The Beauty Industry’s Celebrity Makeover

Brimming with enchanting color palettes, sleek packaging, and charming captions, celebrity makeup brands have captured the attention of millions of social media users thanks to their appeal and effective trend-setting. Currently, the top brands include Rhode by Hailey Bieber, Fenty Beauty by Rihanna, Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez, r.em. Beauty by Ariana Grande, and more. Their success in the last few years has proven just how impactful their lines are in the beauty industry, and their growth in popularity will continue to fluctuate.
One beauty line has taken action to bring much-needed awareness on mental health, self-love, and self-acceptance. Founded by actress and singer Selena Gomez and released in 2020, Rare Beauty’s mission is “to help everyone celebrate their individuality by redefining what beautiful means. [It] wants to promote self-acceptance and give people the tools they need to feel less alone.” Their mission was the driving force of the brand and went beyond promoting the makeup based on Gomez’s celebrity status. For example, their packaging is designed for easy usage and stems from Gomez’s Lupus autoimmune disease, which causes her hands to shake. Furthermore, their brand is known to be more affordable compared to other labels. On the topic of mental health, in 2022, Rare Beauty launched the Rare Impact Fund, which has raised around $13 million as of May 2024 to support global mental health organizations. That same year, the brand also hosted its third-annual Rare Beauty Mental Health Summit in New York City to share resources and establish a space for advocates to share their voices.
Taking a separate path, Rhode by model and influencer Hailey Bieber, hones in on creating fresh, minimalistic, and authentic skincare and makeup. The brand intends to simplify the complexity of finding skin products “that really work” and create products that leave customers’ skin with their signature dewy and glowy look. Consumers desire to recreate Bieber’s iconic looks, boosting the popularity of Rhode. Released in 2022, Rhode began with three core products: peptide glazing fluid, barrier restore cream, and peptide lip treatment. These products made way to the widely popular “glazed donut,” “clean girl aesthetic,” and “no-makeup makeup” trends. Known for having “glazed donut” skin, Bieber could promote Rhode, already having an audience on social media who loved her skincare routines. In addition to skincare routines, associating products like their lip tints with foods such as “toast” and “espresso” resulted in products selling out rapidly, often forming waitlists over exclusive launches. Rhode’s most recent release, the Lip Case, is a silicone phone case with a built-in slot to store a Lip Tint or Treatment, which sold out almost instantly.
Celebrities have used common marketing strategies including utilizing their fan bases, having appealing product names, building tension before release dates, holding in-person pop-ups, trend-setting, and building a community under a specific mission. Other brands, especially Fenty Beauty, have taken into account inclusivity and diversity as being major issues in the beauty industry, responding by offering a wide range of skin tones, making it their goal to create products everyone can use. Despite each brand having different goals and aesthetics, each label ultimately transforms the way people view makeup and skincare.