Though it’s uncommon for celebrities to answer really personal questions about their beauty routines and grooming habits, Selena Gomez took the time to clarify one intrusive question about her appearance.
The 33-year-old star has been in the spotlight from a young age, having appeared in Barney & Friends in the early 2000s. As a teen, she starred in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place and simultaneously launched a career as a singer.
Highlights
- Selena Gomez took to Instagram to answer a question about the dark patch above her lips.
- The singer and actress said she laughed at the question and explained that melasma was the cause of her “mustache.”
- Selena has been open about getting Botox in the past and has denied undergoing other cosmetic procedures.
Following her Disney era, she went on to land more mature roles, including in The Fundamentals of Caring, the successful Hulu series Only Murders in the Building, and the Oscar-nominated film Emilia Pérez.
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The Only Murders actress has previously admitted to getting Botox and asked people to “leave her alone,” urging strangers to stop making assumptions about other cosmetic procedures.
On Tuesday (December 16), Selena kept it real once again by answering a question about facial hair.
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The newlywed star appeared bare-faced on her Instagram Stories as she responded to someone who asked how she shaves her upper lip area.
"Someone made me laugh because they asked me, 'How do you shave your mustache?’” she recalled, explaining, “It's my melasma. I take care of it and treat it, but yeah, it's there."
The Disney alum explained that the dark patch above her lips was caused by sun exposure
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"I totally get it," Selena added. "It's from the sun.” She concluded the message by reminding her fans to use sunscreen and to “be careful.”
Melasma is a minor skin condition that can cause brown or blue-gray patches, particularly on areas of the face, according to the Cleveland Clinic. These patches may appear on the upper lip, as well as the neck, back, and arms.
The skin discoloration can be caused by sun exposure, infrared (heat) light, or hormonal changes.
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Selena admitted that she sometimes gets “lazy” with her skincare routine but stressed the importance of taking the time to apply sunscreen.
"When you are taking care of your skin, you are taking care of your body and your mind and your soul, because I think it's all connected," she told Vogue.
She attributed the discoloration to melasma and said she had forgotten to wear sunscreen
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Last year, the Emmy nominee commented on a TikTok video by a Florida plastic surgeon featuring side-by-side photos comparing her past and present appearance. The surgeon said in the video that she had no idea what Selena had “gotten done."
“Honestly, I hate this," the actress commented. "I have Botox. That’s it. Leave me alone."
"I was on stripes because of flare up," she added, with many assuming "stripes" was an autocorrect for "steroids."
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Selena’s appearance has been scrutinized throughout her career, with people fixating particularly on her fluctuating weight due to Lupus medication, which causes water retention.
Lupus is a disease in which the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs, causing inflammation that can affect the skin, joints, blood, kidneys, lungs, and heart, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The exact causes remain unknown, though genetic factors, hormones, and environmental factors such as pollution are believed to increase the risk.
Selena’s appearance has been under public scrutiny for years, with strangers body-shaming her after her lupus diagnosis
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“When I’m taking [the medicine], I tend to hold a lot of water weight, and that happens very normally. And then when I’m off of it, I tend to kind of lose weight,” the Texas native explained in 2023.
The Call Me When You Break Up singer was diagnosed with the disease in 2013.
Addressing the commentary surrounding her changing weight, she added, “My weight would constantly fluctuate because I would be on certain medications. And obviously, people just ran with it… It was like they couldn’t wait to find a thing to bring me down. I was being shamed for gaining weight because of my lupus.”
"Being true to myself means being unafraid of being me,” she told the fashion magazine.
In 2020, she explained in a CNN essay why she sometimes chooses to go makeup-free.
The singer and actress has said she feels confident in her own skin and views makeup simply as an "accessory"
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Instead of viewing makeup as a way to “feel pretty,” she said she has grown to see it as an “accessory.”
“Now I understand that I don’t need makeup to feel beautiful,” Selena penned. "There’s so much pressure to look a certain way and makeup is often used to hide or cover up perceived imperfections.”
Selena launched her beauty line, Rare Beauty, in 2019
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She shared that she started her vegan Rare Beauty line in 2019 "to change the conversation” about beauty. The website states that its products, described as “breathable,” are designed to make people “feel good, without hiding what makes them unique.”
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Selena has had a memorable year. In addition to premiering the fifth season of Only Murders in the Building, the star tied the knot with music producer Benny Blanco in September after two years of dating.
Fans praised Selena for being honest and "raising awareness about sun protection"
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