Selena Gomez on ‘Unrealistic Standard’ in Beauty World

Selena Gomez is pulling back the curtain on the beauty industry.

The 31-year-old singer and actress appeared at the Time100 Summit in New York City to speak about the impact of her cosmetics line, Rare Beauty. At the Wednesday, April 24, event, Gomez opened up about how her own experience battling unrealistic beauty standards informed the creation of the brand.

“Personally, I felt that there’s a very unrealistic standard when it comes to the cosmetic world and it makes me a little sad for my generation,” she said on stage in conversation with Lucy Feldman, senior editor at TIME. “And for anyone to look at something that’s probably touched up and made to look nice is… I just wanted to break that down.”

The Only Murders in the Building star added, “I don’t know how to do makeup and I have a makeup line.”

Gomez went on to explain that her goal with Rare Beauty was to make products that didn’t make people “feel like they had to look a certain way.”

“I wanted it to feel good when they’re using my products,” she said. “And all of our products are named based on uplifting things, from our Find Comfort line to anything that comes to mind, body and soul, we try to be very conscious of even naming the products to be reminders of joy or just finding yourself. So I genuinely just wanted to make makeup that was fun for people. I don’t believe in having to look a certain way. I spent years trying to do that and it’s draining. Waste of time.”

Rare Beauty launched in 2020 and, according to an April 15 report from Forbes, is valued at $2 billion.

In addition to offering a range of positivity-centered products, Gomez’s beauty line is committed to reducing the stigma around mental health and donates 1% of sales to support the Rare Impact Fund, which provides young people with access to mental health services.

“I didn’t want to really enter the cosmetics world without a mission,” Gomez said during the summit. “It was actually a dream that kind of happened within this brand, and on top of it we were able to make hopefully decent products.”

The Disney alum, who was honored as one of Time100’s most influential people in 2020, stepped out for the event in a Matrix-inspired leather ensemble.

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She channeled cool-girl energy in an oversize black leather jacket and a black dress with a leather corset bodice, and accessorized with open-toe black pumps, black cat-eye Linda Farrow sunnies and subtle jewelry.

On Instagram, stylist Erin Walsh shared that Gomez’s dress is by Brandon Maxwell and her jacket is Ducie London. 

The star’s shoulder-length hair was styled in an effortless blowout and she sported a chic and simple makeup look.