Selena Gomez and her Rare Beauty line kicked off the spring by launching its gorgeous new eyeshadow palette. Now, the beauty line is upping its primer game with its new Always an Optimist Pore Diffusing Primer—and celebrating the launch with a stunning In My Prime campaign shot by beauty influencer and photographer Alissa Ashley.
Gomez handpicked Ashley to capture her subjects “in their prime.” In the video above, Ashley and Gomez discuss their career journeys and what they envision for the campaign.
“I had this idea for a campaign, and it was going to be called In My Prime, and I wanted it to be a photography series of basically people showcasing who they are in their prime, whether they’re just wearing the primer and nothing else or they do a full face of glam from the eyeshadow palettes,” Gomez told Ashley. “I just wanted it to be about being in your prime and how you feel more than how you look. I thought your photography was incredible, and I thought this would be a right fit, that we would get to do this together, and I want you to have full creative control, which is the best part because I kind of can step back and see what you do.”
Ashley told Gomez that photography had been a longtime passion of hers: “I’ve always liked photography, and my aunt bought my first camera off of eBay from this random guy. But I really, really liked it. And then somehow, some way, I got into makeup. I think it was maybe because I watched my mom do it, and I liked that a lot and then I went to college a little bit, but then I was like, ‘okay, this isn’t really feeling fulfilling,’ and I knew I wanted to do more makeup stuff and then people would ask me to do YouTube videos. [And I was like,] okay, I guess I’ll do that too so I did that and then I don’t know, I feel like it just happened so quickly.” Ashley’s career took off, and at this point, Ashley has 1.1 million Instagram followers and over 2.08 million YouTube subscribers.
Ashley added that in 2019, “I reached a point in my influencer, YouTube career where I feel comfortable and now I want to feed more of my photography passion.” Initially, Ashley was known for her self-portraits, but “I wanted to take pictures of other people.…I get more enjoyment out of that these days because it’s different. It’s weird. Being in front of the camera, it’s natural now, but being behind is just so much more fun.”
Ashley’s In My Prime campaign, with its first look images debuting on ELLE.com, is a first for Rare Beauty. “We’ve never done anything like this, so it’s going to be really exciting, and I think that it’ll be an opportunity for a bunch of other people to see you and to see the work you’re doing, and I think that it’s going to be a blast,” Gomez told Ashley.
Ashley, with full creative control over the shoot, photographed two subjects for the campaign, Chloé Vero and Deli Lèvon, wearing the primer.
Ashley spoke ELLE.com about why she tapped Vero and Lèvon for the shoot. “I was drawn to the campaign concept at first,” she said. “I love celebrating the idea of ‘in my prime’—when you’re in your in flow, feeling your best. It’s the way I feel when I am behind the camera. It’s my passion and Selena recognized that! I wanted to work with Chloé because her story, as a model who’s also a talented bass player, is so unique. And I came across Deli Lèvon on Instagram! His personality shines through his images; I wanted to use this campaign to get to know him better.”
Rare Beauty’s Pore Diffusing Primer is a light-weight gel, made with hyaluronic acid and a botanical blend of lotus, gardenia, and white water lily, that helps soothe, calm, and nourish skin of all types. It’s the product to start makeup application with and gives skin a matte texture, blurs pores’ appearances, and helps keeps your makeup on longer. It’s one of Rare Beauty’s biggest makeup essentials and available at Sephora, Sephora’s JCPenney locations, and on Rare Beauty’s site. Shop it below:
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