Have you ever had your fantasies turn to reality right in front of your eyes? Because the world’s two biggest passions, makeup and pop culture, are colliding in the most exhilarating way, nearly as though I manifested it to be. Ariana Grande, Hollywood’s major pop girl, actress, major starlet and the woman who redefined the look of the slicked-back pony hair style, may now add make-up to her list of accomplishments. Given that she has successfully started her own cosmetics line called R.E.M beauty.

Ariana has used influences from 1960s fashion, vintage space franchises a la Star Trek, Star Wars, and Halloween horror flicks throughout her career. So it’s only natural that Ariana’s affinity for wacky, science-fiction-esque items for her eyes and lips inspired the R.E.M beauty brand.

Ariana launched the Chapter 1 line last November. It’s safe to say that Ariana and R.E.M beauty have a cult of their own up to this day. In anticipation of the release of R.E.M’s Chapter 4 that includes a concealer, a smoothing primer, a blending sponge, and pressing sheets—-Beauty Insider decided to get through all the beauty products to check if the brand is really worth the hype?

Get To Know R.E.M Beauty

Creatively enough, the moniker of the line actually refers to our sleeping patterns—with the swift eye tracking (or R.E.M.) stage being “the phase of sleep during which your most imaginative, boundless, and vivid dreams occur,” according to the brand’s website. 

But for real Ariana’s fans you’ll know that the name is also a nod to her song “R.E.M.” from her 2018 album Sweetener, in which she sings about not wanting to be awake from her fantasy life affair. The cosmetics company now seeks to fully ‘’empower you with the skills you need to bring your most vivid, unlimited, and creative fantasies to reality,” having initially started in November 2021.

As iridescent highlighters, glittering cream eyeshadows, and plumping lip glosses in metallic textures and out of this planet colours take the spotlight, the goods in the range clearly live up to Ariana’s concept of inclusion and innovation. Furthermore, the entire range is vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, and recyclable.

Eyes Collection

The very first chapter of R.E.M Beauty focuses on eye makeup, which comes in six different forms—a portable six-shade eye shadow palettes, liquid eyeshadow, two different forms of eyeliner, mascara, and false lashes. 

Eyeshadows

midnight shadows eyeshadow palette / smitten kitten - product open

The Midnight Shadows Eye Shadow Palette, the most popular of them all, is available in three colour palettes: Babydoll (the soft, neutral assortment), Midnight Snack (bitterly cold matte finishes and glitters), and Principessa (lighter, warm mattes and shimmers). Each of these shadows is extremely saturated and gently pressed. A fast dipped brush into the mixture will provide you with adequate pigment to coat your whole eyelid. By fading forward, you may maintain their colour payoff light and transparent, or boost them up to full intensity.

Eyeliners

at the borderline eyeliner marker / midnight black - product open

Of course, Ariana Grande’s cosmetics collection would be complete without her iconic full-pigment, effortless, black liquid eyeliner signature, which she has supplied with her At the Borderline Eyeliner Marker. This eyeliner’s padded pen is amongst the most versatile in the collection, and its formula is so unbelievably black! Because these are highly turbulent liner sets, it’s impossible to remove without the need for an oil-based cleaning. You probably need a lot of micellar water to remove the liner after a night out. Seriously, if you love a good cat liner look, you definitely need this Eyeliner Marker. 

Eye Pencil

at the borderline kohl eyeliner pencil / teddy bear - product open

The At the Borderline Kohl Eyeliner Pencil is readily available in three shades: Midnight Black, So Mod, and Teddy Bear and is just as long-lasting as the liquid version. With a vigorous stroke, the spongy consistency melts into the skin, revealing full-colour richness.  You can either blend it as fast as you can before it dries out or  wear it on its own because this pencil can achieve smokey or striking styles.

Liquid Eye Shadows

midnight shadows matte liquid eyeshadow / brb - product open with wand

Midnight Shadows Liquid Eye Shadows were greater than for the rest of the range,  which to my surprise, is greater than any liquid eyeshadows available in the market.  These small little tubes, which come in 10 matte and 11 metallic colours, are incredibly easy to keep and carry. Shades include neutrals (copper, gold, sparkling black), warm tones (rose-gold, iridescent baby pink), and brilliant, striking, cold tones (galactic purple, deep ocean blue). With a dash of hue, all the essentials are met.

