e.l.f. Beauty continues to pioneer the digital landscape, being the first beauty brand on BeReal, the buzzy photo-sharing app gaining popularity among Gen Z, pushing their connection and relevancy with their superfans.

The French photo-sharing app BeReal launched in 2020 and is reported to be valued at over $600 million. Aiming to go viral targeting Gen Z with an anti-Instagram stance, the app is gaining traction with more than 10 million installs and growing 315% year to date, according to Apptopia.

Intent on keeping its number-one status as the favorite makeup brand among Gen Z consumers, according to Piper Sanders’ Semi-Annual Generation Z Survey, e.l.f Beauty meets its fans where they are, taking a bet on BeReal.

Once you download the app, you get a random notification once a day to "BeReal." The app gives you two minutes to snap and post a photo of whatever you are doing at that moment using both the front and back cameras. There are no filters and no edit buttons.

e.l.f. Beauty’s new BeReal channel, @elfyeah, will offer followers exclusive access to what happens behind the scenes at the beauty brand, including sneak peeks of hot product drops, photo shoots, and happy-hour hangouts. "In the age of authenticity, followers of @elfyeah can expect to see a mix of unfiltered, unretouched moments at e.l.f. headquarters and in-the-moment messages to connect with our superfans," said Laurie Lam, Chief Brand Officer, e.l.f. Beauty. The brand kicked off the launch with a giveaway of a 5-piece skincare kit from its best-selling line, Holy Hydration, to their first 150 followers and superfans through a post with a limited-time promo code.

"Gen Z wants to know what is really happening in each other's lives," said Evan Horowitz, co-founder and CEO of Movers+Shakers. "They're tired of fake, overly planned and edited content on other social apps. BeReal allows people to share their unfiltered, real lives, and now brands can offer fans the same level of transparency."

Currently, the app is free with no ads, making the monetization strategy unclear, which is often the case with nascent social media apps. Only time will tell if this is the next big thing, or if BeReal will suffer the same fate as the once-popular Clubhouse.