By now it's clear that Kylie Jenner loves shocking overnight hair transformations even more than the average Kardashian-Jenner. There was her brief blond phase last month, plus a slew of recent wigs: that jet-black one with bangs at the VMAs, the mermaid-length macaroon-green one, and its more recent lime-green cousin, to name just a few. She doesn't play it any safer with makeup either (in fact, we hardly recognize her when she steps out without full contouring, lip pencil, and lash strips).
But we'd never considered whether there was some other motivation behind her constant Instagram makeovers. In a new interview with Time—which put Jenner on its list of the most influential teens—she says she's driven by a more noble cause than sheer vanity. Before you laugh, read a few excerpts; Jenner sounds quite self-aware, especially for an 18-year-old:
"I just want to inspire my fans to be whoever they want to be, because that's what I've always done," she tells Time. "And they know that. I've been experimenting with my hair, with my lip colors. I have green hair one week, blue hair the other. I'm Gothic another week. I'm always experimenting and trying to figure out who I am and exactly what I want to be. I feel like it inspires them to be exactly who they want to be."
She continued: "I think people expect a lot out of [me and my family]. Whether we're influential for one reason or another, it is what it is. I know how influential I am over my fans and followers. I feel like everything I do, my hair color, my makeup, I always start these huge trends, and I don't even realize what I'm capable of."
She said she started taking different approach after getting a lot of backlash online. "I felt like bullying was my thing, and I'm passionate about it, and I want to help other young girls and boys going through the same thing," she said. "I felt like I could be—I don't want to say a 'leader,' but I could be. I'm going through the same thing you are, so we can go through it together."
Interesting—so Jenner is consciously trying to encourage individuality and set an example of doing your own thing even when others put you down for it. We're pretty sure she also just loves rainbow hair, but if that passion has evolved into some sort of larger King Kylie mission statement, we're in full support.
