These days, with social media feeds flooded with red carpet clips, Met Gala highlights, and influencer try-ons, it’s hard not to wonder how everyone manages to look so sculpted in whatever daring or glamorous outfit they’re wearing. A few years ago, Kim Kardashian helped demystify it all: the secret is shapewear. While I’m not strutting down any runways, I still want to feel confident — whether I’m headed to work, out for dinner, or attending a wedding. So I decided to compare two of the most talked-about shapewear brands right now: Skims, Kim’s now-iconic line, and Honeylove, which has built a reputation for comfort and quality. Here’s how they stack up.
If you want something that won’t roll down… Honeylove
Honeylove's SuperPower Brief (my personal favorite) has flexible, but structured, boning hidden in the side seams of the waist that holds it up. Skims, on the other hand, relies more on rubber/silicone grips to keep it in place. Personally, I prefer Honeylove for this reason. Not only is Honeylove much better at staying up, I find the flexible boning to be way more comfortable since silicone grips tend to irritate my skin — especially if I’m sweating.
For a truly sculpted look and feel… Honeylove
Both Honeylove and Skims claim to smooth, shape, and lift different parts of your body, but I find Honeylove to deliver on that promise much more effectively. Honeylove’s SuperPower Short places compression panels across the stomach and around the upper thigh and has less compression where you need more flexibility, like around the rib cage and down the legs. They’ve even managed to create a really smooth transition between the strong compression areas and the areas with less compression, so it feels supportive rather than restrictive.
Skims also places more compression along target areas, but because the transition seems to be more abrupt, it sometimes feels like my body is being squeezed into the non-target areas. For example, the Skims Sculpting Short has cheeky cutouts in the rear, and I can’t help but feel like a big piece of jello in a fishing net when I wear them.
If you love a celebrity endorsement… Skims
We’ve all been there, I get it. There’s been one too many times when I’ve purchased something just because of the celebrity name attached to it (hello, Hailey Bieber). So if that’s what you need to believe something works, then Skims is for you since it has Kim K. — one of the biggest names out there — wearing it all over Instagram. She’s even gotten her sisters to wear it, too.
If you like the sound of free returns… Honeylove
If you don’t love your Honeywear shapewear, they’ll take it back for any reason within 30 days for a full refund. Even better? Returns are free for all U.S. purchases. Skims will also take back unworn merchandise postmarked within 30 days of your order date, but they charge $6 for the return shipping — not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but I personally like that Honeylove stands behind their products by offering free returns.
The ultimate winner… Honeylove
Honeylove was the first shapewear I didn’t want to rip off after an hour. It lifts, smooths, and actually stays. I also love that they’re size inclusive, their pieces are super versatile and can be worn under almost anything, and they offer some bundle deals for saving. Lastly, I feel confident buying risk-free from Honeylove because of their 30-day free returns policy (even though I have yet to return something!).
