your Baby Phat lip gloss when you’re doing it! Some sexy gloss goes a long way.”
Clearly, in addition to being a mom and a fashion legend, she’s a savvy businesswoman. Her latest move is further cashing in on today’s 2000s nostalgia by expanding into beauty after relaunching Baby Phat in 2019. Like the clothing line, she helms the beauty brand with her two daughters, Ming, 20, and Aoki, 18. While Simmons is no stranger to the beauty world—Baby Phat has had multiple fragrances, and she ran KLS Cosmetics in the mid-2000s—this time she’s taking a more streamlined approach and launching with three sets. Each has a lip gloss, a shimmer spray, and a body lotion in three scents inspired by her and each daughter.
I caught up with Simmons to learn more about the launch and run through a speed round of Glamour’s Big Beauty Questions. Read on for what’s keeping her calm in the pandemic, the ’90s beauty trend she wants to make a comeback, and what it’s like running an empire with her daughters.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Why did you decide to expand Baby Phat into beauty?
Baby Phat has been around for 20 plus years, so we look at it as a legacy brand. It’s important that it represents a lifestyle. I think something like this is a good offering of a few key glamorous items—it’s a good entry into beauty without diving into the full color palettes and all of those things. I think it touches on a little bit of everything.
Girls want lots of pizzazz for a good price. So I think it speaks to that, especially now that we’re at home, we’re shopping at home, we’re working at home—or at least we’re trying to. Trends are changing. For Baby Phat, we’ve seen an uptick in athleisure and casual clothes, and certainly beauty has sort of paired back from those elaborate treatments and is coming back to the basics. So I think it’s important for that girl to have a little sexy spray on her décolletage, with her bikini on by the beach, and a little lip gloss.
What’s your favorite throwback beauty trend?
Lower lashes. Even though I didn’t do it, I like it. Another one I love is a glossy lip, but the liner is a little bit darker. Kind of Lil’ Kim, kind of like Sophia Loren, it’s just a little bit darker around the lip line. It’s very ’90s/’00s.
What’s the most expensive product or treatment you love?
One indulgent thing I love is a Korean scrub. I go to a spa in Beverly Hills called Pellequr, and they do a high-end Korean scrub in your own individual marble room, with Vichy showers. It’s so luxe. And I’m Asian, so it’s my heritage.
What about the cheapest?
Vaseline. I use it on my lips, my eyelids, on my elbows, on my heels with socks. You can use it on chapped cuticles, for split ends in your hair, just a very, very little. It’s a pageant queen staple. And you can use it for pool photos. Also, a little bit on your teeth will go a long way for your smile.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
What’s the best beauty advice you’ve ever gotten?
Always take your makeup off at night. It’s going to give you wrinkles.
You’re stranded on a desert island. What three products do you bring?
Sunscreen—I like Clear Choice—lip gloss, and CBD oil.
