“Welcome to the world of vivid dreams and limitless possibilities,” R.E.M. Beauty might just be Ariana Grande’s dream come true. 

In another episode of celebrities launching make-up lines, Ariana Grande recently released R.E.M. Beauty. Named after her favourite song from her Sweetener album, R.E.M. Beauty is the pop singer’s new project outside of music. In a highly saturated beauty community and even higher saturated celebrity beauty community, what makes R.E.M. Beauty stand out? And is it worth the hype? 

In an Elle interview, Grande said that she was so nervous about stepping into the beauty industry. She said that she didn’t want to jump into something just because it’s popular, “it has to feel super intentional and super fueled by passion” she added. And that’s how it should be. Many celebrities these days have their fair share of successful and not-so-successful launches in the beauty industry. After Rihanna’s massive success with Fenty Beauty, the trend just kept rolling in. Plenty tried and failed and it wasn’t until after Selena Gomez launched Rare Beauty where I finally felt like this, this is what a well-meaning celebrity brand should be like. Fenty and Rare Beauty are only some of the few make-up brands that I consider to be successful in their own right without needing any headline buzz from their founders. It’s authentic and it works well. Ariana Grande just put herself into this giant concentrated industry and let’s hope popularity votes won’t be the only ones that will upsell her brand. 

Photo Credit: R.E.M. Beauty

So, how can a celebrity beauty brand stand out? For R.E.M. Beauty it’s all about the visuals and their unique packaging. Consumers these days are not only looking for a product that works, these days aesthetics, feel, and experience is just as important. Grande and her team managed to stand out in these aspects. R.E.M. Beauty’s packaging has this sort of retro sci-fi feel to it. The “On Your Collar” matte lipsticks are packaged in a curved matte silver packaging with a glass top that is reminiscent of an astronaut’s helmet. Grande calls it “space human-alien pod” and I think that’s accurate. Their launch video also has this retro-futuristic dreamscape that is just so on-brand for Grande and just as appropriate for the brand’s identity. The names of the products and the shade names are also very on-brand for the artist. The liquid eyeshadow’s shade names are all after popular texting abbreviations like brb, <3, and ttyl. 

Photo Credit: R.E.M. Beauty

Now, what about the products? Surely, visuals are not everything. Fortunately, the products seem to hold up with the brand’s vision. The brand’s first drop called “chapter one,” includes a total of 13 products that are all very close to Grande’s heart. From the eyeshadow palettes to the plumping lip glosses, these products are what most fans see her wear regularly. Grande also claims that these products are world-tour tested. After 2 years of working on it, the singer has tried and tested each batch to make sure it’s up to her busy, stage-life standards. Looking at it as a whole, there’s a sense of cohesiveness and authenticity to it. I can see Grande wear these products every day and I think for a celebrity brand, that’s important. If anything it’s crucial that I see them wear it, because if they don’t then why bother launching it to your fans, you know? 

The question of whether R.E.M. Beauty is worth the hype will ultimately be up to the consumer. In my own opinion, it is at least worth a try. It’s beautiful and artistic with impressive formulations. Besides, we’re only on Chapter One, there’s still a long way ahead but I’m sure Ariana Grande can see it through.

You can buy R.E.M. Beauty at their official website.

Published by HOLR Magazine.