Selena Gomez Talks Addressing ‘Unrealistic’ Standards With Rare Beauty

The actress hopes to create products that make people ‘feel good.’

Selena Gomez / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman /

This week, TIME hosted its annual TIME100 Summit in New York City, gathering leaders across various industries to engage in conversations about creating a “better tomorrow,” according to the publication.

Among those guests was American actress, musician and entrepreneur, Selena Gomez. During a panel event, the founder of Rare Beauty, a makeup and cosmetics company, addressed what she called “unrealistic standard[s]” in the cosmetic industry.

When asked how she thinks about the tensions between the appearance of people in beauty advertisements and that of real-life consumers—or expectations versus reality—Gomez admitted that the “unrealistic standards” perpetuated by ads “make [her] a little sad.” In particular, she finds it upsetting that people end up comparing themselves to photos that are “probably touched up.”

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Where Rare Beauty is concerned, the 31-year-old has tried to actively work against those unrealistic expectations. “I just wanted to break that down,” she said. “I don’t know how to do makeup, and I have a makeup line.” In other words, her products don’t depend on how well you can apply them and don’t aim to make consumers “feel like they [have] to look a certain way” or “change the shape of their face[s].”

Put simply, Gomez created Rare Beauty because she “wanted it to feel good when they’re using our products,” she said of the brand.

It was personal experience that pushed her to this conclusion. “I don’t believe in having to look a certain way,” she explained. “I spent years trying to do that, and it’s draining—[a] waste of time.”