Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez is our "Beauty Company of the Year for Excellence in Packaging." Each year, we ask readers to nominate and then vote for the company most deserving of the coveted title.

Then we asked some of our leading industry advisors about Rare Beauty's widespread global success—including its ‘relatable and eco-conscious’ packaging, its ‘be-yourself’ message, and its strong grasp of social media.

All of the beauty industry experts we reached out to for comments on Rare Beauty’s win agreed that the brand performs at high levels in every aspect—from intent to formula to packaging to social media.

Nick Dormon and Royen Perry of Echo Brand Design, tell Beauty Packaging, “A combination of the brand’s sleek design, premium look and feel, and overwhelming awareness of the brand due to platforms such as TikTok bringing the brand to the top of people’s ‘For You’ page has most likely led to the selection of Rare Beauty.”

And these seasoned leaders are not alone in their thinking.

Surveys, polls and stats point to the same glowing results for the affordable masstige brand featured at specialty beauty retailers including Sephora.

At the end of 2023, the team at Cosmetify deep-dived into the world of beauty on TikTok to reveal which trends, brands and influencers ruled as the biggest performers on the platform. Rare Beauty ranked at #3 with over 3.5 million followers on TikTok, 50.3 million video likes and 5.7 billion views for the official #rarebeauty hashtag.

Visibility, Impact, Trust

At Traackr, an influencer analysis tool, CEO and Co-founder Pierre-Loïc Assayag, told Beauty Packaging, that as of October 2023, Rare Beauty had earned its spot as the top beauty brand among influencers, based on visibility with a VIT score of 1.3 million. [Traackr’s Brand Vitality Score (VIT) is the first metric uniquely created for measuring a brand’s performance in influencers’ content composed of three elements: Visibility (reach of content); Impact (engagement generated); and Trust (quality of content on brand image.]

A large part of the brand’s success on social media, says Assaya, “is due to its building a strong community of influencers with varying audience sizes (nanos, micros, mid, macro, mega, and VIP tiers).” While Selena Gomez still drives the most VIT for Rare Beauty,  Assayag says the brand has diversified its strategy to depend less on the VIP tier (5M+ followers) and increased the number of mega (1M+ followers) and macro (250K+ followers) influencers it partnered with.

“Rare Beauty has been effective in its influencer acquisition and retention strategy by often surprising influencers across all tiers with acts of kindness (e.g., product seeding, unique events and experiences) that amplify the brand’s mission and embody its ethos,” explains Assaya. “Its team has also done a great job of identifying influencers that show natural brand affinity by tracking organic mentions and quickly reaching out to the folks who could be great additions to its influencer marketing program. This strategy has helped grow and diversify its community of influencers, while also maintaining a great arsenal of high-performing and authentic content.”

The Real Deal

All our experts agree that it’s Selena’s personal touch, authenticity and compassion that relates so well to her audience.

“Rare Beauty is one of those brands that just understands the entire consumer experience—from package design to product design to how they communicate with consumers,” comments Elle Morris, Chief Marketing Officer, Olberding Brand Family. “Selena is a subtle but critical presence for the brand. She has a presence on the brand website and in-store displays; her natural beauty conveys authenticity and approachability.”

Morris says, “The line is simple, elegant and offers best-in-class products at a reasonable price point considering that it is a celebrity created line. The line is carefully curated—bringing choiceful innovation to a crowded playing field. Its first breakthrough was its liquid blushes—highly pigmented and easy to blend. Once you tried them, there was no going back.”

Authenticity is key, says Karen Young, The Young Group. “I’m sure I’m not alone in often challenging celebrity beauty brands, but Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty seems to be the real deal.” Young says Gomez’s story is authentic, the product quality is good, and the shade range is extensive. “While the brand appears to skew young,” says Young, “the reach is surprisingly broad.” Given Selena's personal Instagram, where she has 429 million followers (plus Rare Beauty's IG has 6.9 million followers), Young says she’s bound to bring attention to the brand. Distribution in Sephora, Sephora at Kohl's and at RareBeauty,com is a plus.

Young notes: “The brand hits the hot buttons for today’s savvy consumer: Mental health, inclusivity, self-expression, price/value, sustainability, vegan and social responsibility.”

Dormon and Royen note that the coverage of shades/colors of products helps the brand towards an inclusivity initiative, as well as the formulas across the range being vegan and cruelty-free. “The packaging design and most apparently the color palette allows the products to fit into the majority of on-trend aesthetics which allows them to feature seamlessly in social media use. With so much competition in the market, the influence of Selena Gomez will drive consumers to the brand through her fans, and the quality of the product has enabled its ongoing success.”

Gina Rokose Choquette, Creative Services, Aquent Studios, agrees that the “premium value” brand’s presence on social media has been a key to success. She says, “Selena has been the most followed person on Instagram. She spreads mental health awareness, good cheer and mood-boosting messages. She is a trusted advocate for mental health awareness and her social impact has made a difference in this world.”

Further, Rokose Choquette tells Beauty Packaging, “The rapid success is directly related to Selena, herself. Her transparency regarding her health, mind and body, has inspired all humans to focus on their emotional and physical well-being—she is a trusted advocate! This brand definitely connects physical appearance to feel-good effects and emotional well-being.”

Hitting the High Notes

In 2023, Rare Beauty soared to new heights.

“Rare Beauty has had a phenomenal year,” says Anna Mayo, VP Beauty Vertical NIQ. She notes that “the brand is on fire and has truly been one of the standouts of 2023.” She says, “The brand hits on many of the hot trends we have been watching in beauty: a celebrity founder who is intimately involved in the brand, incredibly strong social media presence, accessible ‘masstige’ price points, vegan and cruelty-free formulations, and cause-driven with the brand’s support for mental health organizations.” 

