[**MAISIE WILEN**](https://maisiewilen.com) dress and [**VERSACE**](http://versace.com) shoes.
If you have yet to read her beauty articles on her, see her fine jewelry on Hollywood stars, or witnessed her simply snatched Instagram posts, [Kristen Noel Crawley’s](https://www.instagram.com/kristennoelcrawley/?hl=en) new beauty line might do the trick. With co-signs from industry fixtures ranging from Kim Kardashian to Anna Wintour’s facialist Joanna Czech, [KNC Beauty](https://kncbeauty.com) is an all natural skincare line that aims to meld beauty and brains: Crawley describes their ideal customer as “someone thats conscious about what they're putting on their skin... I try to make it as cute and fun as possible but also effective and clean and actually functional as opposed to just looking cute.” This past weekends saw the launch of her latest [Supa Balm Mint](https://kncbeauty.com/products/supa-balm-mint) as well as a speaking engagement at Complexcon. With all this on her plate the mother still had a moment to catch up with Flaunt to chat about beauty, motherhood, and the community she has cultivated.
**For context, what inspired KNC beauty, what were some of the defining moments that motivated you to pursue beauty professionally?**
I’ve always loved Beauty and Skin Care, ever since I was a little girl, its always been something I experimented with. I grew up in a small town in the midwest, and when I branched out and traveled more I started to discover things like facials and different routines, and so that really struck my interest. For a long time I was really interested in experimenting and trying new things in regards to Skin Care and Beauty, and then about 6 years ago I went to Tokyo on a trip with Dior, and as you know, Tokyo is light years ahead of everyone, so lip masks were something new that I had never seen before. The only thing I didn't like about it was that this one little mask was filled with so many chemicals. So when I got back to the states I was really trying to look for a natural alternative, and it just didn't exist; and thats when the light bulb went off and I decided to create my own!
[**DIOR**](https://www.dior.com/en_us) dress, hat, and bag.
**So would you say skin care was integrated into your childhood experience?**
My mom was very much into self-care, before it was the trend it is now. She was always very glamorous, always had her hair done, her nails done. I remember her coming home from work and looking into one of those 20x magnifying mirrors and she would just sit in the mirror, sometimes for hours, and look at her skin, shed always be in the mirror. And of course, I wanted to be like her so I always wanted to be in the mirror, it was just something that we did. Just following in my mothers footsteps, she always took really good care of herself and that in turn made me want to do the same thing.
**I know you're a parent too, do you find yourself having the same relationship with your kids?**
Oh my gosh, yes! I have two boys and my older son always asks for lip masks when his lips are dry, we love to do them together, we’ve done sheet masks too. He's getting older now, he's 10, but when he was younger we would take baths together and do our body scrub and face masks and everything. So he's very into that, and he sees his dad taking care of himself too. My younger son actually loves to play with makeup and skin
care products. I get a lot of things sent to me and so one of his favorite things to do is to “open boxes” as he calls it, and so he’ll open boxes with me and dip his little fingers into the makeup pots and put it all over my face, he sees it as painting \[laughs\]. But they're both really into it, and I try to include them as much as I can. My older son has drawn up artwork ideas for KNC beauty, he helps me explore formulas, its so fun.
[**1017 ALYX 9SM**](https://www.alyxstudio.com) top.
**Can we expect to see any of his designs in your new products?**
Yeah, we have the Super Scrub set coming out which is an all natural lip scrub with a customized scrubber brush, and he actually submitted a few design ideas for the scrub brush. He has great ideas, he's really creative. Its so amazing when he can see his thought process and his ideas come to life, its very exciting. He definitely helps a lot, he gives his opinion on everything, sometimes I have to override him \[laughs\] but he's really into it. He wants to run my business some day so I keep telling him you've gotta be here in the beginning.
**Where can we find these products, I'm excited to try!**
So we’re actually stocked in over 1500 brick and mortar stores across the US, on net-a- porter.com, sephora.com, Neiman Marcus, Violet Grey, Urban Outfitters, a bunch of high-end boutique stores. Joanna Czech, she's a really famous facials who was actually Anna Wintour’s facialist's in New York, and she has this really incredible $750 facial thats she uses our lip masks with.
[**CHANEL**](https://www.chanel.com/us/) jacket, top and earrings available at Janet Mandell.
**You seem to be super active on Instagram both personally and professionally, I was wondering how the app might have influenced your craft or supported any of your business ventures in any way**
Instagram has been an invaluable tool for me, I've actually launched two brands on Instagram! I had a fine jewelry line which made its way into major retailers a couple years back and, its been great because its really the most relevant platform. It does get tiring sometimes because it is like a second job, handling that, but its something you just have to do. Despite that, Instagram has really been a key factor in our success.
**Who is the ideal KNC Beauty Customer?**
We really don't have an age range, Id say like eight to eighty \[laughs\], but its someone thats conscious about what they're putting on their skin, and what they're absorbing into their skin. The skin is an organ and a lot of people don't realize that when you put chemicals on your skin, it gets absorbed into your system. Its also someone who has an appreciation for creative direction, I try to make it as cute and fun as possible but also effective and clean and actually functional as opposed to just looking cute. Thats really why I started my line, I loved the idea of the lip mask but I didn't want to put so many chemicals on my body.
[**MAISIE WILEN**](https://maisiewilen.com) dress and [**VERSACE**](http://versace.com) shoes.
**I know KNC Beauty if just one of many things you do, you're also a Beauty Writer and Model, are there any new venture’s you have up your sleeve you might be able to share with us?**
At the moment I'm really focusing on KNC. What I really love about it is its a way for me to be creative while also providing options for people that might not be able to afford a five thousand dollar bracelet, I really loved the fine jewelry but it was just so expensive and unattainable it didn't really make sense, so with KNC I'm able to practice that creativity while also getting it out to people. But yeah I'm really excited about what we’re doing with KNC, we've got out super scrub launch, we’ve got some more masks coming in 2020, and I'm really focusing on that. I really love interior design and art so I always think when I'm older I might do something with that but I'm just focusing on what I have right now.
**Thats understandable because you're already doing so much, how do you find time to unwind?**
I try to get up early with my kids so I can take them to school and fix them breakfast, and then I get all of my emails and work done in the earlier part of the day so I can relax before they get home from school, but its really all about balancing as much as you can. You know when you have kids and a home and a husband, those all come first, so its really all about balance. There really no secret formula, its just doing what you can at that time.
**Although there might not be a formula, is there any advice you can give to any budding entrepreneurs?**
I think the best advice I can give is to just go for it. When I was working on releasing my lip mask, I saw this other company that was an established Mask brand that had just came out with lip masks. I felt so defeated because I had already been working for a year and a half on my masks and I felt like, oh man I'm going to come out with this second and its going to look like I was copying and I almost didn't go through with it, I was feeling very insecure about that. And so my friend assured me that I didn't need to worry bout that and I'm so glad I listened because I almost let that little voice get to me and not do what I think was the best. Just go for it!
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Photographed by: [Emma Holley](https://www.instagram.com/emmabella_/).
Styled by: [Yael Quint](https://www.instagram.com/yaelquint/).
Hair: [Ricardo Roberts](https://www.instagram.com/rricardoroberts/).
Make up: [Sean Harris](https://www.instagram.com/seanharrismakeup/) using M.A.C. Cosmetics at The Only.Agency.
Styling Assistant: [Case Fielding](https://www.instagram.com/case.fielding/).
Set Designer [Ava Villafañe](https://www.instagram.com/avavillafane/).
Props [Paige Wassel](https://www.instagram.com/wasselpa/).
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