One of the most successful figures in the world of 21st-century glamour has exchanged material wealth for poverty.
From Scott Vincent Borba’s perspective, however, he has merely chosen God over mammon.
According to KGO-TV in San Francisco, Borba, the 52-year-old co-founder of e.l.f. Cosmetics, said he has “never been happier” after donating his fortune to charity and setting off on a journey to become a Catholic priest.
That journey will reach its conclusion on Saturday, when Borba — now a deacon and seminarian at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California — is scheduled to be ordained by the Diocese of Fresno.
“We ran around with the likes of Paris Hilton, and partying with Kardashians, and just doing up the Hollywood life,” Borba said of his former life, according to KGO. He described himself as “a poster boy for luxury living,” “not in any which way humble,” and “very prideful.”
Today, everything has changed.
“I live in a little tiny room with … it’s sparse, nothing in it,” Borba said. “I have a few bits of clothes and a few pairs of shoes. And my life has been culled down to the bare minimum.”
The soon-to-be ordained priest said that in his 40s, he suddenly felt the emptiness of his now-former life.
“I asked our Lord to help me be the man that he created me to be,” Borba said. “And upon that instance, I had this massive flood of love and mercy that came into my life. It was a very mystical experience.”
Borba joined a seminary in Oregon in 2019, according to The New York Times, before entering St. Patrick’s Seminary.
“He said he had given up his possessions — his house, his Aston Martin, his Dolce & Gabbana coats and his suits by Gucci and Ralph Lauren, and has divested from his stocks and 401(k),” the newspaper reported.
According to KGO, David Zachariah Flanagin, Ph.D., a professor of theology and religious studies at Saint Mary’s College of California, called Borba’s journey “a great opportunity to inspire people.”
“And certainly, his call, I hope it’s genuinely successful, because if it is, then he will, hopefully bring in people to know Christ,” Flanagin said.
In a 2019 interview with KPGE in Fresno, Borba spoke at length on God’s blessings, followed by his own descent into worldliness.
“He not only blessed me, but blessed me with money and awareness, and just, every business I had He allowed me to have success with it,” Borba said.
However, the blessed makeup mogul turned his back on God.
“Then, I decided, ‘what is wrong with me?’” he continued. “I was vapid, I had a perverse life, I went to LA, I got sucked into the Hollywood lifestyle, [and] it was almost to a point where I was trying to sell my soul for all of the world, the riches of the world, which is not where we’re supposed to be. We’re supposed to be living for Heaven. We’re supposed to be living for our Lord and Lady. And I was living for myself.”
Readers may view the entire 2019 interview in the YouTube video below. The relevant comments began around the 1:30 mark.
According to Forbes, Borba’s e.l.f. Cosmetics appealed to young, budget-conscious shoppers. In fact, the co-founder planned it that way.
“We wanted to democratize beauty,” he recalled of his inexpensive products.
Then, after a private equity firm acquired a majority stake in 2014, e.l.f. Cosmetics exploded into a market-dominating behemoth, thanks to online influencer-driven marketing that, by 2025, resulted in $1.3 billion in sales.
By then, of course, Borba had long since decided to dedicate his life to Jesus and a life as a priest.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
