How Selena Gomez Made Rare Beauty the Success It Is Today, A Timeline
Selena Gomez has arguably excelled in every venture — from acting and singing as a child and teen star to founding her cosmetic brand, Rare Beauty.
“I basically said, ‘I want people that have been doing this for so long, who are willing to take a chance and take this journey with me,’” Gomez told WWD in 2021 of building the company.
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Launched in September 2020 (though the idea for the brand took shape pre-pandemic), she assembled a team led by chief executive officer Scott Friedman, who brought on chief digital officer Mehdi Mehdi and chief product development officer Joyce Kim (all three NYX Cosmetics alums).
“We really tried to absorb as much as we could about what makes her so special and why people love her so much and that’s kind of where the essence started,” Mehdi said of early days of development. “In terms of the creative, we took a lot of inspiration from the looks that she’s done, the makeup that she’s done, the fashion that she’s done, her music videos, her personal aesthetic.”
They leaned into storytelling, producing lo-fi content with Gomez as the face and creator; she certainly already had an audience watching, as one of the most followed people on the internet. She currently counts 428 million followers on Instagram, 58.7 million on TikTok and 34.6 million subscribers on YouTube.
What is it about Gomez that allows for her to have such resonance with her audience? It’s a question the Rare Beauty team asked themselves early on.
“The more we got into it, her vulnerability was the thing that kept coming up,” Mehdi continued. “She’s been so open and honest about who she is and some of the struggles that she goes through and the challenges, and there was a sense of just everyone could see themselves in her.”
After being in the limelight essentially her entire life, in 2017 Gomez revealed she’d received a kidney transplant as part of an ongoing treatment for lupus. She then opened up about mental health, sharing her struggles battling anxiety, depression and publicized her bipolar diagnosis.
“There was this immense amount of pressure I had growing up that I felt like I needed to be a good role model,” Gomez has told WWD. “And then I felt like maybe that was just unrealistic, and my life became very public really quickly, and I didn’t know that I was going through my own journey with mental health at the time. So, it was really confusing growing up, and once people created this narrative of my life, I realized I can’t be quiet anymore. I have to just address what needs to be addressed, and that’s me reclaiming my story.”
A major element of Rare Beauty has been its mission to impact, driving the discussion around mental health and paving the way for brands and consumers to speak publicly about coping with pressure, stress and anxiety. What she’s developed with her team personifies a new kind of beauty that’s free from contouring and morphing the face and centered on embracing the self, enhancing the natural. And she’s been giving back along the way: 1 percent of all Rare Beauty sales go to the Rare Impact Fund, the brand’s nonprofit affiliate working to expand mental health awareness and services, particularly in underserved communities. The goal is to raise $100 million over 10 years.
As the brand has grown and expanded internationally, exclusively with Sephora, so has its offerings. A hit from the beginning was its Soft Pinch Liquid Blush — and most recently, Gomez decided to double down on the core cheek category by unveiling a powder blush: Soft Pinch Luminous Powder Blush. The news comes following reports that Rare Beauty hired investment banks Goldman Sachs and Raymond James to explore a possible sale or initial public offering.
Selena Gomez’s Style Evolution Through the Years
“People have been asking for a Rare Beauty powder blush for years, so we thought it was the perfect time to give them what they want,” Gomez said of the recent launch in March.
What beauty products are always in her handbag? It’s all Rare Beauty, of course. She lists: “Find Comfort Hand Cream and Aromatherapy Pen, Soft Pinch Tinted Lip Oil, Perfect Strokes Universal Mascara, Positive Light Under Eye Brightener, Always An Optimist 4-in-1 Mist.”
Launch Gallery: Selena Gomez's Style Evolution Through the Years
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