On first look, it’s not obvious if Rare Beauty Secrets, the Substack that proclaims to divulge a “semi-authorised” behind-the-scenes look into Selena Gomez’s beauty line, is an official brand newsletter. That’s the point, according to Katie Welch, Rare’s CMO since its 2020 inception.
The newsletter is designed to feel more intimate and insidery than the brand’s Instagram or TikTok channels, as well as its traditional email marketing efforts. Rare wants to tap into the success of Substack to create a more meaningful community, with BTS editions like “What Really Happens On Set” taking readers onto a shoot with its director of global artistry Cynthia Di Meo. The development of hero products might be unpacked, or there might be a breakdown of city-inspired beauty looks for Miami, LA and New York. Beyond beauty content, issues such as mental health among other taboo topics go explored. “It’s OK to Disappoint Your Parents”, follows the story of Rare’s director of social impact Judith Martinez when she turned down law school and had to navigate familial expectations.
Unlike the polished tone of other channels, Substack’s format allows the brand to be raw and transparent by surfacing personal narratives from within the team that mirror its audience’s own lived experiences. The variety appeals to readers with diverse interests, says Rare’s director of creative strategy MacKenzie Kassab, who also authors the newsletter, thus resonating with a broader audience. While the majority of early subscribers came from Rare Beauty’s social media following, the newsletter is gaining traction of its own accord within Substack, with about 17 per cent of subscribers having joined through the platform’s internal discovery channels, per the brand. While Rare Beauty wouldn’t share its total subscriber count, it says open rates have remained high, with the brand witnessing an average of between 20,000 and 25,000 visits per month.
“It felt like a natural extension of the brand,” says Welch. The CMO’s interest in Substack first piqued in 2022, when the platform revamped its app and introduced community features. Welch began noticing how writers like Megan Alida Strachan of What I Put On Today, Katie Sturino of Lobby Coffee, and Noah Brier and Colin Nagy of Why Is This Interesting were using the platform to cultivate tight-knit communities. “As a marketer, I pay attention to attention,” she says.
Substack has emerged as a platform for brands to cut away from the noise of social media while bringing something better and more interesting to inboxes than traditional email blasts. It’s not about the hard sell. Saie Beauty joined the platform in May 2024 and has become one of the top performing beauty newsletters since. Tory Burch started a Substack last year.
“We’re seeing brands use Substack to share behind-the-scenes content, answer fan questions in more thoughtful, expansive ways, and tell richer stories than what’s possible on short-form platforms,” says Christina Loff, Substack’s head of lifestyle. “Long-form storytelling can live alongside podcasts, video series, live shows and shorter posts. This gives brands the ability to deepen their narrative while still engaging in real time with their audiences.”
Substack reports that fashion and beauty publishers collectively earn more than $10 million annually in paid subscriptions. According to marketing firm Semrush, Substack has experienced 40.9 per cent traffic growth year-on-year across all content. Since the launch of the chat feature (a dedicated space for brands to converse directly with their communities) in November 2022, global traffic rose 76.3 per cent as of May 2025.
But as with any trending platform, the question remains whether Substack will reach a saturation point, and how brands like Rare Beauty will continue to differentiate themselves as competition stiffens. As more brands join the platform, they will need to adapt and experiment with the kind of stories they tell. The challenge lies in striking a balance between long-form storytelling and the pressure to deliver immediate, engagement-driven results.
Turning readers into brand fans
While Instagram and TikTok are Rare Beauty’s top social channels — with 8.3 million and 4.6 million followers, respectively — Substack has become the brand’s secret weapon of choice, offering a quieter, more reflective and intimate space for meaningful conversations with its consumers.
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Part of the reason why Rare is able to do that, Welch says, is by having its marketing in-house. Unlike other beauty brands that appoint external marketing agencies to run campaigns, Rare Beauty hasn t hired an outside marketing agency for Substack. This means the marketing team remains closely informed of the consumer’s evolving needs and behaviours, which, in turn, offers greater control of the narrative challenge.
