Founder Files
Makeup· Los Angeles, USA · Updated 14 May 2026

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez launched Rare Beauty in 2020 with Sephora as the rare celebrity beauty brand built primarily around mental health advocacy. The Rare Impact Fund commits 1% of all sales to mental-health access and has crossed $30M+ raised. Reported in 2024 to be exploring strategic options at a $2B+ valuation.

"Rare Impact Fund is not a CSR bolt-on. It's the reason the brand exists."

Selena Gomez
Background

Gomez built her music and acting career through her teens and twenties before launching Rare Beauty in September 2020 with Sephora — built explicitly around mental-health advocacy and self-acceptance, not perfection.

Hero products like the Soft Pinch Liquid Blush became some of TikTok's most virally-cited makeup items of the early 2020s. The Rare Impact Fund — funded by 1% of all sales plus matched donations — has raised over $30M for mental-health access.

In 2024 Bloomberg reported Rare Beauty was exploring strategic options at a valuation of $2B or more.

Philosophy

Mental-health advocacy is structural — 1% of sales, not seasonal.

Less performative makeup; more permission.

Career timeline
  • 2020
    Launches Rare Beauty at Sephora; founds Rare Impact Fund
  • 2022
    Soft Pinch Liquid Blush becomes a TikTok-viral category-defining product
  • 2024
    Reported $2B+ valuation; strategic-options process underway
Press & appearances
  • How Rare Beauty Became a $2 Billion Brand

    feature
    Bloomberg
  • Selena Gomez on Mental Health and Rare Beauty

    interview
    Vogue
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