Rare Beauty shook up the cosmetics industry with its viral liquid blush. But Selena Gomez’s six-year-old brand hasn’t nailed the complexion category—yet. That might change with the new True to Myself Natural Matte Longwear Foundation, launching April 2. Gomez and chief brand officer Joyce Kim worked on the formula for three years, and Gomez even wore it for her wedding to Benny Blanco in September 2025.
“I got to test it toward the end of Oscars season [2025], and then I started wearing it for everything after that,” Gomez says from her El Segundo, California, office. “It was really hard to keep it a secret because even on my wedding day, I was like, Oh, I want to tell people that I’m wearing it.”
This isn’t Gomez’s first foundation. She rolled out Liquid Touch Weightless Foundation when Rare Beauty first launched in 2020 to mixed reviews. Many, including myself, found it a bit drying and not easily buildable without settling into fine lines, with a cute but not super-effective doe-foot applicator. True to Myself Natural Matte isn’t a reformulation; it’s a totally new product, with Liquid Touch Weightless Foundation being phased out (it’s already gone from Sephora’s website).
Gomez is especially proud of the new component: a pump you press that dispenses just the right amount of product. “Every year, we have a dedicated new launch that’s really custom-built around accessibility in terms of packaging,” she says. In some cases, it’s as simple as adding a mattifying spray over a bottle, so it’s not as slippery, giving users a better grip. In the case of the True to Myself Foundation, Gomez “hates caps,” Kim jokes. This meant the team designed the bottle with a similar lock feature as the brand’s eau de parfum.
“People who have dexterity challenges like myself,…I want my products to feel comfortable for people who have any sort of challenges that way,” Gomez adds. “I think it makes our brand a little bit of what we wanted it to be, which is that everyone feels included and seen.”
As for the new formula, the brand claims the 3-in-1 foundation primes, covers, and sets—self-priming and self-setting—making it a more efficient product. Kim still stands behind the brand’s first foundation for its “beautiful serum quality” and “professional blowout kind of look.” But they listened to their customers, she says, and created a product that’s “easy to use [with] not as many steps.”
Gomez uses one pump all over her entire face and blends it in with the new Soft Touch Makeup Blending Sponge. Kim says it can easily be sheered out that way, or applied with a brush and built to a more medium-to-full coverage.
So, why a matte finish instead of a glowy, dewy one? For a few reasons, Kim says. Three years ago, she saw the makeup trends starting to lean toward a breathable, natural-looking matte and fuller coverage than the no-makeup makeup of recent years. “We’re seeing so many matte, full-beat faces and we’re excited for that,” she explains. “But a lot of our customers are also experiencing Rare for the first time, wearing makeup for the first time, and you can still use this and really sheer it out.” Matte formulas also have longer staying power than dewy ones, so they could lean into the “self-setting” claims.
Rare Beauty says that “advanced film formers act as a primer to extend wear and keep the finish fresh, while finely milled powders lock in coverage all day,” according to a press release. It also promises to be sweat-, humidity-, and smudge-proof without powder. Gomez can attest to that. “On my wedding day, I was sweating like a pig,” she says. “I was so excited, so nervous…My hair was having little curls come out from the sweat, but my makeup was flawless.”