“What’s great about the fact that we create all of our content in-house is that one can inform the other. So we could get a comment, or we could see a higher engagement on a certain Substack post, and it could inform something else,” Welch says. “People who have an interest in learning more because our topics have been so varied in the types of substacks that we’ve posted. You could be interested in business and find the conversations that we have with our chief product officer [Joyce Kim] really fascinating. That’s what is cool for me, that opens the aperture of who we can talk to and how we can talk to them.”
By keeping content production internal, the team is also able to stay agile and base the response on real-time engagement data, such as comments and spikes of interest. The brand can leverage these micro-insights to tailor future content.
Brand loyalty is also fuelled by Gomez herself. When speaking about the founder’s involvement in the brand, Welch shares: “Everything we create at Rare Beauty echoes her sentiment, her ethos, who she is, as much as we can. We are inspired by her every single day.” Gomez’s authenticity resonates deeply with Gen Z, who grew up alongside her. These are the same consumers now entering adulthood, seeking brands that reflect their lived experiences and stand for inclusive beauty standards. And while Gomez does not write the newsletter herself, her presence is woven through the articles either by reflecting her tone of voice or featuring her as the hero image, deepening the reader’s connection to both the brand and the star.
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One post, “Are You a Good Friend?”, was published during Mental Health Awareness Month and tied directly to the brand’s broader campaign encouraging people to check in on their loved ones. By using an evocative, question-based headline, the post was a reflective prompt inviting readers to pause and connect.
“Everything we do, whether it’s product naming to something like a Substack or brand voice, we follow her [Gomez] lead in who she is as a person,” says Welch.
The saturation point
While Substack is a strategic move for Rare Beauty, not all beauty brands can follow suit. Beauty players that chase every trend risk diluting their identities. This can cause a reverse effect: in a market saturated with noise, staying true to a clear brand vision builds long-term trust. “Any brand can try any social platform, but you have to have a reason and you have to show up in a way that’s valuable for your community,” says Welch. “I don’t think every brand has to have it. It’s a lot of work to create content. So, as a brand marketer, you have to say is this true to the brand? Will this serve value to our community?”
As more beauty brands join Substack, there’s growing concern that the platform could become oversaturated with repetitive, brand-driven messaging that lacks authenticity or value. The key for brands here is to foster an honest, two-way dialogue that goes beyond the typical brand comms. “As I like to say, it’s storytelling, not story selling,” says Loff.
As more and more fashion and beauty newsletters crowd our inboxes, writers are expressing frustration with the platform. What’s the way forward?
“If your brand enters Substack now while it’s still shaping its identity beyond journalism and solo creators, you can define your category before it becomes saturated,” says Laura Toma, email strategy lead at Semrush. “Much like the early days of Instagram, when fashion and beauty brands were able to build massive followings before the algorithm shifted and competition intensified.”
Otherwise, Loff recommends brands lean on creators as a way to stand out. “It’s exciting to see brands spotlight creators — many are inviting Substack writers to contribute guest posts or even take on editorial roles, which helps elevate unique voices and strengthen their presence on the platform,” she says. Hinge partnered with several writers on Substack who guest-edited posts for the launch of their publication No Ordinary Love, while American Eagle partnered with Casey Lewis of After School. While Rare Beauty has not shared any guest posts just yet, Welch says she isn’t writing off the strategy.
Substack’s brand future
The investment in long-form, value-driven content could also serve a more strategic purpose and a long view. Though Rare Beauty declined to comment, the brand is reportedly exploring a sale, and a Substack channel doubles up as a proof point: a window into the brand’s emotional resonance, community loyalty and staying power. In a market where makeup sales are softening and investors are watching a crowded category, looking beyond product, a thriving, story-led platform like Substack helps signal both brand depth and cultural relevance.
Regardless, Kassab says, “We see Substack as a long-term storytelling platform, with ongoing goals focused on sharing content that reflects our brand values.”
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