Interview with Khloé Kardashian: XO, The cherry on top

In the world of beauty—and especially in the world of fragrance—where it seems that everything has already been said and nearly everything has already been done, it’s rare that something truly surprises us. And by “new”, we don’t mean technological or revolutionary, but something that genuinely moves us, something that stirs emotion. After all, that’s the true power of perfume: its ability to intertwine with our memories, our minds, and ultimately transform into emotion.

And that’s exactly what happened with Khloé Kardashian’s new project, XO Khloé. It’s the kind of fragrance that becomes part of your everyday life—one that, as Khloé herself told me, is infused with positivity. It’s a project that challenged her in countless ways, one that gathers pieces of her past while looking toward the future, resulting in a timeless creation.

XO Khloé is described as your most intimate project yet. What’s one personal memory or emotion you tried to bottle within the scent?

In this scent, there are so many of the notes that remind me of my childhood, like around my grandmother’s house. We modernized it of course, but the crystalized rose petals and the praline are notes that I signify in my mind from my grandmother. That smell was much thicker and heavier, but we made it lighter and more wearable for today.

You said you were involved in every detail of the making of this fragrance. Was there a moment in the process where you completely changed direction or surprised your team (or yourself)?

Yeah. Designing the bottle was one of the easiest parts for me.

I love it.

Thank you, I do too! I just wanted something that was classic, that would stand the test of time, that you leave in your counter and it’s beautiful – nothing too trendy.

The juice was the hardest part. I’ve done fragrances with my sisters, but I’d never done something alone, where all the pressure is on me. Knowing notes that I wanted but not knowing how they would blend together, and having to articulate that to a perfumer and trust that they’d understand me was really hard. We went through so many different submissions of fragrance, and so many were not right, I would wear them and think, “This is disgusting” or no one would compliment me, but what you want someone to say is: “I love the way you smell”!

Then, when we got a modification, I remember I wore it and went to my daughter’s dance practice, and one of the moms said, “You smell so good!”, so I thought, “Okay, we’re on to something!”. Then, we adjusted it here and there, but that took me a really long time and I didn’t realize how long that could take. It’s silly, but I thought it was so intimidating also because it is known as my “signature scent”, so I wanted it to be something that I would stand behind and really wear, not just put my name on it.

If you see me on a Saturday on a street and you smell me, I’ll be wearing it.

Yeah, you put so much of yourself in everything you do. I had no doubts this was one of those things. You’re known for your transparency and connection with your community: what does XO Khloé tell, as a new form of personal storytelling?

It was a very vulnerable chapter on the fragrance journey because it is an extension of you and a world that I’ve never been in alone – the fragrance world. That is a very intimidating world to break into, where you’re with such incredible brands that I’ve been around for decades and decades.

But I really wanted to push myself.

I turned 40 this past June, and in the past few years I had a really tough 30s, and I was like, “Enough of this bad energy, enough of these bad things happening. I’m going to do new things, things I’ve always wanted to do but been too scared to do. I want to to change the way that I’m looking at life”. So, the fragrance symbolized that for me. That’s one of the reasons why it’s a multifaceted bottle – I think I’m so multifaceted, I think you are, and we all are, too. There are so many different layers to me and so many different things that I want you to see, the transparency, which is why it’s clear, but also strong and resilient. It was something that I wanted to prove to myself, that I can do something from start to finish without relying on my sisters because I’m so used to that.

It was like a beautiful marriage, I would say. Somehow the stars aligned, and it worked out that it happened after my 40s, and it was sort of perfect.

I think that with what you do, creating always something new, and challenging yourself, you also get in touch with new parts of yourself. What was the latest thing you discovered about yourself through your work?

One, the ability to know sense – I didn’t know I was so good at identifying sense. I remember once asking my assistant something like, “Is that black currant?” and she said, “Wow!” and I was like, “Am I right?” – I didn’t even know I was right! [laughs]

Also, the faith that I have in myself. I was so afraid to do this, I was so worried to fail, that people could think it sucks, which could happen, and if it happens that’s also ok, that’s part of your process. However, I was so afraid and so in my head that I was able to block out the noise. And I wanted to do it more so for me.

