Selena Gomez opens up after facing comments about her ‘moustache’ on social media

“Public figures are often asked intrusive questions about their appearance. This week, Selena Gomez addressed one directly, responding to a follower who asked how she shaves her ‘moustache’.”

The comment, posed on Instagram, referred to a dark patch above her upper lip. Gomez, appearing bare-faced in an Instagram Stories video shared on Tuesday, 16 December, explained that it was not facial hair at all.

“Someone made me laugh because they asked me, ‘How do you shave your mustache?’” she said. “It’s my melasma. I take care of it and treat it, but yeah, it’s there.”

“It’s from the sun”

Gomez went on to explain the cause of the pigmentation, adding context rather than brushing the question aside.

“I totally get it,” she said. “It’s from the sun.”

She encouraged followers to protect their skin, reminding them to use sunscreen and “be careful”.

Melasma is a common skin condition that causes brown or blue-grey patches, often appearing on the upper lip, cheeks, forehead, neck, arms or back. According tothe Cleveland Clinic, it can be triggered by sun exposure, infrared heat, hormonal changes, or a combination of factors. The condition is benign but persistent, and can be difficult to treat.



Gomez, 33, has previously spoken openly about skin issues, health complications and the pressures of public scrutiny, often choosing to address rumours directly rather than allow speculation to spread.

A pattern of public scrutiny

The singer and actress has been in the public eye since childhood, first appearing on Barney & Friends in the early 2000s before rising to fame on Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place. As her career expanded into music and film, including Only Murders in the Building, The Fundamentals of Caring, and the Oscar-nominated Emilia Pérez, so did attention on her appearance.

In recent years, Gomez has repeatedly pushed back against assumptions about cosmetic procedures. Last year, she responded to a TikTok posted by a Florida plastic surgeon who speculated about changes in her face.

“Honestly, I hate this,” Gomez commented. “I have Botox. That’s it. Leave me alone.”

“I was on stripes because of flare up,” she added, widely understood to mean steroids, medication she has taken as part of her treatment for lupus.

Gomez was diagnosed with lupus in 2013. The autoimmune disease can cause inflammation affecting the skin, joints, kidneys, blood and other organs. According tothe Cleveland Clinic, treatment often involves medications that can lead to water retention and visible changes in weight.

“When I’m taking [the medicine], I tend to hold a lot of water weight, and that happens very normally,” Gomez explained in 2023. “And then when I’m off of it, I tend to kind of lose weight.”

She added: “My weight would constantly fluctuate because I would be on certain medications. And obviously, people just ran with it… I was being shamed for gaining weight because of my lupus.”

Choosing transparency over silence

Gomez has long spoken about choosing when, and when not, to engage with public commentary. In a 2020 CNN essay, she explained why she sometimes appears without makeup, writing that she had come to see cosmetics as optional rather than essential.

“Now I understand that I don’t need makeup to feel beautiful,” she wrote. “There’s so much pressure to look a certain way and makeup is often used to hide or cover up perceived imperfections.”

She later told Vogue that caring for her skin was part of caring for her overall wellbeing.

“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 said.

That philosophy underpins Rare Beauty, the cosmetics brand she launched in 2019. The company describes its products as “breathable” and designed to help people feel good without concealing what makes them unique.