e.l.f. co-founder leaves cosmetics for Catholic priesthood

Scott-Vincent Borba, who co-founded e.l.f. Cosmetics with Joseph Shamah in 2004, was ordained a Catholic priest for the Diocese of Fresno on May 23 at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Visalia, California. Borba entered the seminary at age 42, turning from the beauty business to a vocation he said had been on his mind since he was 10. His ordination has drawn attention because it reverses the familiar founder-to-fortune script and replaces it with a late-life shift into parish ministry.

Borba said he had felt called to the priesthood for decades but delayed the decision while building a career in cosmetics. During formation at St. Patrick's Seminary, he stepped back from media attention so he could concentrate on prayer, theology and spiritual preparation. He also said he sold or gave away his possessions during a period of spiritual restlessness before deciding that ministry was his calling.

The contrast is sharper because e.l.f. has become far bigger than the small-budget startup Borba helped launch. The company began as an affordable beauty brand aimed at mass-market consumers, and e.l.f. Beauty is now headquartered in Oakland, California, with annual net sales of about $1.02 billion in fiscal 2024. In its own investor materials, the company says it builds brands designed to disrupt industry norms and connect communities through positivity, inclusivity and accessibility. Borba’s personal reinvention comes as the brand he helped found remains a visible part of American consumer culture.

Borba was raised by a deeply Catholic family in Visalia, and his post-ordination assignment was reported as Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Clovis, California. His path from beauty executive to priest is unusual, but it is also grounded in institutions that shaped both halves of his life: a fast-growing national company and a local diocese in California’s Central Valley.