Long before the sold-out shows and international pop stardom, Demi Lovato fantasized about walking down red carpets with her childhood best friend Selena Gomez. The former Disney Channel stars even planned (and practiced) the pose they would strike: arms linked together at the elbows. When that moment finally came at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards, however, it didn’t quite live up to the fantasy. “We started laughing because we thought we would look so much cooler than we actually did,” Lovato tells ELLE over Zoom. “It was so much better planned in our heads.” Nearly 15 years later, Lovato is teaming up with Gomez’s Rare Beauty for a blush duo almost as iconic as the two of them.
Launching today, October 28, the Delena Soft Pinch Blush Bundle features two shades of the brand’s bestselling liquid blush: Virtue (Lovato’s favorite) and Hope (Gomez’s favorite). Just like the stars themselves, the beige-peach and nude-mauve shades work together beautifully. For Lovato, the project is less a carefully orchestrated reunion than a natural next chapter in a friendship that has spanned nearly their entire lives. After Gomez came to support Lovato at her It’s Not That Deep Tour stop in Orlando in April, the pair reconnected backstage and the collaboration followed naturally. And, in perhaps the ultimate full-circle moment, the friends recreated poses from their 2009 movie Princess Protection Program to bring their Rare Beauty campaign to life.
In an exclusive conversation with ELLE, Lovato reflects on growing up alongside Gomez, revisiting their gloriously cringe-worthy YouTube vlogs, and the beauty lessons she’s learned along the way. She also touches on her journey with mental health and sobriety, her recent dance-pop era, and why she’s perfectly happy not knowing exactly what the next chapter of her music career will look like.
Kaynak: ELLE