Is this the final boss of bedtime beauty?

When Kim Kardashian launched the Skims Seamless Sculpt Face Wrap earlier this week—a stretchy band in the brand’s signature soft fabric designed to “snatch” your face overnight—the internet reacted as it often does: half in horror (one user called it “peak fuckery”, while another asked “Is it April Fools?”), half already clicking to join the waitlist.

The product, which comes in two colourways, clay and cocoa, promises a tighter, more sculpted jawline by morning, thanks to “collagen yarns” woven into its 81 per cent polyamide, 19 per cent elastane blend. But the viral launch raises a more insidious question: Is this self-care, or are we working the graveyard shift for the beauty industrial complex?

Superficially, the wrap fits neatly into a growing category of do-nothing skincare: products that work while you sit back and relax. Think anti-acne pillowcases, overnight masks for hands and feet, cutesy mouth tapes that seal your mouth shut and claim to enhance your natural facial contours. They’re the bedtime equivalent of passive income—you rest, they work.

Earlier this year, WGSN, the trend forecasting agency, dubbed this cultural shift ‘Therapeutic Laziness’—an evolution of Gen Z’s love for ‘bed rotting’. “It’s the idea of spending extended time in bed, being intentionally unproductive and turning these periods into refined self-care rituals,” says Rohini Wagh, a senior strategist at WGSN.

According to Wagh, this is a pertinent trend for Indian consumers. “Studies show Indians aged 25 to 34 find their day-to-day life very stressful and experience burnout and workplace exhaustion at a much higher rate than their global counterparts,” she notes. “This is giving rise to an acute need for comfort when consumers finally get home and close that door behind them, retreating to their beds and creating sanctuary spaces to re-energise.”

This nesting instinct, she adds, is part of a wider “introvert economy”, where the new night out is staying in. Possibly with something soothing, collagen-rich, and conveniently hands-free strapped to your face.

“It’s driving a whole host of new products that can nourish while you rest,” she explains. “Products like pillowcases that aim to eliminate bacteria linked to breakouts and prevent skin and hair from losing moisture during sleep, and hand and foot sheet masks that won’t spill and are thin enough that you can use your phone while wearing them, will also see a rise.”

It seems like comfort, in 2025, comes with conditions. The Skims wrap is marketed as a “supportive compression” garment that offers “strong, targeted compression for shaping & sculpting”. It’s gentle enough to sleep in, but firm enough to promise transformation. And while it’s being promoted as part of a luxurious wind-down routine, it also feeds into an old anxiety: that even while resting, we should be improving. It’s luxurious, sure, but only if your idea of luxury is micro-managing your mandibular angle in REM.

Of course, while Skims has touted the product as a big innovation, it isn’t new. Face-slimming wraps have been a staple in East Asian beauty routines for over a decade. In South Korea and Japan, nylon V-line masks and jaw-lifting belts have long been used, worn discreetly around the house, in the bath, or to bed. Some even come with ear loops and Velcro fasteners. Skims has repackaged the tool in its signature millennial beige and made it sexy, rebranding it for the self-optimisation era.

Internet backlash accuses Skims of pushing unrealistic beauty ideals and feeding into facial dysmorphia. “If by innovation, you mean oppression, then yeah. Never ends. How about you just let us BE,” one user wrote in the comments section. Another added, “SKIMS: Making women feel bad about themselves since 2018.” Still, there were those who saw utility. “Perfect for after facelift, necklift, or submental lipo,” one plastic surgeon weighed in.

In an economy where everything—including our eight hours of shut-eye—is commodified and up for optimisation, the idea of simply existing without improving is almost subversive. Beauty products, once about pampering, have become performance tools for viral GRWMs and morning shed videos.

So, is the Skims wrap a problem? Or is it just the inevitable next step in our collective refusal to just go the hell to sleep?

There’s no neat answer. Calling this movement “wellness” when it hinges on the idea that rest must produce results feels disingenuous. But one thing’s certain: In 2025 on the internet, rest isn’t rest unless it makes you better in some way. And now, not even your jawline is off the hook.

And if for whatever odd reason, you’ve ever wanted to look like Linda Evangelista in Steven Meisel’s infamous Vogue Italia shoot, you also now have the perfect prop.