Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez has become one of the fastest-growing makeup brands in the world. Known for its airy formulas, skin-like finishes, and inclusive shade ranges, the brand has built a massive following on TikTok, Instagram, and Sephora shelves. Products like the Soft Pinch Liquid Blush, Positive Light Tinted Moisturizer, and Warm Wishes Bronzing Stick consistently sell out—often topping “best of” lists across the beauty industry.
But beyond the celebrity founder and the social-media hype, most consumers don’t know the answer to a crucial question:
Who actually makes Rare Beauty products?
Are they manufactured in Selena Gomez’s own labs?
Do the formulas come from U.S. labs, Korean chemists, or Sephora’s private-label manufacturers?
Is Rare Beauty truly a “clean” brand from formulation to production?
This article breaks down the real manufacturers, global labs, and supply-chain partners behind Rare Beauty, using publicly available information, industry sourcing patterns, and regional product labeling.
Rare Beauty: A Brand Conceptualized in Los Angeles, Manufactured Globally
Rare Beauty is headquartered in El Segundo, California, where product development, shade direction, packaging design, and marketing decisions are made. Selena Gomez and the brand’s internal development team test and approve formulas, but Rare Beauty does not own manufacturing plants.
Instead, like most beauty brands sold at Sephora—even major ones—Rare Beauty partners with a network of global OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) cosmetic labs.
These labs are responsible for:
- formulation
- ingredient sourcing
- stability testing
- filling and packaging
- quality control
Rare Beauty then applies its brand standards, marketing, and community-driven philosophy to the finished product.
Where Are Rare Beauty Products Made? Reading the Labels Tells the Story
A clear clue to Rare Beauty’s manufacturing network lies in the fine print. Rare Beauty products carry “Made in…” labels depending on the category. A detailed look at packaging reveals production across the U.S., Canada, Italy, and South Korea—all major hubs for prestige cosmetics manufacturing.
Here’s how it breaks down.
United States: Base Makeup, Liquid Formulas, and Several Complexion Products
Many of Rare Beauty’s best-selling items are labeled Made in USA, particularly:
- Soft Pinch Liquid Blush
- Liquid Touch Weightless Foundation
- Liquid Touch Brightening Concealer
- Positive Light Tinted Moisturizer
- Always an Optimist Illuminating Primer
- Always an Optimist Pore Diffusing Primer
These formulas are typically manufactured by U.S.-based prestige cosmetic labs, known for soft-focus bases, lightweight complexion technology, and silicone-elastic gel systems.
Likely partner labs include some of the largest cosmetic manufacturers in North America such as:
- Intercos (U.S. division)
- HCT by KDC/ONE
- Anisa Beauty for brushes
- Mana Products
- Garcoa Laboratories
- Cosmetic Group USA
While Rare Beauty does not publicly disclose specific vendors, the performance and texture of its products match the capabilities of these major U.S. labs.
Italy: High-End Pigments, Lipsticks, and Powder Products
Many luxury and prestige powder products in Sephora are produced in Italy, home to some of the world’s best pigment labs. Rare Beauty follows this industry trend. Products labeled Made in Italy include:
- Discovery Eyeshadow Palettes
- Kind Words Matte Lipsticks
- Silky Touch Highlighters (powder)
- Always an Optimist Soft Radiance Setting Powder
Italy is known for baked powders, soft micro-milled pigments, and velvet-finish mattes. The country’s top beauty manufacturing hubs include:
- Intercos (Italian headquarters)
- Chromavis
- Ancorotti Cosmetics
- Regi
Italian labs are widely regarded as leaders in color expertise, which aligns with Rare Beauty’s highly pigmented yet refined finishes.
South Korea: Brow, Lash, and Technology-Forward Products
Products featuring film-forming technology, smudge-resistant polymers, or brush-applicator precision often come from South Korean cosmetic manufacturers, who dominate these categories globally.
