E.L.F. Beauty Co-Founder Trades Mascara Launches for the Priesthood

Scott Vincent Borba, who helped build a cosmetics brand now valued in the billions, will be ordained as a Roman Catholic priest this week following what he describes as a mystical encounter twelve years ago.

Scott Vincent Borba co-founded E.L.F. Beauty, the mass-market cosmetics brand known for its dollar-price-point products, before stepping away from the industry.
Borba describes a mystical experience roughly twelve years ago as the turning point that redirected his life toward the Catholic Church.
His ordination as a Roman Catholic priest is scheduled for this week, completing a journey that began while he was still embedded in the beauty industry.
E.L.F. Beauty has grown into a publicly traded company with a market capitalization exceeding $3 billion since its founding.
The New York Times reported the story on May 20, 2026.

Scott Vincent Borba, one of the founders of E.L.F. Beauty, is being ordained as a Roman Catholic priest this week. The New York Times reported the story Tuesday.

Borba co-founded E.L.F. — Eyes Lips Face — which built its reputation on $1 cosmetics and later went public. The company's market capitalization currently sits north of $3 billion.

He says a mystical encounter approximately twelve years ago set the transition in motion. He did not elaborate publicly on its precise nature, though the Times account frames it as the origin event of a deliberate, decade-long discernment process.

Ordination concludes that process this week. Borba would enter the priesthood without, presumably, a professional interest in the Eye Primer he once helped sell for $1 a unit.