08/12/2025
On August 7, Selena Gomez launched her first-ever Eau de Parfum for her Rare Beauty brand, exclusively at Sephora.
As Gomez posted on her Instagram account, “I’ve been dreaming about this moment for so long and I’m so excited to share it with you. Our first ever fine fragrance is finally here, meet Rare Eau de Parfum.”
As Harper’s Bazaar reports, while this is her brand’s first scent, it’s not Gomez’s first foray into the fragrance industry. The singer and actress launched her eponymous scent, Selena Gomez Eau de Parfum, back in 2012, but has been waiting to make her return in the fragrance world.
“The last fragrance I did was when I was around 18 years old, and I wouldn’t want to put out another one until it fit and it was right,” she says. Since her last scent, Gomez’s fragrance taste has changed, too. “It’s gotten a tad more sophisticated,” she explains. “When I was younger, in my early 20s, I was attracted to the fruity, sparkly perfumes.”
Fruity and sparkly, it is not. Rare Beauty’s new Rare Eau de Parfum is a warm, spicy gourmand with a hint of musk that Gomez and the team have been developing for two years. Gomez says of the fragrance, “It’s warm and decadent with a touch of spice with notes of creamy caramel and pistachio, gives way to an unexpected duality of rich vanilla and spicy ginger, then dries down to an earthy sandalwood.”
Part of the two-year process was creating the ergonomic bottle, designed in collaboration with hand therapists to make it easy for everyone to open. As Gomez posted on Instagram, “This bottle means a lot to me. It was thoughtfully created with accessibility in mind, so it feels just as good in your hand as the fragrance smells.”
“I have dexterity problems from my lupus, and sometimes it’s hard for me to open a bottle of water or use anything,” she explains. The bottle also features a twist-and-lock mechanism, ensuring the cap stays securely in place and won’t come loose or go missing.
Alongside the eau de parfum, four layering balms are available: Floral Peony Blossom, Amber Vanilla, Fresh Bergamot, and Woody Oak, which can be applied before spritzing any fragrance to enhance the scent’s complexity. “My favorite combination is woody and the Rare scent together,” Gomez adds. The lightweight petroleum balm also provides fragrance longevity, lasting up to 12 hours of wear.
Gomez says the layering balms came from the desire for customers to create their own unique scent, as she is no stranger to struggling to find her signature scent. “There are just too many options and it takes energy to pick a fragrance,” Gomez says. “For a while, I didn’t know what to pick because I didn’t know if my boyfriend, my friend, or the people around me would like it. I liked men’s fragrances sometimes. It was very confusing. As I’ve gotten older, I love taking care of my body, and scent is a huge part of that. It can be something as simple as the fresh bergamot, a layered experience, or just Rare of the perfume.”
Over the last few months, Gomez has been testing the scent around her fiancee Benny Blanco, friends, family, and even on the set of Only Murders In the Building, where she earned a compliment from someone on set who couldn’t quite place the “unreal” scent.
“It’s been so fun getting people’s opinions—it makes me feel connected to people,” she says. “Some of my best memories were when I was wearing this scent from a little test tube, like when I got engaged or my 32nd birthday. It’s something that felt like a piece of me. I wanted everyone to enjoy it, so I was just hoping that it would embody the place of life that I’m in. I’ve always wanted to show where I am through the things I do. The scents that I wore in the past may have felt like the old me, but this time in my life, with everything that’s happened in the past two to three years, this is my scent. I’m excited for people to see the next step of Rare.”
You can shop for the Rare Beauty Eau de Parfum ($75), Mini Set ($35) and Layering Balms ($19) exclusively at Sephora.
