selena gomez rare beauty
Rare Beauty

Selena Gomez Gave Us an Exclusive Look at Rare Beauty

The megastar on mental health, beauty and why the two go hand in hand

“I get it all day, every day—that I’m not sexy enough, or I’m not cool enough, or if I did this I would be accepted…” This is a statement from Selena Gomez, singer, actress and at one time the most followed person on Instagram (she is currently sixth on the list, wedged between Kylie and Kim). It appears in huge white letters sprawled over a close-up of the 28-year-old in repose, eyes adorned in sharp, shimmery liner, in a promotional shot for Rare Beauty, her makeup line launching exclusively at Sephora September 3. 

“I promise you that each and every one of you is made to be who you are and that’s what’s so attractive and beautiful. Please don’t forget that, even when it gets hard,” the quote continues. The sentiment has served as the star’s mission statement for quite some time now. At shows, she used to make entire arenas raise their pinkies in the sky and promise her they’d never let anyone make them feel like they weren’t good enough. 

selena gomez rare beauty
Rare Beauty“It’s just beyond makeup,” Gomez says of Rare Beauty.

Keeping that same promise to herself hasn’t always been easy for Gomez, a struggle she hasn’t shied away from sharing. In 2014 and 2016, she abruptly cancelled world tours and checked herself into treatment centres. “I had gone to treatment a few times for anxiety and depression and other stuff I was dealing with,” she told Miley Cyrus in an Instagram Live this April. It was in that same conversation that Gomez, casually clad in a sweatshirt and scrunchie, revealed she’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder following a recent visit to McLean Hospital, a psychiatric institution in Massachusetts. 

“This is something I will probably live with for the rest of my life and I’m okay with that,” Gomez says of her struggles with mental health.

“Growing up, I had been feeling all these different emotions and I knew some of them were normal, but I think that some people around me were just worried because I didn’t know what was going on,” she says in a one-on-one Zoom chat. Her mouth is topped with Rare Beauty’s Lip Soufflé in a punchy red called Inspire, something her candour continues to accomplish the world over. “When I took the time to understand what was happening to me—and that took a very long time—I felt this sense of relief. Like it’s something I wasn’t afraid of anymore and there are ways to help.” 

selena gomez rare beauty
Rare BeautyRare Beauty by Selena Gomez With Gratitude Dewy Lip Balm, $21, and Lip Soufflé Matte Lip Cream, $26, available September 3 on sephora.ca

Over the years, Gomez has bravely bared her scars, be it the one that sweeps across her abdomen as a reminder of the kidney transplant she underwent in 2017 following complications from lupus, or the ones that can’t be captured with a smartphone—the ones that cut even deeper. “I still have my days,” she says. “This is something I will probably live with for the rest of my life and I’m okay with that.”

Behind her, sculptural vials of foundation and blush stand in long tidy rows. “It’s kind of surreal having [the products] all over the house,” she says. The polished setting, the very nature of the products on offer, all of it could easily ring as dissonant with the rawness of her message. But for Gomez, finding harmony in these apparent contradictions was vital to making the line.

 
selena gomez rare beauty
Rare BeautyRare Beauty by Selena Gomez Soft Pinch Liquid Blush, $26, available September 3 on sephora.ca

“[Beauty and mental health] have to go hand in hand,” she says matter-of-factly. For a long time, that staunch belief made her hesitant to venture into cosmetics. She was afraid she’d be part of the problem, another filtered square in the scroll of unattainable ideals. “We all know there’s a little bit of Photoshop, a little FaceTune, there’s a little bit of something there. But still, you’re comparing yourself and that’s just something I wanted to steer clear of,” she explains. “So I said, ‘Okay, if we’re going to do this, I want to do this in my own way and I want there to be a mental health aspect to this brand.’”

“You’re criticized in this business—so much and at such a young age.”

As such, 1 per cent of all Rare Beauty sales, as well as funds raised from partners, will be dedicated to the Rare Impact Fund, which aims to increase access to mental health resources. The brand hopes to raise US$100 million over the next 10 years. “The reason for that is I have struggled with my mental health and I really, really believe that there isn’t enough access [to services] for people,” says Gomez. Going one step further, the brand has also put in place the Rare Beauty Mental Health Council, composed of leading experts in the field, to help guide the company’s strategy. 

selena gomez rare beauty
Rare BeautyRare Beauty by Selena Gomez Liquid Touch Brightening Concealer, $25 (comes in 48 shades), available September 3 on sephora.ca

“It’s just beyond makeup,” says Gomez. “Everyone can wear makeup. It’s about you and reminding yourself that this is something beyond your face, and helping people figure out what they feel and their relationship with it.”

While she fondly remembers playing with her mother’s lipsticks and liners (her mother, who had her at 16 and raised her as a single mom, worked multiple jobs, including a stint as a makeup artist), she notes that makeup became a part of her own job when she started working at just 7 years old, first appearing on Barney & Friends and then going on to star in Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place. “You’re criticized in this business—so much and at such a young age,” she says. 

“I’m guilty of it: You look at these beautiful girls and women and you think, ‘Oh, I don’t have that, or maybe I should look this way, maybe I should have this.’”

These days, Gomez describes her relationship with makeup as much freer. “I’m not as worried about certain things and I’m starting to care less and less,” she says, before adding that the urge to self-compare “still happens every once in a while.” “I’m guilty of it: You look at these beautiful girls and women and you think, ‘Oh, I don’t have that, or maybe I should look this way, maybe I should have this.’”

 

She’s growing, she says, actively learning to let go of the pressures and insecurities. It’s a goal she has for herself, but for everyone else, too. If you look close enough, you can find the message in those artful cream and gold vials, like a hand-scrawled note slipped in a bottle. “To me, makeup should be an accessory to reflect what you feel inside, and so the whole point of that is making sure you’re good, making sure this is something you can enjoy and have fun with and do whatever you want with. It’s not threatening, it’s not complicated.”

There’s the “Always an Optimist 4-in-1 Mist” and “Positive Light Liquid Luminizer,” shade names like “Empathy” and “Support.” Gomez is particularly fond of her liquid blushes, her go-to’s, “Joy” and “Bliss,” seeming to encompass her current state of mind. “It’s been quite a full journey for me,” she says, but one that was clearly worthwhile.

“Asking for help is definitely the first step, and I don’t want it to be scary for people because there’s so much freedom on the other side of it,” she says. A smile spreads across her face: “It may not feel like it, but I know it to be true.”

 

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