Fans were thrilled at the announcement of Selena Gomez’s makeup line, Rare Beauty, a step away from traditional celeb makeup brands with its focus on mental health and well-being.

According to the star, the brand’s aim is to challenge unrealistic beauty standards, celebrating our uniqueness.

“Being rare is about being comfortable with yourself,” she said.

“I think Rare Beauty can be more than a beauty brand. I want us all to stop comparing ourselves with each other and start embracing our uniqueness.”

On top of this, Gomez has created The Rare Impact Fund to raise $100 million towards mental health services.

While Rare Beauty is bucking the traditional celeb makeup trend, there has been criticism questioning Rare Beauty as a cash grab, as well as copying Fenty Beauty in design.

There are striking similarities between the brands, but more striking is the hypocrisy of supporting mental health and challenging beauty standards through makeup. 

While Gomez said she used real people in her Rare campaign, the photos show flawless, almost airbrushed faces with no imperfections.

Similarly, Gomez is almost poreless in her own pictures for Rare Beauty, with several on her Instagram showing how highly edited the pictures are.

Gomez is one of the most followed stars on Instagram, boasting 192 million followers.

It’s no secret that social media platforms affect self-esteem, with depression rates increasing 70% in the last 25 years.

In particular, social media photo activities increase negative thoughts as shown in this 2016 review. And with celebrities saturating our everyday lives, it’s hard not to avoid their influence.

A classic example being the Kardashian effect with many fashion and beauty trends coming from the famous family. 

With Rare Beauty promoting the same unrealistic standards it claims to challenge, it’s hard not to question the brand’s motives.

Many beauty and fashion brands are starting to show real bodies with skin texture, while Rare Beauty is playing into classic beauty advertising with overly airbrushed women to boost insecurities.

What do you think?

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