Selena Gomez Explains Her 2018 Met Gala Self-Tanning Mishap: 'I Am Completely Orange'

Selena Gomez famously shaded haters who criticized her tan complexion at the 2018 Met Gala with a cheeky social media post. Now, as the 2021 Met Gala returns in less than one week, the singer and Rare Beauty founder is spilling the details about the self-tanning fail she will never forget.

As Gomez, 29, showed viewers her night-out makeup routine for a Vogue Beauty Secrets video, she decided to share "a funny story about a little self-tanner."

"For the Met Gala I was getting ready and we wanted to add some color. So [I] put on some of this tanning lotion and it looked really beautiful and very even," the star explained. "As the evening kept going on it was getting a little darker and darker."

Since Gomez was focused on striking a pose on the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art staircase before entering the gala, she "didn't notice" how dark her tan had developed. "I'm at the Met Gala — basically one of the most prestige, beautiful events and I'm walking trying to look all beautiful," she said.

By the time Gomez sat down at her table inside the event, she had a chance to take a peek at the red carpet photos of herself popping up online.

"I look at a photo of myself when I sit down and I am completely orange," she says, laughing. "I was like, 'This is going to be terrible because I'm going to get eaten alive about this.'"

Instead of dwelling on the beauty blunder, Gomez decided to poke fun at the mishap.

"So I had my security take a video of me, because my first reaction was just to get the hell out of there," she said. "And so I'm running to my car. I'm literally just hauling ass to my car and then gonna put it online. I was saying this is my reaction after seeing my Met Gala photos."

At the time, an insider told PEOPLE that Gomez shared the Instagram clip running to her car as a message to her internet haters.

"In person, she honestly felt great but not everything looks the same as it does in person," the source said. "She was just clapping back at people who were commenting on her tan and hair and wanted to make a joke about it."

As for her custom Coach dress, Gomez "loved" the design and how it honored the theme.

"She had two outfits to choose from and decided on Sunday which one she was going to go with," the source shared. "She loved the dress and was very involved with it."