Celebrity Created Beauty – Can It Be Trusted?

images: Goop / Juice Beauty

By BR Tabatha

I have a love/hate relationship with Gwyneth P. On one hand I am in awe of her. She’s so sparkly and clean looking. I bet she could bathe in a mud puddle and come out shining. Her Instagram is filled with pictures of her hanging with friends, looking like they’re having fun and I think about how awesome it would be to join her crew. On the flipside she’s the creator of GOOP. The name alone gives me a case of the shudders. It all seems so… aspirational. Or pretentious. She’s a mother, an actress, she can belt out a tune, she has a lifestyle website and now I read that she’s teaming up with Juice Beauty to create a range of natural skincare. According to this Woman’s Wear Daily article it’s because she’s yet to find ‘a [beauty] product that is as luxurious and high-performing as it is clean”. 

I. Can’t. Even... It’s all too much. The snobbery gets to me. You can’t seriously tell me there’s not a natural organic skincare range out there that’s not good enough for Gwyn? Because I can think of at least three off the top of my head – all Kiwi ones at that.  The thing is, it’ll probably be amazing, and amazingly expensive, but they could offer it to me for half price and I’d still stick with my natural organic Kiwi favs, because apart from being a big supporter of Kiwi companies, the people behind the brands are 100% focussed on creating beautiful products. It’s their jam. Whereas the celebs of the world who collaborate with others to create a product, whether it be perfume or a range of water or skincare seem to do so in order to expand and improve their brand. 

Of course it’s not only celebs that collaborate with companies to create something beauty-related. It happens with beauty vloggers (some who also happen to be makeup artists) too. ColourPop, Gerard Cosmetics and Becca have had collabs with the likes of Kathleen Lights, Manny MUA and Jaclyn Hill. Would I buy their products? Yes. Absolutely. Because beauty is their life. It’s their ‘thing’. I’d like to think that celebrities with sidebars going on, especially those who are serious about their ‘brand’, wouldn’t let something less than fabulous hit the market, but part of me suspects that a beauty vlogger is even more invested in their product so it’s going to be better, because one serious misstep and their reputations are gone. Boom. Kablooey. Whereas if Gwynnie’s skincare line fails to take off? It’s no biggie, a dent to her ego maybe, but then all she has to do is win as Oscar or star in a fan-friendly franchise film and she’s back on top again. 

The funny thing is I have no problems with the likes of Lorde or Miley collaborating with MAC or Gwen Stefani working with OPI, because it feels like while they no doubt are getting the opportunity to say ‘yes I like that colour’ or ‘no way would I wear that’, you’re getting a tried and true product. It’s still a MAC lippy, it’s still an OPI nail polish. It’s a mutually beneficial coming together of a beloved company and a popular star. But creating something from scratch because there’s nothing else out there good enough for you? No. Thank. You.

I read my ponderings back and wonder if I’m just having a grumpy old Aunty Flow is on her way day. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with a celebrity who wants to be everything to everyone, who wants to dip their toe into all the pools in the world while at the same time coming across as a complete doorknob because nothing out there is good enough for their precious porcelain skin… To be fair this week alone I’ve had to stop following a whole bunch of lifestyle bloggers because I just don’t trust that their opinion isn’t bought anymore, so perhaps this Tab-rant is an extension of that feeling?

I don’t know. Help sort my thoughts out my Beauties. Are you a fan of collabs or celebrity creations? Do you only like collabs with people who are serious about the product? Does a celebrity sway you to buy something no matter what? Or do you prefer to only indulge in beauty products from companies that are passionate about what they do and why they do it?

Tell me I’m wrong, tell me I’m right, tell me I might sort-of-maybe-kind-of have a point. Just … tell me… xxx