9 September: Selena graced the cover of the ‘Best of Beauty’ edition of Allure Magazine

Selena graced the cover of October issue of Allure Magazine – ‘Best of Beauty’ edition.

Today’s festivities are also something of a homecoming party for Gomez, who has been in New York for four months filming season five of Only Murders in the Building, the hit Hulu show she stars in alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short. “I’m sorry that I decided to be an actor and a singer now,” Gomez later tells the crowd of employees who have gathered in the company kitchen, “because I wish all of my time could be here.”


For anyone under the age of 30, it’s probably hard to remember a time when Selena Gomez wasn’t on your screen or in your earbuds. Gomez, now 33, was born in Grand Prairie, Texas, and landed a spot on Barney & Friends at age 10. But her big break was at 14, when Disney came calling and she was cast as teen wizard Alex Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place. The show ran for four seasons; Gomez was 19 when the finale aired.

By “go back” Gomez means appear as a guest star on the recent reboot, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, for which she also serves as an executive producer. “I genuinely feel like I owe a big part of my life to that show,” she says. “It’s a home. It’s safe. And my sister just gets a kick out of it, so half the reason I’m doing it is for her.”

Gomez’s sister Gracie is a preteen, so I have to ask: Is she (like seemingly every 12-year-old on the planet these days) already into makeup and skin care? “She’s majorly into beauty,” says Gomez, though “she isn’t allowed to wear anything outside the house other than a little blush and lip gloss. That’s it. But she’s able to have fun…. And trust me, when she’s here [at the office], I can’t get her out of the product closet.”

Gomez continues, “My favorite part about her, though, is that she wants nothing to do with my [other] job. I was so worried when I had a sister…I didn’t want anything to cloud her vision. But she’s such a kid being a kid. I didn’t get to do that. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but I’m just glad she has a bit of a childhood.”

Gomez and her mother have gone to great lengths to make that possible for Gracie, including shielding her from social media—the perils of which Gomez knows all too well. Around 2021, she took a three-year break from Instagram because, she says, “I found it to be very icky.”

She still takes social media breaks now and then. At the time of our meeting, for example, she’d been off Instagram for about three weeks (her team keeps the account active in her stead, posting pre-approved messages and promos for projects). “I want to feel content in whatever position I’m at in my life, and I want to be present,” Gomez explains. “Taking a break from social media helps do that for me.”

The difference now is that Gomez doesn’t feel the need to announce when her breaks start and end—or anything else, for that matter—to the world. “I finally feel like I’m in a place where I don’t need to be apologetic for every single thing that I do,” she says.

Is she glad their relationship began when it did and not, say, five or 10 years ago? “Definitely. I don’t think I would have been remotely mature enough,” she says now. “It’s weird to think that only five years ago I wouldn’t have been in the right place, but I’ve learned so many lessons [since then] that led me to being the best partner I could be for Benny. And I believe the same with him.”

She adds, “He’ll say, ‘Gosh, why did we waste so much time?’ And I always say, ‘You wouldn’t have liked me back then.’ I was all over the place.”

“I’ve dealt with a lot of weight issues in my life, and that’s something I’m very sensitive to.”

“I deal with a lot of [dexterity issues] myself, and it can get frustrating. Even just popping open a can can hurt…. I know what that feels like.”

“I’m very glad it came out, but that’s not necessarily who I am now,” she says. “To be honest, I can’t watch it. But it’s only because I’m not there anymore.”

Gomez refers to the film as a “time capsule,” one that she hopes “helps people understand or be willing to figure out what’s going on with themselves” by watching her do the same in real time. “Oh, that really dark thought? I thought that. Those really high highs? I’ve had those,” she says. “I try to make people feel seen so they don’t feel what people say ‘crazy’ is.”

“I got stung by a person saying I was fat. Why is that [emotion] coming up?”

Today Gomez tends to her own mental health through dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), which the Cleveland Clinic characterizes as a form of talk therapy focused on “helping people accept the reality of their lives and their behaviors, as well as helping them learn to change.” She describes it as “peeling away layers” and connecting the dots.

“I got stung by a person saying I was fat. Why is that [emotion] coming up?” Gomez recalls, demonstrating the sort of dialogue she has with herself when a bad feeling arises. By the way, that’s not a hypothetical example—Gomez says comments about her body have always been particularly triggering: “I’ve dealt with a lot of weight issues in my life, and that’s something I’m very sensitive to.”

Gomez is, of course, no stranger to doing the work in all facets of her career, including her beauty brand. “I am going to be in this moment. And who knows, in a couple years I could be done, and that’s fine,” she says. “I just need to make sure that while I’m here, I do the best I can.”

In this new season of life, that’s what Gomez wants for herself too. “I want to keep evolving and getting better in every area of my life. And I want to experience everything, so it’s important for me to keep myself in check,” she says. “I’m so stoked that when an emotion pops up, I’m able to acknowledge it and be a part of it, then let it go.”

Read the full article at: www.allure.com

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