Scott-Vincent Borba’s – Scott-Vincent Borba, the 52-year-old co-founder of e.l.f. Cosmetics, says he felt “increasingly empty” despite wealth and Hollywood access—then made a dramatic pivot. After becoming Catholic and donating much of his fortune to churches and charities, he was or
When Scott-Vincent Borba walked away from the kind of life that comes with red carpets and celebrity parties, he says he wasn’t running toward something flashy. He was trying to answer a question that kept coming back—one he asked himself long before he ever stepped into a seminary.
Now, the 52-year-old co-founder of e.l.f. Cosmetics has been ordained as a Catholic priest by the Diocese of Fresno. His ordination took place on May 23 in his hometown of Visalia, California.
Borba’s path began with one of America’s most recognizable beauty brands. He co-founded e.l.f. Cosmetics in 2004 and helped turn the affordable label into a multimillion-dollar business. He grew the company into a success story built on accessible beauty and cruelty-free products. and the brand reached $100 million in sales by 2014. according to Forbes.
But Borba told CBS News and Today that success didn’t fill the emptiness he felt. “Was I created just to work and to party and to repeat and then die?” he recalled asking himself during an interview with CBS News. That question, he said, set him on a path away from Hollywood and the beauty industry—and toward the altar.
Borba said he was raised in a deeply Catholic family and first felt called to the priesthood at age 10. He rejected that call at the time and went instead toward business opportunities in Los Angeles, according to CBS News. While working multiple jobs. he said he was inspired after seeing shoppers fill their carts with discounted cosmetics at a 99-cent store. From that observation, he helped create e.l.f. Cosmetics—an abbreviation for Eyes, Lips, Face.
The brand’s rise also came with a very different kind of identity for Borba. He told CBS News he later became known for a lavish Hollywood lifestyle. including red carpets. celebrity parties. and media appearances. He described himself as a kind of poster child for luxury living. “We ran around with the likes of Paris Hilton. and partying with Kardashians and just doing up the Hollywood life. ” he told ABC 7 in May. “I was a poster boy for luxury living. I was not in any which way humble. I was very prideful.”.
Even with the spotlight, Borba said nothing was enough. “I always wanted more. It was never satisfying enough,” he said. “I couldn’t make enough money. I couldn’t be on enough red carpets.”
That restlessness sharpened after a family crisis. Borba said his father, Anthony Borba Sr., was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and he returned home to help care for him. His father died in 2010, leaving Borba devastated, he told CBS News.
In the period after his father’s death, Borba said he began partying even more to escape his grief. But during one gathering at his Hollywood Hills home, he described a moment he didn’t expect to come: he looked around at the party and realized how deeply unhappy he was.
Borba said he asked God to help him become the man he was created to be, and that he then experienced what he described as a mystical encounter that changed the direction of his life. Following that conversion experience, he said he donated wealth to charities and churches before entering seminary.
On Today, Borba said God “can take a broken person and change it,” and he described himself as having once lived in a “spiritual gutter.” He also said his goal as a priest is to help others facing hardship and suffering.
Weeks after his ordination, Borba celebrated his first public Mass, encouraging others searching for peace and purpose to strengthen their faith.
Across the timeline—from the 99-cent store that helped inspire e.l.f. Cosmetics to the May 23 ordination in Visalia—Borba’s story carries a single thread: the same hunger he described for more money and more red carpets ultimately pushed him to look for something he said he couldn’t buy.
e.l.f. Cosmetics Scott-Vincent Borba Diocese of Fresno ordination May 23 Visalia Catholic priesthood Hollywood lifestyle charitable donations business founder