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IIf you’ve ever wondered what Khloé Kardashian smells like, you can finally find out for yourself. Her debut solo fragrance, XO Khloé, has just launched at Harrods – and according to reality TV star turned business mogul, it took “almost a year and a half” and “over 100 cycles of fragrance modifications” to create.
Kardashian previously teamed up with her sister Kim on two perfumes from the KKW Fragrance line, and collaborated on one with her ex-husband Lamar Odom. But the development of XO Khloé was different from those forays into fragrance. The process gave her complete creative control and marked her independence – culminating in a floral fragrance she calls “so recognizable to me”.
The bottle shines like a multi-layered jewel, representing its motto: No pressure, no diamonds. Upon spraying, the fragrance opens with a fresh whiff of rose petals, before turning into a heart of juicy peach and sweet praline. It then dries down, enveloping the wearer in a comforting blend of tonka bean, moss, musk and sandalwood.
“This is now my signature scent that I wear every day. I’m behind it,” Kardashian tells me, perched on the sofa in her Claridge’s suite. “I really appreciate when I walk by and someone says they like the way I smell. At first I didn’t even tell my sisters that I was doing perfume and then one day Kylie was like, ‘Oh my god, you smell so good!’ That’s when I knew I was on the right track.”
She continues, “It’s a huge confidence boost to create something that people tell me they love without even knowing it’s mine. Or when I bump into a friend and they’re wearing Good American jeans. It feels so good to know them actually they like the product – that they’re not just trying to impress me or be nice.”
In her own words, XO Khloé exudes “relaxed confidence.” Kardashian explains, “I didn’t want the scent to be so heavy that you’re covering something up. It’s a fragrance designed to enhance who you are naturally. I feel confident and it smells glamorous, but it’s also suffocating and relatable. There are some fragrances that are so strong that the wearer feels untouchable – as if they are too fancy. This one, on the other hand, is very affordable.”
Discovering her perfume application technique, Kardashian says, “I douse myself. I like to spray directly on my skin so that the fragrance blends with my body chemistry. I spray on my neck, then I’ll spray the air and take a short walk through the falling mist. Then, later in the day, I’ll reapply by spritzing my clothes.”
As the 20th century writer Marcel Proust so significantly recognized, our sense of smell has the power to create some of the strongest feelings and memories. This is something Kardashian had in mind when she created her signature fragrance.
“The beauty of fragrance is that it can take you back in time,” she says. “The first perfume I wore was Thierry Mugler Angel. I wore it in high school and it’s not a scent I would wear right now, but when I smell it, it immediately takes me back in time. I could tell you about the boy I had a crush on, or [the memory of] when I was walking down a certain corridor.”
Kardashian concludes, “That’s what’s so special about designing a fragrance. That’s a lot of pressure because you’re helping to create memories for the user. I hope XO Khloé does.”