Last week, Kim Kardashian West turned 38 – and the mother of three had a lot to celebrate: her growing family, her booming Kimoji business, a hallmark television show (now in its 15th season), and 119 million Instagram followers. These are accolades she’s earned, in part, through a lifetime of leaning into beauty transformations that have kept audiences watching. When the world first met Kardashian West in 2006 as Paris Hilton’s assistant, she was already sporting a can’t-be-missed head of dark hair flat-ironed to glossy perfection and shining with the surefire early signs of star power. Not long after came the warp speed makeovers she’s made her signature, with no set of bangs or shade of blonde unturned.
By 2010, Kardashian West was practically the definition of the bombshell beauty equation: Tousled, voluminous hair, out-to-there lashes, deft contouring that sharpened her features against a famously sinuous frame. When husband Kanye West came into the picture, Kardashian West embraced a new kind of experimental severity that won her a high-fashion following: crisp slicked-back ponytails, modern Veronica Lake waves to cement her place in Hollywood, and icy, front-row-reveal dye jobs to go with her exaggerated cat eyes and signature nude lips. Fueling her arsenal of tricks? A fast-growing self-titled makeup and fragrance empire, launched in 2017.
As Kardashian West grows into her 30s, it seems she’s only getting more confident with her risk-taking aesthetic, not to mention passing her penchant for transformative beauty looks on to her mini-me, North. Here, in honor of the star’s 38th birthday, a look back at her beauty evolution.
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This article first appeared on Vogue.com