The brand owes much of its success to Gen Z consumers, says Mayo, with much of its sales coming from shoppers under 30. Brand buyers also tend to come from higher income households, as well as Hispanic and Asian consumers, she adds.  

Packaging That Pops

Focusing on the fact that Rare Beauty was named “Beauty Company of the Year: Excellence in Packaging,” Young describes the brand’s look as “clean, simple and approachable.” She points out “a few particularly well thought-through aspects, such as the Under Eye Brightener which has a metal tip instead of the traditional doe-foot applicator,” which according to the website copy suggests: “The custom cool-tip metal applicator instantly soothes on contact.”

Also of note, Young says, is that the Under Eye Brightener and the Lip Balm have one flat side instead of being round. “It’s a nice detail, both for gripping and applying and for preventing the tube from rolling off a surface.” In addition, “The magnetic closures on the compacts feel sophisticated and the sphere on top of some of the packaging provides a design detail and aids in stabilizing application.”

Mayo describes the brand’s packaging as “understated and warm, letting the bright colors of cosmetics really shine through and pop.” In an industry saturated with brands, she says, “Rare Beauty has been able to create truly unique and recognizable packaging that can’t be mistaken for any other brand.”  

Dormon and Royen note, “The brand has aligned to the redefined meaning of efficacy in the beauty product market by maintaining a minimalist approach that allows the product to do the talking. The subtle color palette combined with satin gold leads the trends in 2023, seeing many other brands following a similar look.” 

Minimalism and Inclusivity Are Key 

Minimalism and inclusivity are key to attracting consumers. Dormon explains, “Whilst maintaining their minimalist approach in the packaging, they incorporate a soft geometry with the spheres and arches for a comfortable and practical user experience.”

In general, Rokose Choquette says Rare Beauty differs from other product packaging in the makeup, skincare, and fragrance category, as it “focuses on the positivity of neutral products and colors to enhance your natural beauty and uniqueness, to be yourself—not unrealistic perfection. The packaging looks and feels calm and beautiful, easy to use, no pressure and it’s for all skin colors.”

In addition, she notes that the brand’s packaging reflects clean and natural beauty for all, with an understated elegance. “It’s a feel good, quality brand, focused on all humans!” In 2023, specifically, she says, “The neutral cream-colored primaries and white cartons enhance the natural trend appeal. The color-coded cartons for the lip products stand out for easy viewing and selection, supporting the resurgence of lip color as mask mandates were lifted. The soft smooth finishes of the primaries and the subtle linen texture of the cartons convey an understated luxurious feel.”

According to Morris, “Rare Beauty is simple, functional, elegant packaging. The lines are smooth and non-fussy. The consumer immediately gets what this brand is about and that the benefit is about the product, and how it enhances your existing beauty versus adding unnecessary bells and whistles.”

Morris emphasizes that “The simple elegance of the package is what separates Rare Beauty from its competitive set. The brandmark itself conveys the no fuss, no-nonsense attributes of the brand. The sleek white compacts with intuitive curves take on almost a natural femininity— nothing heavy or falsely constructed.”

Generational & Global Appeal

Morris says Rare Beauty is simple to navigate with quality products. “It is not intimidating, nor does it rely on expert application techniques to be successful,” she states. “It is up to the user to determine if they want to go for a natural beauty look or if they prefer to amp it up.”

While 4-year-old Rare Beauty is often considered a Gen-Z brand due to the founder and her strong social following, its products have cross-generational appeal.

Morris says, “As a Gen Xer who uses several Rare Beauty products in her daily routine, the brand definitely has wider generational reach. The products are quality and not a fad or trendy; i.e., as a 55-year-old, I’m not seeking a crazy eye shadow palette to experiment with—Rare Beauty delivers classic and simple-to-use and rely-on beauty products.”

“The brand hits the hot buttons for today’s savvy consumer: Mental health, inclusivity, self- expression, price/value, sustainability, vegan and social responsibility.”
—Karen Young, The Young Group

The brand’s videos are also credited with expanding reach and success—but it’s the products and packaging that loyal users return for.

According to Dormon and Royen, while trending viral videos, TikTok and other social media platforms have largely contributed to Rare Beauty’s success, the quality of the product and premium appearance of the packaging have led to the ongoing success of the brand. They say the variety of product options both online and in-store further facilitates accessibility for a larger demographic. They add: “The brand is marketed at an affordable price point, perhaps a little above its competitors, which one could argue works in its favor by communicating a quality, efficacy and superiority above and beyond its competitors.”

Dormon and Royen say, “Again this is more about Selena Gomez than the products themselves and so a younger market should be captured by the brand. The design is well positioned from a sophistication perspective in that it should appeal to a wide range of age groups. We prefer to segment by attitude rather than age and this brand has clearly set out to do this.”

As far as its worldwide status, Dormon and Royen say, “Selena Gomez is a global brand, so her product lines have a head start in multimarket acceptability and appeal. The design follows modernist lines which could lean it toward Western markets, but we would imagine the luxurious finishes help to balance its appeal toward African and Asian markets.”

What's Next for Rare Beauty?

What does the future hold for Rare Beauty? A fragrance? A buyout? The brand recently added scented haircare and body care. Of course, it’s anyone’s guess.

Dormon and Royen say there is a real confidence about the design. “The brand’s carefully considered palette of color, materials and finishes matched to simple geometric forms give the brand a modern classic feel. We think as long as Selena stays in the public eye, her product brand will have longevity.”

More News

Don’t miss our exclusive interview with Joyce Kim, Chief Product Officer at Rare Beauty.

Read up on our past Companies of the Year: Pacifica, Fenty Beauty and Drunken Elephant.