It’s rare alright.

In only three years, Selena Gomez‘s Rare Beauty has proven that a makeup brand built on self-love and driving awareness of mental health issues, is usually a industrial juggernaut.

Expected to achieve $300 million in revenues in 2023, the brand has transcended the celebrity of its founder, singer, songwriter, producer, actress and philanthropist Gomez, who’s probably the most followed woman on Instagram with 430 million followers, helping Rare Beauty develop into social media’s top ranked beauty brand within the U.S.

Rare Beauty has raised $12 million of the $100 million it has committed to mental health causes over the following decade through its Rare Impact Fund, which has partnered with 25 global organizations, and provided support and resources to the brand’s Millennial and Gen Z customers. One percent of annual sales go to the fund.

“Knowing that we’re doing a very important thing while selling these products is super rewarding,” said Gomez, who has been transparent about own mental health journey, including coming to terms with Lupus, depression and bipolar disorder.

“Each time I meet someone in passing, and I’m completely being honest with you, it’s all the time about Rare Beauty,” she told Beauty Inc of her El Segundo, Calif.-based “accessible prestige” brand, which has 100 employees. “It’s actually develop into more about that. And it’s very nice. I’m all the time delighted and honored, but that’s normally what I get stopped most about. And it’s really been such a crazy experience, because we’re so latest.”

What do they are saying besides asking for a selfie? “I definitely get numerous love for my blushes. So people will likely be very vocal about that. Or they’ll say they love the road or they love the messaging. Loads of people speak about how awesome it’s that we’ve tried to make an inclusive brand. Truly for everybody.”

“It’s really the alternative of a fad brand,” said chief executive officer Scott Friedman. “What we’ve talked about from the very starting is attempting to develop products that individuals are going to wish to use perpetually.”

Sales are direct-to-consumer and thru Sephora. Products — nothing costs greater than $30 — are designed to be breathable and layerable, including Soft Pinch Liquid Blush and Soft Pinch Lip Oil in empowering-sounding shades like Bliss, Price and Virtue. Slightly than promising transformation, they promote “a healthy flush,” “staying comfortable” and “looking on the intense side.”

“This enterprise was about Selena’s perspective on beauty that was different than every thing else on the market, especially at a time where celebrity-founded brands were really being scrutinized and questioned for authenticity,” said chief product officer Joyce Kim. “Attending to know Selena as an individual, every thing she does is along with her heart and with good intention and wanting to portray herself in the way in which that she truly is. And that got here out within the product, too.”

Born in Grand Prairie, Texas, Gomez began her profession on “Barney & Friends,” became a Disney star and had her first gold record by the point she was 17. She’s been performing all her life, most recently alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short in Hulu’s “Only Murders within the Constructing.”

Fame took a toll on her self-esteem, nevertheless, and she or he suffered from anxiety and depression, checking herself right into a treatment facility at one point, and taking frequent breaks from social media for her own mental health.

In 2018, a torrent of paparazzi photos of the singer in a bikini ignited social media chatter concerning the visible scar from her 2017 kidney transplant surgery. Gomez posted to her Instagram in response, “The wonder myth — an obsession with physical perfection that traps modern woman in an limitless cycle of hopelessness, self consciousness and self-hatred as she tries to satisfy society’s not possible definition of flawless beauty. I selected to handle myself because I need to, to not prove anything to anyone.”

It wasn’t the primary time she’d addressed society’s obsession with physical perfection. In 2016, during a speech on the American Music Awards, she told fans, “I don’t wish to see your bodies on Instagram, I need to see what’s in here,” gesturing to her heart. “I’m not attempting to get validation, nor do I would like it anymore. But if you happen to are broken, you don’t want to remain broken.”

So when it got here to beauty, greater than only a brand, Gomez desired to create a conduit to resources, and a platform to begin positive conversations around self-acceptance and mental health.

The brand launched in 2020 in the course of the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gomez was filming her HBO Max “Selena + Chef” cooking show at home, and needed to do her own makeup due to restrictions.