Rare Beauty products labeled Made in Korea include:
- Perfect Strokes Universal Volumizing Mascara
- Perfect Strokes Longwear Gel Eyeliner
- Brow Harmony Pencil
- Brow Harmony Gel
South Korea is home to some of the best labs for eye products due to advanced polymer science, brush engineering, and tubing mascara formulas. These factories also supply products for many leading K-beauty and Western prestige brands.
Canada: Select Color Cosmetics and Specialty Formulas
Canada is a major production hub for prestige cosmetics, particularly through KDC/ONE and several smaller expert labs.
Some Rare Beauty products, especially certain lip products and balms, have been labeled Made in Canada, indicating production from:
- KDC/ONE (Knowlton Development Corp.)
- Cosmetica Laboratories
These Canadian labs are known for creamy textures, hybrid skincare-makeup formulas, and clean-beauty compliant ingredient standards.
What Rare Beauty Controls vs What the OEM Manufacturers Do
Even though third-party labs execute production, Rare Beauty retains high-level control:
Product Briefing & Vision
Rare Beauty’s product development team creates:
- texture briefs
- performance requirements
- shade development
- packaging concepts
- sustainability guidelines
Formula Approval
OEM labs propose formula prototypes, which the Rare Beauty team evaluates and adjusts until exact targets are met.
Stability Testing and Safety Compliance
Rare Beauty conducts:
- microbial safety tests
- ingredient compliance reviews
- dermatological testing
- global regulatory checks
Quality Control and Assembly
Final products are filled, packed, inspected, and batch-coded at manufacturing facilities before being distributed worldwide.
In other words:
Rare Beauty designs the product. The labs produce it. Rare Beauty controls the final quality.
Does Selena Gomez Own the Factories?
No. Rare Beauty is not a vertically integrated manufacturer. Like almost every Sephora and prestige brand, it:
- designs products in California
- outsources formula development
- uses specialized OEM cosmetic factories
- partners with packaging engineers
- relies on external chemists and regulatory experts
This is the industry standard, even for high-end brands like Fenty Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury, Hourglass, and Pat McGrath.
Why Rare Beauty Uses a Multi-Country Manufacturing Network
Rare Beauty’s global manufacturing approach is intentional. Each region excels in different categories:
- USA → best for complexion products and clean-beauty formulation
- Italy → best for powders, pigments, and lipsticks
- Korea → best for eye products, mascaras, liquid liners
- Canada → best for hybrid skincare/makeup formulations
This allows Rare Beauty to achieve premium-level performance at mid-range pricing, a key part of its appeal.
Transparency: Rare Beauty Publishes Country-of-Origin Labels
Unlike some celebrity brands, Rare Beauty clearly lists the country of manufacture on every box and product component. This level of transparency reassures customers that:
- the products meet regional safety standards
- they come from reputable cosmetic labs
- the manufacturing claims are accurate
It also reflects Rare Beauty’s overall mission of authenticity.
So—Who Actually Makes Rare Beauty Products? The Full Answer
Rare Beauty products are made by a network of global third-party cosmetic manufacturers, not by Selena Gomez or in Rare Beauty-owned factories. The brand operates on a design-and-development model backed by top OEM labs worldwide.
Products come from:
- United States → foundations, blushes, primers, tinted moisturizer
- Italy → lipsticks, powders, eyeshadows
- South Korea → mascaras, eyeliners, brow products
- Canada → balms, specialty formulas
Rare Beauty controls formula development, shade creation, safety testing, and quality—but relies on expert cosmetic factories to execute production.
Conclusion: Rare Beauty Is Designed in California, Made Globally, and Engineered by the Industry’s Best Labs
Rare Beauty is not just a celebrity makeup line. Its formulas reflect a sophisticated, multi-country supply chain that taps into the most advanced cosmetic manufacturers in the world.
The result is a brand that delivers:
- cutting-edge formulation
- exceptional color payoff
- featherlight textures
- cruelty-free standards
- global manufacturing expertise
Understanding who makes Rare Beauty products provides deeper appreciation for the brand’s quality—and the global craftsmanship behind every bottle of foundation or tube of liquid blush.
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