It’s amazing that it’s doing so well, but I had to let go of caring if it did so well, and that was hard for me because I am such a people pleaser; if we admit it or not, we all like the validation, if something does well, we like that, but I had to let it go. So, now the rest is a bonus, now that it does well, I’m super happy. But I did it for me regardless. Now, it’s the Universe or God reassuring me that I did the right thing.

It’s so scary when you put yourself alone out there with a new project that “speaks of you”. I’m the founder of the magazine, which is one of the few independent magazines in Italy, plus it’s bilingual, so I think I complicated my life! [laughs] Every time I go out with a new project, it’s so scary, but the truth is, if we fail, it doesn’t matter because it’s a victory even just that we tried to do it.

Yeah. I did a speech last night, and a woman was introducing me – she gave a beautiful speech. I saw her before and she said to me, “I’m so nervous, what if I stutter?”. I told her that I, too, get so in my head before I do these speeches, I think, “I’m going to mumble my words!”, but we’re humans and humans sometimes forget what they’re going to say, and they laugh at themselves. That’s okay, and I don’t know why when we go on a stage, we’re a little elevated, so we’re like, “I cannot make a mistake”. But we can. We can make a mistake and it’s okay, it’s okay if we stutter, it’s okay if we fail, we have more chances, and that thought calmed me down.

You’ve built empires in beauty and fashion. How did launching a perfume challenge or enrich your vision of what a lifestyle brand can be?

You know, the perfume was something very personal. I think this is the most vulnerable brand that I’ve launched because it’s all on me.

I wasn’t used to doing things without my siblings – we’ve always been in this little “club” or “tribe” [laughs] in the beauty field, but I feel this is completely different from them, although I can ask them for advice, and I’ll have support from them. But this reminded me how new something could be. I’ve had Good American, my clothing brand, for nine years, and sometimes you forget how it is to start something so new. I have a business partner with that, while this one’s all on my own, I’m the face of it and it’s intimidating, but it also feels good at the same time.

What role does fragrance play in your daily routine or in how you express yourself with it?

I think fragrance of any sort is something that either can calm you and transcend you to a different time – fragrance and music are the two things that really can transport you anywhere and it’s so beautiful. Perfumes are an extra layering piece, like the cherry on top of who you already are.

Yeah, for me perfumes are like a shield for when you don’t really feel self-confident. When I wear a fragrance, I feel more powerful, I feel better. What does it mean to you to feel comfortable in your skin?

I think it’s everything. Hair, makeup, clothes – it’s all fun. But if you’re not comfortable with yourself when you’re completely stripped down, when you have no makeup, no hair, if you don’t like yourself then, that’s sad because that’s who you’re going to be alone with later in life. Do I love the glamour and all of this? Of course, but I also love myself without all of this. Being a girl is really fun, we get to have all these different versions of ourselves, and that’s the fun part. I think fragrance is just an extra layer of that glam that we get to live, a different character, or something that accentuates the best parts of us, whichever one you want.

I usually choose what fragrance to wear depending on the weather or my outfit. Like if I’m dressed in brown and I have a perfume with a brown bottle, I’ll choose that one!

I love that! Everyone has their different routines with any sort of glam.

XO Khloé blends rose petals, praline, musk, and woods. If each note represented a role you play in your life (mother, sister, entrepreneur, etc.), which would be which?

I would say the praline and the rose are sort of motherly to me, the woods mean “protection”, they’re dark and thick, same for the musk, it’s strong and gives a feeling of security.

The campaign emphasizes luxury and immersive storytelling. What emotion do you want people to feel when they wear XO Khloé?

I want people to feel confident and sexy within themselves, but not in the sense that we’re masking who they are – I want it to accentuate what’s already in them and just bring it to the other level.

I love that it’s so light; I have some fragrances that I only wear if it’s night or I’m going somewhere really fancy – you can wear this one from day to night, instead. Our own body chemistry with it changes so much, and then when you’re going out at night, you put so many other things on, like hair mist or whatever, but I didn’t want that to combat with all the other stuff that we do when we’re getting ready.

XO Khloé only amplifies who you already are.

Thanks to Attila&Co.