America first met Kalani Hilliker in 2011 through the reality show, Dance Moms. The series tapped into the anxiety-inducing and physically-demanding world of youth competitive dance, drawing a large audience and launching a set of young stars into the media orbit (looking at you, Maddie Ziegler and JoJo Siwa). Crowds watched Hilliker and her fellow dancers smile and pose onstage, but fans were hooked by the behind-the-scenes drama, watching the stars endure the many pressures of fame and scrutiny at a young age.
“Anybody who’s watched the show can see that we were under a lot of stress,” says 23-year-old Hilliker on a late summer day in New York City. When I met her at a cafe in Chelsea — her highlighter and wide smile bright in the September sun — she quickly hopped out of her seat to offer a warm hug. Though Hilliker is currently based in Scottsdale, Arizona, she visited the city to promote her new beauty and wellness line, Kare by Kalani.
The brand, comprised of beauty and wellness products aimed at helping consumers look and feel good, launched in May and has been widely received on social media by Hilliker’s 11 million followers. In an era when nearly everyone with an outsized platform is selling products, Hilliker wanted to create something that would bring her unique perspective to light and benefit her young, ever-growing fan base.
“Reality TV was such a high-stress environment. It was constantly, go, go, go,” she says. “Once I finally got out of it and became a young adult, I realized that I was so anxious because I never took time to myself.” Now, self-care is at the center of Hilliker’s life — it’s a component in her entrepreneurial pursuits, but also fundamental in how she’s teaching the next generation of young dancers at her local studio.
At 23, Hilliker is still young herself and wants Kare to reflect that. “I’m social, I love to go out,” she says. “But I also know that if I’m doing that, I have to be able to take care of myself.”
Courtesy of Kare by Kalani/Polo Gibson.
To that end, Hilliker’s personal favorite product from her line is the Tension Relieving Headband. “It’s super unique,” she says. “I didn’t see it on the market.” Like a lot of her Gen Z counterparts, she struggles with anxiety and panic attacks. “When I’m having a panic attack, when I’m anxious, I love to have some sort of cooling sensation to help take my mind off of what I’m worried about.” The headband is designed to hold gel pads that can be cooled or heated to relieve tension, while still acting as a beauty accessory.
As for her approach to makeup, it changes from the stage to the street. “I definitely wear less makeup day-to-day in order to let my skin breathe,” she says. “For dance, I’ve learned how to accentuate my features with makeup so that you can see my face onstage, from afar, or on camera.”
For Kalani Hilliker, beauty and wellness are intertangled, which is why she’s focused on providing products that promote more than just outer beauty: “I’m more confident in myself than I used to be. I’m not ashamed of my skin. I wear makeup to express myself or make myself feel good, but never to cover up insecurities. Beauty to me means loving yourself and finding beauty in everyone and everything.”
This content was originally published here.