Mascaras & Fake Lashes

flourishing lengthening mascara / midnight black - product open

Given the number of mascaras that have reached the scene in the last six months, you may feel as if you’re drowning in a pool mascara right now. But don’t be concerned, R.E.M  beauty’s Flourishing Lengthening and Volumizing Mascaras aren’t like the others. It comes in an angled brush with short, evenly dispersed bristles as any indication—grabbing individual lashes to develop thickness at the tips. 

r.e.m. dream lashes / grow n show - product closed

Ariana also has two distinct pairs of Dream Lashes if you’re the sort that feels exposed without false eyelashes. One of them, Eternally Meowing, is narrower and shorter in the inner corner and wider and longer towards the outer corner, replicating the singer’s characteristic cat-eye form. Grow N’ Show is the name of the other pair, which are wide and feathery with a small curve at the outer corner.

Lips Collection

Lip Glosses

utmost importance plumping lip gloss / utmost importance - product closed

One of Ariana’s trademark look is glossy, berry-stained lip that she ascribed to two items that weren’t yet released, the first of which was Utmost Importance Plumping Lip Gloss, a tingling clear gloss that she claimed you can overlay over essentially anything or apply on its own. “Utmost Importance is the ideal clear topcoat. It’s very ’90s, and it has the most delicious warm vanilla aroma “Ariana elaborates. “It’s its own entity because of how important it is for the lip.” 

practically permanent lip stain marker / booked n busy - product open

The other product is the Practically Permanent Lip Stain Marker, a pink and red lip paint. “I’ve always favoured lip stains over lip liner or lipstick because they’re always there for you,” Ariana explains.

If you prefer a little colour in your gloss, try one of the nine On Your Collar Plumping Lip Glosses, which are available in nude, red, pink, and a few glittering tones like Chuckie, Ari’s favourite in the line. Alas, we were unable to test these glosses. “The plump was extremely essential to me since I remember being in middle school and having DuWop Lip Venom on and it was the finest sensation to me,” she laughs.

Lipstick

on your collar matte lipstick - arm swatch

The curved silver tube for On Your Collar Matte Lipstick shade Bubbly, a nude-pink, features a round, see-through aperture at the top, displaying the lipstick bullet sitting beautifully, like an astronaut in his flying gear. The collection features six nude tones in light, medium, and intense shades that feel like satin and require only a tiny quantity to wrap the lips completely in colour. They’re matte, but they don’t dry enough for all-day comfort in our opinion. 

Highlighters

interstellar highlighter topper / miss saturn - product open

With the Intersetallar Highlighter Toppers, Ariana is making a strong rebound for dazzling, shimmering, see-from-space highlighters. The 10-shade collection, all titled after planets, contains standard highlighter colours like champagne, bronze, and icy pink, as well as others you’d think could only be found in an alien’s beauty guide, including ice mint, colour scheme lilac, and a green-tone platinum. 

Ari’s use of a wide colour palette was deliberate. “We wanted them to have a wide spectrum so you could use them to create original eye looks,” she says. “They can be used almost everywhere.” These elegantly etched powders, like the eyeliners, are pressed softly for a foundation product. They shatter and melt when touched, resulting in a significant colour result.

Our Verdict

It’s easier than ever for celebs and influencers nowadays to put their names on a brand portfolio and call it a day, but trust us when I say that R.EM. has one of the most preconceived directions I’ve seen in a celeb-founded firm. Everything in the collection is reminiscent of Ariana Grande—a blend of traditional and adventurous hues, futurist packaging, profoundly personal shade designations, and several tributes to Ari’s own legacy are just a few of the little elements that the singer’s greatest admirers will appreciate. 

Each component unveiled by the brand is pigment-rich, adaptable, and can last the entire day. In other words, RE.M beauty, like Ariana Grande, truly has it all. 

Where To Get R.E.M Beauty In Malaysia?

For Malaysian fans, you can straight away purchase R.E.M Beauty from rembeauty.com. Each product retails between RM 60.00 to RM 100+. you can also sign up for email to keep track with the brand’s launch. 

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