If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what famous people add to their carts. Not the JAR brooch and Louis XV chair but the hair spray and the electric toothbrush. We asked drag queen Kim Chi — the founder of beauty line KimChi Chic — about the cleansing balm, candle, and ramen she can’t live without.
It feels nice and luxurious, even though the price point isn’t that high. It gives me a glow and keeps me feeling squeaky clean all day long. It works great as a makeup remover, too. The product just melts it all away. I’ve been using this ever since it launched. I got Plastique Tiara and Naomi Smalls to use it, too. They love it.
This candle is really, really strong, but fragrant. Wherever you put it — the bathroom, your living room — if something smells foul, just light this and it smells like you’re in a field of flowers. If you close your eyes and imagine you’re in a bed of flowers and there are fairies flying around tickling your nose — that’s what it smells like.
I saw advertisements for it all over social media before I bought it. At first I was like, “Another product they’re trying to force me to buy.” Then one of my friends posted about cooking with it and I was like, “I guess I’ll give it a try.” It has been the best investment and I actually threw all my other pans out. This is really the only pan I need. I cook a lot of Korean stews with it, like kimchi stew and miso stew. It’s also really good for tossing pasta. It’s so versatile. I have the terra-cotta color, but there are other pretty ones like lavender and green.
When I go on tour, a lot of times I’m in hotel rooms or dressing rooms or theaters all by myself. I like to listen to music when I get ready to pump me up. The Wonderboom is the perfect on-the-go speaker: It’s light, fits into any luggage easily, and is very sturdy. The sound quality is pretty good, too. At home, I like to take it out onto my balcony. Right now I’m listening to a lot of Jessie Ware. She’s my favorite singer. Her album, What’s Your Pleasure?, has been on repeat nonstop.
NongShim ramen is like Korean noodles 101. I’ve been eating it since I was born. My mom raised us on this. It is very spicy, but to me that’s the flavor of comfort and home, which is what I want when I’m eating ramen noodles. It’s versatile, too — I mix it into other dishes that I make. If I’m making stew or something and I want to pop in some noodles, I’ll use a package.
I don’t have a green thumb and I can’t keep any plants alive. But I like lots of green in my apartment. So this is what I use if there’s an empty space that I don’t want to look at. I just bunch some up and stick them in a corner.
My apartment’s pantry space is pretty limited. These storage containers have been a life saver. They’re pretty cheap and they come with a label maker, too. They all stack perfectly. One container has rice, one has pasta, one has packets of Skittles. I also store things like brown sugar, white sugar, salt, and chili flakes in them.
I got myself a little quarantine baby — a French bulldog named Butter. Because I live in an apartment, I sometimes need to put down doggy pads. Instead of putting the dirty doggy pads in the trash bin, I put them in this diaper pail and you can’t smell them at all. One of my friends who has had a dog for a while recommended it and it literally changed my life.
This is actually a TikTok find. I have 12 of them. I just thought it looked chic and cool. I have a lot of air plants that I bought on Amazon — they’re the only things I can keep alive — and these scattered throughout my house.
I can’t get into drag without this palette because it has every shade that I need. I love all the greens, but I also really like the yellow shade called “I’m Not Yolking Bitch.” It’s a great palette to do your entire face with. Naomi is one of my best friends and she is amazing with makeup. So it made sense for us to collaborate. My style is really cartoon-y and graphic and her style is very realistic, precise, and tight. I think the two of us together represent the entire spectrum of makeup. My tip: Priming is key. And don’t be afraid to have fun. If it’s a color that you’re not familiar with, just experiment. If you mess it up, you can always wipe it off and start over again.
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