Rare Beauty Business Story: Selena Gomez, the 1% Pledge and Sale Talk

Rare Beauty launched in 2020 and grew into a brand Forbes values at $1.3 billion. Here is how Selena Gomez built it around low prices, one hit product and a mental-health mission, and what the reported sale talk shows.

Rare Beauty is the makeup company Selena Gomez launched in 2020, and within a few years outside estimates valued it above a billion dollars. Forbes puts the brand’s 2023 revenue at nearly $370 million and its value at $1.3 billion, and estimates that Gomez holds at least 51%.

Rare Beauty has never filed public accounts, so every sales and valuation number below comes from an outside estimate or a report citing unnamed people. The company story is still useful to founders, because its choices are visible even when its books are not.

What is Rare Beauty?

Rare Beauty is a cosmetics brand built around self-acceptance and priced for a broad audience. Its About page opens with the line “Rare Beauty is breaking down unrealistic standards of perfection.” Entrepreneur reported in 2024 that every individual makeup, body care and brush item the brand sold cost $30 and under.

Forbes says the brand “gained popularity for its liquid blushes,” and that one product did much of the early work.

Rare Beauty milestones

Year What happened (source)
2020 Launch; Rare Impact Fund created (Forbes, Cosmetics Business)
2022 Liquid blush sells 3.1 million units (Cosmetics Business)
2022 UK launch with an Oxford Street cafe (Cosmetics Business)
2023 Revenue near $370 million (Forbes estimate)
2024 Sale talks reported; Gomez says no plans (Bloomberg, Time)
2025 Impact fund reports record fundraising (Rare Beauty)

The hero product strategy

By press accounts, Rare Beauty’s growth leaned heavily on one breakout item. Cosmetics Business reported that the liquid blush “sold 3.1 million units in 2022.” Entrepreneur reported that the blush went viral on TikTok that year and “brought in $70 million in revenue.”

A hero product is one item that drives most of a young brand’s awareness and pulls shoppers toward the rest of the range. The founder lesson: one product people talk about can do more than a full line nobody notices, especially when the founder’s own audience gives it a first push.

Mission as a business model

Rare Beauty built a charitable commitment into its economics in its launch year. According to Cosmetics Business, the Rare Impact Fund receives 1% of every Rare Beauty sale. Gomez created it in 2020 with a target of $100m across ten years for mental health services in underserved US communities.

The brand’s own Rare Impact page calls the fund its “signature social impact initiative” and says it set up a Rare Beauty Mental Health Council of practitioners from mental health, philanthropy, media and academia. It also states that the fund “mobilized record-breaking funds for mental health in 2025.”

The fund now runs grant programs. Its website describes its first open call for grant applications, worth more than $2.5 million in total, with individual grants from $250,000 to $500,000, to support the nonclinical youth mental health workforce.

For founders, the takeaway is consistency. A percentage-of-sales pledge scales with revenue, is easy for customers to understand, and connects the product to the founder’s public story without needing a separate fundraising operation to explain it.

Retail as a marketing channel

Rare Beauty has used physical events to win attention in new markets. Cosmetics Business reported that its 2022 UK debut included a cafe and bar on London’s Oxford Street, serving coffee and sweets alongside the makeup. A pop-up like this costs money up front, but it creates photos and visits that customers share, which is free advertising for a brand whose founder already has a large audience.

The lesson for smaller founders is to pick launch moments that people want to post about. A store opening that doubles as an event can earn coverage that a paid campaign would struggle to buy.

Revenue and valuation, compared

Three outlets have published revenue figures, and they do not match exactly. Revenue is total sales before costs; a valuation is an estimate of what the whole company might fetch.

Outlet Figure reported
Forbes (2023 revenue) Nearly $370 million
Bloomberg via Cosmetics Business (2023) $350m
Business of Fashion via Entrepreneur Over $400 million, 12 months to Feb. 2024

The gaps reflect different periods and different sourcing; none of these figures was disclosed by Rare Beauty itself. On valuation, Forbes puts the company at $1.3 billion. Entrepreneur reported that Business of Fashion placed it at $2 billion during the 2024 sale talks.

The sale question

Rare Beauty has been the subject of sale reports, but no deal. In 2024, according to Entrepreneur’s account of a Bloomberg story, the brand held private talks with bankers about an investment or acquisition, and Gomez hired advisers to weigh offers. Cosmetics Business later noted that Gomez told Time magazine, “I don’t have any plans on that, genuinely.”

A founder who owns a majority stake, as Forbes estimates Gomez does, can let bankers test the market without being forced to sell. That freedom comes from keeping control instead of licensing her name. Compare how rhode sold to e.l.f. Beauty and how Fenty Beauty split ownership with LVMH.

Founder lessons from Rare Beauty

  • Price for reach. A $30 ceiling widened the market, according to Entrepreneur’s 2024 report.
  • Let one product lead. The liquid blush was the standout seller in 2022, per press reports.
  • Bake the mission into unit economics. The 1% pledge grows as sales grow.
  • Keep control. Majority ownership, by Forbes’ estimate, leaves the founder free to turn down a sale.

As of Forbes’ most recent profile of its founder, Rare Beauty remained privately held with Gomez as its largest owner.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did Rare Beauty launch?

Selena Gomez launched Rare Beauty in 2020, according to Forbes.

How much revenue does Rare Beauty make?

The company is private. Forbes estimated nearly $370 million in 2023 revenue; Bloomberg, via Cosmetics Business, reported $350m; Business of Fashion, via Entrepreneur, reported more than $400 million for the 12 months to February 2024.

What is Rare Beauty worth?

Forbes valued it at $1.3 billion in its June 2025 profile of Gomez. Business of Fashion reported a $2 billion valuation in 2024 in connection with sale talks. Neither is a sale price.

Does Rare Beauty donate to mental health?

Yes. According to Cosmetics Business, the brand gives 1% of every sale to the Rare Impact Fund, set up by Gomez in 2020.

Is Rare Beauty being sold?

In 2024 Bloomberg said the brand was exploring options with bankers. Gomez later told Time she had no plans to sell, and no sale had been announced in the sources reviewed here.

Sources

This article is general information for founders and is not accounting, legal or investment advice. Net worth figures are estimates published by the outlets named, on the dates shown. They are not disclosed by the people profiled, they move with markets and private valuations, and different publications reach different numbers. Found Founders is not affiliated with anyone profiled here.