November 13, 2019 |
Calling all Animals, Kesha is back. The American singer’s new album High Road is dropping January, but that’s not all. As part of her return, Kesha Rose Sebert (yes, that’s her full name) is blessing us with not only a positive outlook and reclaimed joy through new music, but also a debut line of make-up, Kesha Rose Beauty, launching December 3rd. Though she doesn’t want to call it a beauty brand, its aim is to focus on expressing yourself, an underlying message that’s apparent in her music. “It’s about redefining what beauty means to you. Beautiful is happiness and happiness is beautiful,” she told Refinery29.
A positive re-start for a pop-star who has a rocky few years behind her, this beauty venture seems to be part of a tidal wave of new kind of commercial projects set by pop-stars. The beauty and celebrity partnerships have dominated our feeds over the past five years with momentum like no other, seeing the likes of Rihanna and Kylie Jenner basically taking over the world with their beauty empires. While celebrity fragrance was a pinnacle of fame for decades, the bigger picture has overthrown. Thanks to social media allowing us to enter way deeper into our favourite strangers’ lives, we don’t just want to smell like their favourite icons anymore. We want the full beauty coverage – every single layer making us sparkle like the rich and famous.
Both Cher and Sophia Loren kicked off the celeb fragrance game at a smaller scale, but it was Elizabeth Taylor who took a deep leap into the beauty world back in 1987 with the launch of her debut fragrance in collaboration with Elizabeth Arden – Passion. By selling these complex notes of florals and wood bottled up in a purple glass flaçon, she was one of the first offer the world a ticket to her own opulent lifestyle. Three years later, it was supermodel Iman who launched an eponymous cosmetics line for “women of skin of colour,” inspired by the lack of diversity in the industry as well as her personal experiences backstage at all the biggest fashion shows. Since then, many a celebrity have taken a turn – some more successful than others – to present their vision of beauty, including Salma Hayek, Eva Mendes and Drew Barrymore. How could we forget Jessica Simpson’s edible beauty line from 2004, Dessert Beauty. We could all do with some lipgloss for breakfast, right?
In 2015, Kylie Jenner’s lip kits first came into the world, before renaming her brand to Kylie Cosmetics a year later as part of an expansion beyond the signature plump lips. But it’s of course the high priestess of all things right Rihanna that officially started the next wave of celebrity beauty as she launched Fenty Beauty in September 2017. The two brands have arguably been the biggest in the field, taking the logical role of owning their own looks instead of just slapping their faces on top of other brands’ products. These moves are not just successful for their ego boost though – Fenty made $570m in just last year, while Forbes estimated the value of Kylie Cosmetics at $900m.
Joining Kylie and Riri in the run to rule the (beauty) world, Millie Bobby Brown launched Florence by Mills, targeting a younger audience than your usual make-up moguls and hoping to make all the Gen Z queens look a solid Eleven out of 10. Coming soon after are Lady Gaga’s Haus Laboratories which finally dropped this September, in all its monster glory. Along with Gaga, a whole army of RuPaul’s Drag Race queens are taking part in this game too – Trixie Mattel, Willam, Alyssa Edwards, Miss Fame and Aquaria have all imagined palettes or full ranges, giving their fans an opportunity to fully recreate their looks. And for those who might not think glitter is the way to go, there’s Victoria Beckham Beauty for perfect smokey eyes and flawless nude lips.
With 2019 seeing more celebs than ever trying to get involved on the hype, rumours have it that Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez and Cardi B are all in the process to get trademarks in the field. As the celebrity fragrance slowly declines and the make-up ventures reach their peak popularity, we can’t help but think of what next? Bath salts? Soups? Vegetables? Perhaps a bit less extreme than an Emma Stone-branded cans of carrot soup, Tracee Ellis Ross just might have the answer. In a trailblazing move of her own, the descendant of disco royalty is celebrating the natural beauty of afro hair with Pattern, a haircare line designed for curly, coily and tight textured locks. And who doesn’t want to rock their hair like a Ross?
Kesha Rose Beauty will be available to buy online from December 3rd.
