Before social media became a space for carefully produced campaigns, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato used to make YouTube videos together, talking, singing, and having fun in front of the camera. Nearly two decades later, those very videos have inspired a new campaign by Rare Beauty, which has used their shared past to promote a limited-edition blush set.
The campaign Still Making Each Other Blush draws on the nostalgia of audiences who grew up watching Disney Channel, as well as the recognition of a friendship that had already earned its own nickname, Delena. The two stars’ shared memories have become the foundation of a campaign that recreates recognizable moments from their past almost twenty years later.
In the promotional video, Gomez and Lovato recreate the spontaneous conversations and relaxed atmosphere of their YouTube videos from 2008. They once again answer questions, reminisce about childhood crushes, and sing along to One and the Same, the song they performed together for the 2009 Disney film Princess Protection Program.
References to that period are also present in the campaign’s visual elements. In one photograph, Gomez and Lovato recreate the famous movie poster, wearing modern versions of the blue and yellow dresses worn by their characters, Carter Mason and Princess Rosalinda. Two recognizable parts of their shared careers, their early YouTube content and the Disney film, are thus brought together in a campaign aimed at audiences who grew up watching them.
The creative idea is directly connected to the product. The limited-edition Delena Soft Pinch Liquid Blush Bundle carries the nickname fans gave the two friends and includes two existing shades of the popular Soft Pinch liquid blush, Hope, Gomez’s preferred shade, and Virtue, selected by Lovato, along with an application brush. The set was launched on October 28, priced at $50, exclusively on the brand’s website.
In a statement about the campaign, Demi Lovato said that filming together brought back memories of the days when they made YouTube videos in their bedrooms and experimented with makeup. Gomez described the collaboration as an opportunity to reflect on their shared history while celebrating who they are today.
For Rare Beauty, the brand Gomez founded in 2020, this collaboration brings a new communication context to one of its most recognizable products. Two existing blush shades have been combined into a limited-edition set whose name, promotion, and visual identity stem from the two stars’ shared history.
The campaign also draws on content that has been part of internet pop culture for years. Their old YouTube conversations, Disney costumes, and the song One and the Same have been brought together in front of the cameras once again, this time in a production by the brand Selena Gomez built years after those first videos.
