In 2025, celebrity-owned makeup brands continue to dominate the beauty scene. From Rihanna to Hailey Bieber, these stars aren’t just lending their faces to products – they’re launching bold, high-performing beauty lines that reflect their personal aesthetics and cultural impact.
In the past, celebrities were mostly brand ambassadors or promotional faces. Today, they’re deeply involved in everything from formulation to branding strategy.
Why Do Many Celebrities Make Their Makeup Brand?
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Strong Personal Branding
Celebrities have massive and loyal fan bases from all over the world. Once they launch their makeup products, their fans tend to try the product enthusiastically. This led to creating a highly profitable business opportunity.
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Credibility in the beauty industry
Many celebrities are well known for their styles and have become the beauty standard, for example, Rihanna’s glamorous makeup or Selena Gomez’s fresh look.
Some social media influencers are also well-known for their reviews of hundreds of makeup products, which gives them credibility, as judged by netizens, to create products that are considered “trustworthy”.
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Direct Involvement
Many of the celebrities showed that they are genuinely involved in the creative process. They don’t just name products, but also participate in formula selection, packaging, and even shade naming.
Celebrity-Owned Makeup Brands
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Fenty Beauty by Rihanna
Launched in 2017, Fenty Beauty immediately shook up the beauty industry with its inclusivity. Rihanna developed the line with luxury conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey (LVMH), signing a deal in 2016, to produce Fenty Beauty through LVMH’s Kendo division.
Unlike other brands that have only a limited range of foundation shades, Fenty Beauty introduced over 40 foundation shades at its initial launch. Today, the shade has expanded to 50–a breakthrough in an industry that often overlooks darker skin tones.
In terms of sales, within one month of its release, Fenty Beauty’s sales were valued at $72 million, and according to Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVHM, by the end of 2018, the sales of Fenty Beauty had reached almost 500 million euros.
Besides the sales, Fenty Beauty is also considered a success because it successfully combines high quality, strong branding, and a clear social mission: beauty for all.
Up to this day, the brand continues to develop new products, including the launch of a new sister line called “Fenty Skin,” which focuses on skincare. Among the latest products, Pro Filt’R Foundation and Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer remain among the most popular.
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Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez
Launched in 2020, Rare Beauty focuses on authentic beauty and self-love. Named after Selena’s 3rd studio album, she said the brand is not just about make-up, but also about mental health, as a percentage of its sales goes to fund mental health initiatives through Rare Beauty Impact Fund.
By 2024, Rare Beauty is valued at over US$2 billion as it is among Sephora’s best-selling brands. In 2020, Rare Beauty’s blush product, Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush, became a viral sensation on social media due to its pigmentation, propelling the brand to become one of the fastest-growing celebrity beauty brands on social media.
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r.e.m. beauty by Ariana Grande
Carrying a futuristic theme and inspired by dreamland and outer space, Ariana Grande’s r.e.m. beauty brand has a unique visual identity. Released in late 2021, its products are claimed to be vegan and cruelty-free.
Same as Selena Gomez, Ariana also named the brand from her art– a song called “R.E.M” from her 4th studio album. In May 2022, the cosmetic company won the award for “Best New Brand” at the Readers’ Choice Awards from Allure, with Flourishing Lengthening Mascara being awarded for “Best Mascara (Length)”
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Haus Labs by Lady Gaga
As an eccentric icon in the entertainment industry, Lady Gaga brings that same energy to her Haus Labs (formerly Haus Laboratories) brand, launched in 2019. Initially exclusive to Amazon, the brand moved to Sephora and was rebranded with clean, high-tech formulas.
According to reports by the fashion-industry trade journal, WWD, Haus Labs was the third celebrity makeup brand of 2020 with the highest media value (a measure of marketing success), earning over $141.7 million. Some of the popular products are Triclone Skin Tech Foundation and Le Monster Lip Crayon.
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Kylie Cosmetics by Kylie Jenner
Kylie Jenner is one of the pioneers of the trend of celebrities having their own cosmetics brands. Launched in 2015, Kylie Cosmetics went viral thanks to the Kylie Lip Kit, a combination of lip liner and matte liquid lipstick that became a global trend.
Known for its girly packaging and trendy color collections, its matte lipsticks once created a massive “lipstick boom” among Gen Z and Millennials.
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rhode by Hailey Bieber
Launched in 2022 by model and entrepreneur Hailey Bieber with the core products Peptide Glazing Fluid, Barrier Restore Cream, and Peptide Lip Treatment, Rhode successfully achieved $10 million in sales within 11 days of its launch day.
With more celebrities entering the beauty industry, we can also expect more innovation, more skin-friendly formulas, and products that represent all types of beauty.
Whether you’re looking for bold pigments, clean ingredients, or a more profound message behind your beauty routine, these celebrity brands offer something for everyone.
As beauty continues to evolve, celebrity-led innovation is here to stay – just be sure to choose what suits your skin, your values, and your style.
