Review: We Tried Ariana Grande’s First R.E.M. Beauty Drop Before Its Launch — See Photos

It is actually surreal, having an intimate group Zoom assembly with an A-list superstar like Ariana Grande. It is much more surreal when that superstar busts out right into a Jennifer Coolidge impression mid-makeup swatch. However that is precisely what occurred on November 2, as Grande revealed to a small group of magnificence editors every little thing within the first drop, aka “Chapter One,” of her new cosmetics model, r.e.m. magnificence. The much-anticipated line, which the singer’s been teasing for months and retaining secret for about two years, is nearly right here.

As you have in all probability already gathered from a few of its preview photos, r.e.m. magnificence is like one in every of Ariana Grande’s sultry, spacey pop albums wrapped up right into a line of funky, science-fiction-esque merchandise for the eyes, lips, and face. And sure, she is aware of she’s not by any means the primary superstar to launch a makeup brand. “I do not ever need to simply bounce into one thing that’s common, or no matter — it has to really feel tremendous intentional and fueled by ardour,” Grande says in the course of the assembly. She insists that r.e.m. “feels so trustworthy and so true to me and my life.”

Chapter One consists of 12 merchandise, all of which Grande cheerily showcased to a couple of dozen skeptical magnificence critics. On my display that day, creamy eye shadows, shimmering highlights, juicy glosses, and extra glided throughout her arms with pigment and ease – if I hadn’t been making an attempt so onerous to stifle my laughter at her spot-on impersonation of Coolidge, I’d’ve been visibly impressed. Fortunately, simply moments after my informal Tuesday afternoon assembly with one of many world’s greatest entertainers, a package deal filled with the identical r.e.m. magnificence merchandise landed on my doorstep for me to strive first-hand upfront of the model’s grand debut on November 12. 

Actually, the model despatched its first drop (effectively, most of it) to 3 Attract editors with wildly completely different tastes in make-up, software methods, pores and skin tones, and pores and skin sorts. Beneath, we break down every little thing we tried from the road, which additionally contains lipsticks, false eyelashes, eyeliners, and lots extra.

Eyes

Eye makeup, the first focus of r.e.m. magnificence’s first chapter, is available in six codecs: a pocket-sized six-shade eye shadow palette, liquid eye shadow, two various kinds of eyeliner, mascara, and falsies. The most important staple of all of them, the Midnight Shadows Eye Shadow Palettes ($24), are available three shade schemes: Babydoll (the nice and cozy impartial choice proven beneath), Midnight Snack (darkish and funky mattes and shimmers), and Principessa (lighter, heat mattes and shimmers). 

Every of those shadows is extremely pigmented and evenly pressed — a fast dip of a brush into the components will grant you sufficient powder to cowl all the eye. You possibly can preserve their shade payoff refined and translucent by mixing outward or construct them as much as full opacity by packing them on with a finger or damp smudging brush.