“She would literally duct tape her iPhone to her mirror and send us hours of footage of her putting on makeup,” said chief marketing officer Katie Welch, admitting that in the first place she was skeptical of launching with Soft Pinch. “From a product side, liquid blushes are a tough sell. But watching her apply makeup and the way it was transformative…to see her face brighten up, here we’re, three years later and it’s our number-one franchise and continuing to grow and we’ve develop into this blush brand on TikTok and each other platform.”

“We wanted content to launch the brand, and what she did on her own resonated a lot with our community,” said chief operating officer Mehdi Mehdi. “Everyone was isolated and to see this one that they’ve idolized a lot growing up doing her makeup in her bedroom in the identical way, nobody’s ever done content like this to launch a brand. It was really compelling and a giant a part of showing that we were going to talk to our consumer in a different way and do things in a different way.”

They’ve continued with that messaging in content creation.

“It’s not high production; our social team will go over to Selena’s house and film on [an] iPhone and…the relatability and the way authentic it looks, people aren’t used to seeing that,” Mehdi said. 

“Joyce and Selena developed these formulas which are so progressive, they lent themselves to the form of demonstrable storytelling that’s TikTok and [Instagram] Reels. Then people come to our social channels, to an event online or offline and they can meet each other, develop into friends and find out about something that they’ve interest in inside mental health. All of that has created many layers inside this brand that resonates,” Welch said.

In May, the brand held its inaugural in-person Rare Beauty Mental Health Summit bringing together 150 thought leaders, creators, health experts and community members in Los Angeles with nearly 50,000 people joining virtually via a TikTok livestream.

A community dedicated to the brand but in addition to one another has been rewarding for Gomez.

“We center every thing on wanting people to handle themselves and love who they’re, and have a protected place to share their stories,” she said. “I’ve heard really beautiful moments, like having someone walk through a divorce and truly with the ability to feel like she had a community to show to. After which I’ll hear a young girl who has had self-esteem issues for thus long and she or he handled numerous mental health. And it’s just incredible to see how Rare has created that space.…I all the time cry after we read the comments.”

Gomez meets with the nine-person product team commonly, and so they in turn have 1,000 “super fans” they turn to for feedback on the chat app Geneva. For marketing, the brand works with about 3,000 beauty influencers.

“We’re consistently wanting to understand how we are able to do more, and what our community needs. All the pieces we create has them in mind. So, for instance, I like a extremely strong brow, and we launched a dual-ended product that was multifunctional with a tinted brown mascara on one end and a pencil on the opposite. But we noticed that the community was actually preferring one side over the opposite and never using each. So we decided to reformulate and are available out with two great products which were very well received,” Gomez said of listening to the client.

“It’s all about how will we make it buildable, layerable and consumer-friendly for the wonder novice that’s just discovering the product, and the individuals who want results,” Kim said of making product. “Loads of our formats are really from Selena’s design. We lead by sensorial reality and texture in terms of formula.”

The largest acquisition driver has been word of mouth, Mehdi said. “It’s been a really slow construct. The blush took probably an excellent six months to a yr before it really exploded within the space. And it got here in consequence of the community that was in search of more pigmented product, determining tips on how to use it after which telling their friends and happening TikTok, Instagram or wherever and telling everyone this isn’t what you’d expect from every other celebrity brand, these products are really, really good.”

“What has driven the brand explosion is user-generated content, whenever you have a look at what individuals are posting because they love the products and the brand,” Friedman reiterated.

The products also delay in knowledgeable setting, Gomez can attest.

“Skilled makeup artists are very threatening to me because they’re those which have probably tried every product under the sun,” she said. “And each of my makeup artists apply it to me. I wore it to the MTV VMAs, I wear it on most of my movies and on ‘Only Murders within the Constructing.’ All of us definitely enjoy using my products.”

“Steve and Marty” as she calls them, use the foundations on the show and support the brand in other ways, too. In October, Short emceed the primary Rare Impact Fund Profit in L.A. The event, which will likely be held annually, lent much more stardust to the brand via Gomez’s Hollywood connections, featuring a performance by H.E.R. and DJ set by Marshmello, and featured auction items from Taylor Swift and Camila Cabello.

