Why Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty is betting on Substack as brands embrace long-form content

MacKenzie Kassab, Rare Beauty’s director of creative strategy who authors the “Rare Beauty Secrets” newsletters under the byline “Rare Insider,” told Modern Retail that the idea was informed by the team’s own Substack consumption. “A lot of us in the office read Substack,” she said. “We had a lot of fans in the office, and then on top of that, we’ve always kind of struggled with — we have so many stories to tell, and just where and how do we tell them?”

Kassab described the newsletter as a place to spotlight elements of the brand that don’t always fit on TikTok or Instagram, such as the Rare Impact Fund’s mental health initiatives or how specific products come to life. 

Substack has largely been dominated by independent writers and journalists, but Rare Beauty is part of a growing wave of brands experimenting with the platform as a long-form, editorial alternative to increasingly saturated social platforms. In recent months, companies like M.M.LaFleur and The RealReal have also debuted branded newsletters on Substack, drawn by the platform’s discovery tools and conversational tone. These newsletters are less about driving immediate conversions and more about offering readers a window into the brand’s world, from team anecdotes to product backstories.

The Substack playbook

Rare Beauty’s Substack — which publishes weekly — is still in its early, experimental phase. Although Kassab started plotting the brand’s Substack newsletter back in January, she said much of the original content playbook was “out the window” within weeks of publication as the team shifted course based on reader responses. “We’re adjusting the strategy very regularly,” she said. “I would say daily.” 

Initial reader response has shaped the brand’s evolving editorial direction. One early post detailing how Rare Beauty developed its new Soft Pinch Bouncy Blush garnered an outpouring of interest. “We got such a good response to that,” Kassab said. “People [were] saying, ‘Now you’ve got to do this product or that product. We need to know the story behind this one or that one.’”

Kassab said the newsletter is intentionally authored under the name Rare Insider not to hide the writer’s identity, but to keep the focus on the brand and its community, rather than a single voice. “It’s really not about me,” she said. “I just see myself as this representative for our community. … I’m doing the research for everyone and then sharing back what I’ve learned.”

That philosophy extends to the type of content Rare Beauty publishes. “Our gut check is: Does this make people feel good?” Kassab said. “Is this uplifting, interesting or adding value in a way beyond selling something?” Posts are often inspired by real questions from the community. Some are sourced from Instagram comments, TikTok replies or even Sephora reviews.

According to Lia Haberman, who writes the “ICYMI” marketing newsletter, Rare Beauty’s responsiveness to reader comments and willingness to adjust their strategy based on direct engagement reflects a creator mindset more than a traditional brand marketing approach. “It’s very much that creator behavior of putting something out there, seeing what resonates, tweaking based on the response and continuing the conversation,” she said.

Standing out 

Though Substack is rarely a direct sales channel, brands are finding that the platform can drive meaningful engagement. Kassab said that Rare Beauty has seen steady growth in both subscribers and open rates, though she declined to share specific metrics. “We don’t really have a certain goal,” she said. “We’re just seeing what’s working and what’s not.”

Rare Beauty’s newsletter is still relatively informal in its execution — there’s no separate team or dedicated budget. Kassab also said that Gomez herself is not directly involved in the day-to-day newsletter process, describing the effort as “pretty scrappy” and more internally driven by the brand’s creative team. Still, the brand is exploring more of Substack’s features, such as live chats and video. Kassab said Rare Beauty is also considering guest posts in the future. “We would love to have other people that we see as part of our community come in and share their stories or tips and tricks,” she said.

Still, Haberman said brands should be mindful that Substack’s branded newsletter trend could quickly hit a saturation point. “There is going to be a ceiling,” she said. “There are only so many newsletters that a person can subscribe to and actually engage with.”

As more brands flock to Substack, Kassab is optimistic that Rare Beauty’s narrative voice will be strong enough to stand out in what is becoming an increasingly crowded space.

“It’s inspiring to look at how other brands are doing it and what their unique points of view are,” Kassab said. “I don’t think anyone’s doing exactly the same thing.”