Selena Gomez reveals arthritis and how it inspired her beauty innovation

Selena Gomez is using her own health struggles to make beauty more accessible to others.

On the September 9 episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler, the Rare Beauty founder revealed that her lupus diagnosis left her with arthritis in her fingers — something that directly influenced the design of her brand’s products.

"I have arthritis in my fingers, and that’s due to my lupus,” Gomez, 33, explained. “So, I remember before the brand, I was trying to open a water bottle and it hurt really bad before I was on the right medication."

That moment shaped her approach to packaging.

“We somehow inherently made the products easy to open, and then we realized, wait — they kind of have to be that way,” she said. “And then we started to make every product with the intention of [working for] anybody who [has] dexterity problems.”

Launched in 2020, Rare Beauty has grown into a $2 billion brand. Its newest fragrance, released in August, was designed without a cap — instead, it features a simple button mechanism that Gomez says makes her especially proud.

“I know that might seem like a little thing, but it’s really not,” added the Only Murders in the Building actress.