It’s due to her Hollywood experience, that ease is all the time top of mind when developing products, Gomez said.

“Loads of times whenever you’re doing certain music videos, you might be doing extravagant looks. I feel like I exploit that information to say, ‘How do I make it easy so I can achieve a extremely nice look but without having the 17 steps to do it?’” she said. “That’s been my biggest lesson is making the products accessible and straightforward to make use of.”

Soft Pinch Blush was the label’s runaway hit, but because the range of successful products has broadened (recent launches include Brow Harmony Flexible Lifting Gel, Perfect Strokes Longwear Gel Eyeliner and The entire Above Weightless Eyeshadow Sticks), it now represents just below 30 percent of sales.

“Bliss is the one which I exploit probably the most. It’s that soft pink that makes you are feeling like you’ve got just a little little bit of a blush look. I like putting some on my nose and on my cheekbones,” Gomez said.

Soft Pinch Tinted Lip Oils were a natural evolution. “I even have a 10-year-old sister [Gracie Teefey] who happens to like going to Sephora and having a complete day there and she or he’ll tell me what’s cool. So there was a lip oil trend happening and I believed it could be cool if I could do one which also stains…so that you just wouldn’t must consistently reapply it.”

Also on heavy rotation in Gomez’s on a regular basis makeup bag — Rare Beauty Positive Light Undereye Brightener (“Sometimes, I just wear that on my skin,” she said); Positive Light Tinted Moisturizer (“It’s so light, it also has SPF in it, and it’s just really comfortable to wear,” she added) Warm Wishes Effortless Bronzer, and Perfect Strokes Universal Volumizing Mascara (“I’ve been in pools and it’d run just a little however it really stays prefer it’s waterproof, after which it sort of just glides off whenever you wash it off. So it’s not such as you’re rubbing at your eyes all night,” Gomez said).

Executives wouldn’t comment on what’s next for the brand, but hinted it’ll be a latest category that reflects Gomez’s attention to self care.

“There’s tons of things that I’ve learned through working on myself, by taking time away, learning DBT [dialectical behavior therapy] and CBT [cognitive behavioral therapy], that are skill sets I can use for at any time when I feel overwhelmed, or I feel the entire emotions coming to a spot that I slipped just a little bit,” she said. “I can get down and I still have those days. But I’m a giant advocate for therapy and I think to find the fitting person, too, because you’ve got to watch out who to trust. And I feel being around individuals who can have walked through similar things has also been helpful, being around someone older, and even only a best friend, that’s like, ‘Yeah, I understand how a panic attack feels, let’s speak about where it’s coming from,’” she continued.

“And sometimes I similar to to be with my sister who’s 10. She just makes me feel good. I wish to light candles and pamper myself just a little bit. After which other days, I’m not gonna lie, it’s just really hard, and I even have to pop on a funny movie just sit there and permit myself to feel what I would like to feel.”

In her personal life, she turns to mom, Mandy Teefey, for support. Within the makeup space, she has numerous respect for Rihanna. “She is who she is and she or he’s proud to be that. And I like that she has done what she’s desired to do along with her life and takes control of it. It’s really admirable.”

She’s never gone to the Fenty Beauty founder for advice, though. “I’m too scared — and I feel like she’s a mom and busy,” Gomez laughed.

For the longer term, she said, “My dream is to proceed to construct the community and in addition construct the brand to be a household name, where it’s not even necessarily related to me, and hopefully people can enjoy it without even needing to grasp me. I feel like we’re moving into that direction.”

As for the wonder myth that the industry sells to women trapped in an limitless loop of hope and self-hatred, Gomez is attempting to take the high road.

“I feel my version of beauty was a bit affected because I’ve been working since I used to be seven and I’ve all the time had makeup on,” she said. “I can’t take into consideration what number of hours I even have spent within the chair since it sort of depresses me just a little. But I genuinely feel like I’m glad at any time when I get to do my makeup now. And I get to feel really positive concerning the experience.”

Looking back, she would tell seven-year-old Selena, “Rejoice and know that you just count and matter without all of that makeup. And love yourself a bit more because I discovered it really hard to for some time.”