SZA Launches her own “Not Beauty” brand with first Lip Shades to Debut on her Grand National Tour
Seems SZA had a secret on her lips during her recent Super Bowl performance with Kendrick Lamar. Dressed in a black-cherry outfit (with matching curls to boot), her glassy nude lips provided a hint that something bigger was forthcoming. And now, as Vogue reports, the singer is ready to spill: SZA is launching a curated beauty brand named Not Beauty.
“I’m not a beauty maven, but I know lips,” the singer tells Vogue. “I know what I like, and I’m diligent about finding the best quality ingredients.” Not Beauty’s first drop is lip gloss, which comes in three carefully considered shades. “I wanted to fill a need with something that works for me and that I use daily. Following your passion and letting it lead you, and letting the story develop itself by following the throughline of risk, trust, and willingness is literally what my entire life and career has been about.”
While we now know she was teasing her beauty line during her Super Bowl performance—she’s actually been subtly promoting the shades ever since. “Every time that you’ve ever seen me with any sort of color recently, I am 100% wearing Not Beauty lip gloss,” she says, adding that the shades In the Flesh and Strawberry Jam are her go-tos because she likes a bit of color. There’s also a clear shade for those who just want a little bit of shine.
Going back to her lip expertise: SZA knew the formula was ready after passing the all-important test: not having to reapply for hours. “As a gloss girly, when I realized that I could do it all and [the product lasts], it said something. When I have lip gloss on, honestly, that’s 85% of feeling attractive—a lip look, not even kidding. Once I have lip liner and gloss I’m, like, ‘Okay! Who am I meeting!?’”
And of course everyone is wondering why she decided on the name, “Not Beauty?” SZA says that the name “was representative of a reminder of: Don’t try to be these other brands, don’t try to be anything,” she says. Don’t just make a random celebrity brand just because you can. My whole life is about being pressure-free but still trying your best, and that’s what Not is about.”
This mantra isn’t only for the brand—it’s a core value in her day-to-day life. “I’m not following anybody else’s blueprint or footprint, and I think there’s so much magic in that rawness of being a beginner in life. There’s so much grace in that. There’s so much power in walking through life with that energy. Our entire lives are ‘constant beginnings’ of something. We as a human collective are [new at this], we’ve never lived before.”
But if you want to get hold of SZA’s Not Beauty Lip Glosses, you’ll have to buy a ticket – for her Grand National Tour with Kendrick Lamar, that is. The first shades – all selling for $23 – will only be available at the Pop Up stores along their tour stops. “Ya’ll asked for the lip combo and it’s finally here!!!” SZA said on Instagram. “I repeat the lip products I’ve been wearing and working on for years are finally here for everyone to try!!!” Later on, the brand will debut other lip products, including stains, liners and creams.
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Photo Credit: Hunter Crenian / Shutterstock.com
