After Karoline Leavitt, Kristi Noem’s transformation has garnered the critics’ attention. The Secretary of Homeland Security used to look quite different back in the day, when she was participating in beauty pageants. Let’s just say, if she herself did not share the throwback pictures, we would have never recognized her.
Back in 1990, Noem was crowned the Dakota Snow Queen, and she never kept the recognition hidden. In fact, she has taken pride in being a pageant girl in her early years. “It was the first time I had sat down and done an interview with multiple people. It was very educational,” Kristi said during an interview with Aberdeen News back in 2016. “To stand up and speak in front of individuals or a large number of people at the Snow Queen contest was a first as well.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4A6B8ii7Co
However, one thing people quickly noticed was how different she looked at that time. In the images shared by Aberdeen News and her own Facebook post, Kristi Noem flaunted a completely different hairstyle than her now-signature dark locks.
During her Dakota Snow Queen era, Kristi Noem had blond, very tight curls. Not only was her hair quite different, but her facial features were also quite different, much softer in many ways. Her makeup was also much lighter compared to the full-glam look she showed up in while touring the El Salvador prison. Now, we are not saying that she went bare-faced to the pageant, as even in her grainy throwback pictures, you could see that she had quite a penchant for rosy blushed cheeks.
Kristi hates this photo of her as 1990 South Dakota Snow Queen. pic.twitter.com/MO6NmfEgxx
— MAGAtards (@Magatards2024) August 8, 2025
Two years after crowning the Dakota Snow Queen, Noem got married. In the pictures from her wedding day, you could see that she hasn’t changed all that much. Her hair was still the same, and while she went for a more glamorous look, her makeup wasn’t that heavy at all. The now-DHL Secretary shared the throwback pictures of her big day, which show that she only went for heavy blush, red lips, and blue eyeliner for her wedding.
That was very different than how she does her makeup now. In 2010, when she returned to the public eye, Kristi Noem looked completely different. Since going into politics, she has had a massive transformation. Whether she just grew up or went under the knife for her MAGA makeover is still debatable.
But, one thing is for sure, she continues to re-emerge in different looks, and only time could tell what her true transformation was.
