Gwen Stefani's Makeup Brand, GXVE, Is A Celebrity Brand We Believe In

Gwen Stefani has made it very clear that she ain't no hollaback girl — instead, she's a multi-hyphenate artist and serial entrepreneur. Her latest project — a makeup line named GXVE — is one that has been years in the making. And unlike some other celebrity beauty brands, hers makes sense.

"This was a lifelong dream that I wasn't even aware of," she tells InStyle. "I didn't even think it was something that would be possible in my lifetime."

Stefani has been a makeup girl her whole life, and her bold looks are part of what made her stand out so much in her early career. "I got criticized a lot for my makeup and my red lips," she tells us, but the power of a red lip was immediately evident to her the first time she tried it, and she never went back.

"My grandma gave me the lipstick for Christmas, and I remember the exact moment I was in my car looking in the rearview mirror in the driveway, and I put this lipstick on and was like, "Oh my gosh, there you are for the rest of your life.'"

And so, red lipstick became nearly synonymous with Stefani's look for years, but the idea to launch her own wouldn't come to mind until 2016. She tells InStyle that seven years ago, when her family broke apart following her divorce, she went through some very trying times. "It was a time of reassessing everything that I've done," she says. "I wanted to start something that was new, that was mine, that was true to who I am, that was going to be the rest of my life project, that I would be able to be a gift back."

It's that idea of giving back that inspired the brand's name, GXVE. According to the brand, the "GX" represents the way Gwen has forever signed her name – "G" and "x" – a kiss. The rest was inspired by the idea of giving back.

"Makeup is so much about giving," she explains. "You wake up and you put a face on to show who you are that day, what you need to face the day, and you don't really see yourself the rest of the day unless you're on a Zoom — you just give that to people. And then they take that, you seeing when people show up and they made an effort. It's like, 'thank you.' And I say, 'you're welcome, look what I did for you.'"

To shop: $26, sephora.com

GXVE was made by a makeup lover, for makeup lovers. "It's going to become this community of people that are like-minded, that love beauty, makeup, self-expression, that are creative, talented, want to share," Stefani says.

And while the market is oversaturated by celebrity beauty brands, she doesn't feel the need to stick up for her own to set it apart from the rest. "I think people know the truth — people can see what's real and what's not. I'm here to surrender and do what my purpose is, so I think the difference is that this is a passion project," she shares. "I don't need to do this, I'm not trying to sell you something. I'm trying to create something that is going be my actual legacy, and I think people are gonna see that."

Not to mention, she knows makeup. Before No Doubt, Stefani was already playing with makeup, and she was even a makeup artist for a while. And it's her evident love for and expertise in makeup that will make people will trust her products.

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"When L'Oréal, Revlon, and Urban Decay came to me (for partnerships) and I did those projects, it was like, 'wow, you should pay me more because you've got somebody that can talk about makeup all day long. Like, this is my passion, this is what I know." Now, with her own brand, she knows her products are top-tier and believes that her fans can trust that.

"This makeup is gonna be the best, most high-performance clean makeup because I'm gonna wear it because I care about myself," she says. "People will come to me because they're gonna go, 'Ok, all these years she's always been consistent — she's never she's never lied to us about this."

Available at Sephora.com and gxvebeauty.com, the collection boasts eight product categories: eyeshadow quads, gel pencil waterproof eyeliners, ultra-fine brow pencils, sculpting eyebrow pencils, a hydrating and smoothing face oil, a liquid matte lipstick, a satin lipstick, and a matte lipstick.

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