Rare Beauty is debuting a brand new foundation, and it’s arriving right on time. The brand’s True to Myself Natural Matte Longwear Foundation ($38) launches in Sephora on April 2. Simultaneously, leading beauty and wellness booking platform Fresha just reported that searches for matte foundations are up 129 percent year-over-year, indicating major interest in this formula. Ahead of the launch of the brand’s newest complexion product, Selena Gomez sat down with Rare Beauty Chief Brand Officer Joyce Kim to let us in on the behind-the-scenes of creating the foundation, including why she chose a matte formula, how she applies it and more.
There are a lot of foundations on the market, but what sets this one apart is that it’s a three-in-one product that self-primes and self-sets along with providing medium-to-full buildable coverage. But that’s not the only unique feature: It’s also, just like the rest of the Rare Beauty line, housed in packaging that’s meant to be more inclusive for those with limited dexterity. “Our goal is that all of [our products] are very easy to open and accessible,” says Gomez. Kim notes that it’s a “huge” part of the launch, adding that “the shape fits just perfectly into your hand.” They also chose a bottle that doesn’t require a cap and a larger push-button pump that can be pushed down with two fingers, and they also were careful about how much product comes out with one pump. “A lot of learning is actually from the fragrance bottle and from meeting with hand therapists,” says Kim.
Courtesy of Rare Beauty
Alongside the foundation launch is a matching Soft Touch Makeup Blending Sponge ($15), which also arrives at Sephora the same day. Offered in 48 shades, the foundation is easily applied with a brush, the sponge or fingers (or a combination of all three). “I’m a hands person,” says Kim. “I always apply with my hands and then use either our Liquid Touch Foundation Brush ($30) or the sponge itself to blend it out, making it as even as possible.” Gomez, meanwhile, applies the foundation “everywhere” and uses the brush and sponge to finish. Though it’s a medium-to-full coverage product, you can still get sheerer coverage as well: Simply apply with the sponge dampened. The brush will give more of a full-coverage look.
But why matte, and why now? Mirroring this apparent increase in interest for matte formulas, it’s what the customers were asking for, “We were listening to the customers and what they were looking for,” says Gomez. “We had been working on this formula for three years.”
Courtesy of Rare Beauty
Since the foundation has been in the works for some time, Gomez has actually been wearing it over the past year without revealing what was on her skin. She even wore it on her wedding day, which she calls one of her favorite moments with the foundation. “I felt like I was in a movie,” she gushes. But she loved wearing it in the seemingly smaller, everyday experiences as well: “It was also just the moments when people complimented my skin,” she says. “I always felt so excited because I have dark spots and melasma.” She’s even kept a folder of selfies on her phone to document the foundation’s performance.
Rare Beauty’s True to Myself Natural Matte Longwear Foundation and Soft Touch Makeup Blending Sponge are available on the Sephora app on April 1 and at Sephora stores, online and at RareBeauty.com on April 2.
