After months of waiting, dropped clues, and a mysterious Instagram account, Ariana Grande has made it known that she is launching her new makeup line r.e.m. beauty into the universe. Arianators have been anxiously awaiting this drop since August when a cryptic billboard popped up in Times Square with nothing but the words “r.e.m. coming soon” written on it. Eagle-eyed fans immediately understood that her highly anticipated beauty line was on its way, and this week, it is finally here.
Grande has already famously conquered the perfume market with seven popular signature fragrances in the Ariana Grande Fragrance line, including God Is A Woman, which just dropped this past July. As everyone has been loving smelling like Ariana for years, it was only a matter of time before coordinating makeup was required, too. The “positions” singer is known for her super-sharp cat eyeliner and lush lashes, making her a natural ascendant into the beauty space to share her favorite beauty products and tricks.
Not surprisingly, the @r.e.m.beauty Instagram account already has 906 thousand followers. It’s been the place to most consistently check out updates, hints, and early images of the new makeup collection. Last week, the account released an update that the first collection was “one week” away, along with a campaign image of the brand founder, making those nearly million Instagram followers very happy.
Over zoom, Ariana explained: “We wanted to do drops instead of giving you everything at once. We wanted to be super selective and intentional with the storytelling.” The first drop from r.e.m. beauty is titled “Chapter 1: Ultraviolet.” It consists of dreamy, space-inspired beauty products across different categories, but primarily focused on eye makeup. The collection includes liquid and pencil eyeliners, mascaras, eyeshadow palettes and singles, lashes, plumping lip glosses, matte lipsticks, lip stains, and highlighters.
While we’re excited to get our hands on sparkly plumping lip glosses and celestial-looking highlighters, the eye makeup products are the stars of the first launch. When asked why of all of her chart-topping hits, the beauty line is named after “r.e.m,” she says, “I feel like that song really encompasses a lot of my favorite parts of my sound.” R.E.M also is the acronym for rapid eye movement during the lightest phase of sleep. “It’s also focusing on dreams and eyes and the idea that eyes are our most effective communicators,” Ariana adds. “You can say more with the way you look at someone than you can articulate.” Add a strong liquid line and a wispy eyelash to the mix, and there’s no limit to what you can convey.
If you thought the songstress has looked really good lately, it was probably due, at least in part, to r.e.m. beauty. Grande has actually been quietly testing her products for a while now. Of the faux mink lashes (available in two styles, “for now,” she adds) Grande says, “I’ve been wearing all of these products on The Voice,” she says. “I wear them all the time to work.” She teases she’s also been trying “stuff that’s coming in later chapters.” But let’s not get ahead of ourselves for Chapter 2 just yet.
The color palette of the first drop mostly stays within the realm of neutrals and sheer shimmers, with the exception of a few wearable brights, like a twinkly blue liquid eyeshadow or an iridescent purple highlighter. The line is positioned to be your go-to for everyday favorites, like a warm, toasty brown eye palette or ever-important black liquid eyeliner.
However, what makes the products really stand out in a landscape of celebrity beauty lines is the attention paid to fun space-age looking packaging. It’s as fun to look at as it is to pull out of your makeup bag. “A lot of my inspiration was from the ’60s mod era,” explains Grande, referencing Twiggy and Barbarella as touch points. Most of the products are packaged in a silver packaging; the compacts have a distinct, but not bulky, flying saucer-like shape. But, perhaps the cutest are the matte lipsticks, which are encased in capsule-like tubes with a circular window revealing the lipstick color while the tube is closed (genius), while making your lip color look like a teeny space traveler.
r.e.m beauty’s first collection Chapter 1: Ultraviolet will be available to purchase on Thursday, November 12 on rembeauty.com. Products range in price from $15 to $24. In
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