As a writer who frequently covers beauty, I’ve tried my fair share of celebrity beauty brands. While some lean on the name of their founder to bring in consumers and others focus on bringing innovation to the beauty space, you can never really judge a book by its cover, which is what brought me to r.e.m. beauty by Ariana Grande.
The brand, which launched back in 2021 fresh off of the singer’s Sweetener tour, has had a recent surge on social media that has made it kind of hard to ignore. With so many fans raving about its multitasking products and 100% vegan formulas, I decided to give r.e.m. beauty a try for myself.
I tried six of the brand’s most popular products:
- Dreamglow Highlight Serum
- Mélange à Trois Blush & Highlighter
- Essential Drip Glossy Balm
- On Your Collar Plumping Lip Gloss
- Sweet Dreams Eyeshadow Quad
- Starlet Lustrous Liquid Eyeshadow
After incorporating them into my routine for a week, here’s what I think.
Dreamglow Highlight Serum
Available in four shades (Aura, Goddess, Honeypot, and Quartz), the Dreamglow highlight serum is billed as a multipurpose serum that can be worn alone or mixed with foundation to create a dewy look.
I tried the shade Rose Quartz, which has a light pink/rose gold shimmer. Instead of mixing it with my foundation, I opted to use it on top of my skincare as a primer before adding my face makeup. With my first application, I was truly impressed. The serum is very lightweight and absorbs into the skin easily without leaving behind a tacky or sticky feel. I also found that it complemented my skin tone, showing up as an illuminating and hydrating sheen as opposed to creating a white cast. I paired it with my Huda Beauty Easy Blur Natural Airbrush Foundation, which created a beautiful dewy finish.
My main takeaway is that the serum wears very comfortably and is easy to apply with a brush or your fingers. It didn’t irritate my skin or appear to cause any breakouts after wearing it in my makeup routine for a week. It kept my skin feeling hydrated and looking dewy throughout my 8-hour workday, but I did notice that towards the end of the day I could see little flecks of glitter in my foundation.
Mélange à Trois Blush & Highlighter
Another dual-use product, the Mélange à Trois Blush & Highlighter combines both cheek color and shimmer into one step. It is a cream formula that comes in six shades (Love Spell, Satin, Petal, Spicy, Sweet Talker, and Tease) and promises to deliver a blendable flush of color.
I tried shade Tease, which is a “bright crimson with a warm golden shimmer,” according to the brand. Initially, I was nervous that the color would either appear too bright or not show up at all, which can be an issue if a blush isn’t pigmented enough. To my surprise, this blush-highlighter hybrid fell right in the middle. I found that applying it directly to my skin revealed a soft flush of color, as promised. The golden shimmer didn’t appear chunky or too glittery, but instead provided a natural-looking sheen that I really liked. It was also very easy to blend and buildable. After adding two swipes and tapping them in with my fingers, I was able to get the coverage I liked.
I did notice, however, that if I applied the blush straight from the bullet on top of foundation, it transferred onto the packaging and moved the foundation around. To avoid that result, I found it best to warm the product on the back of my hand and apply it with a brush instead.
Essential Drip Glossy Balm
The Essential Drip Glossy Balm comes in 10 unique sheer shades (Skinny Dipped, Shirley, Cherry Cola, Hocus Cocoa, Juice Box, Strawberry Soda, Cotton Candy, Cosmo, On Thin Ice, and Fembot), including one that appears light blue in the tube. I settled on Fembot, an iridescent pink with flecks of blue glitter, for this story.
My first impression was that the gloss glided on smoothly and left my lips with a gorgeous mirror shine. It was also very hydrating and produced a slightly cooling effect. I really liked that no matter how many layers I applied (as a gloss girlie, it’s always more than a few) it never felt sticky on my lips.
On Your Collar Plumping Lip Gloss
Differing slightly from the glossy balm, On Your Collar Plumping Lip Gloss is available in four shimmering shades (7 Rings, Chuckie, Fembot, Jelly Sandals). These glosses are said to have a plumping effect and give the look of fuller lips, according to the brand.
In trying the gloss for myself in the shade Fembot, the consistency seemed to be much more runny and oil-like compared to the soft, cushiony consistency of the glossy balm. I also preferred the shimmer ratio of the glossy balm, which appeared more subtle than the metallic glitter of this gloss. If you’re into bold metallics, I think that the color range offered are fun and could easily be beautiful toppers over a matte lipstick.
I will say though, for a plumping gloss, I did appreciate that it had a cooling, tingling sensation as opposed to the warming, spicy sensation that some plumping glosses can have. It also delivered on making my lips look slightly fuller with use. I found that it wasn’t sticky, but the thin consistency had it dribbling off my lip line after a few applications.
Sweet Dreams Eyeshadow
For those fond of eyeshadow palettes, r.e.m. beauty offers the Sweet Dreams Eyeshadow Quad, which comes in four color stories (Babydoll, Earth Fairy, Fembot Fatale, and Night Cap in Tokyo). They are small enough to travel with and feature a mirror in the compact, making it easy to touch up on the go.
I found that each shade in the quad paired well together, making it easy to create an eye look without adding additional colors. The color payoff was rich (I didn’t need to add multiple layers for it to show up) and a brush wasn’t necessary to blend one color into another. Another feature of these eyeshadows that I really liked is that the fallout was very minimal, which allowed me to complete my eyeshadow look after foundation and concealer without worrying that my base would be ruined.
Starlet Lustrous Liquid Eyeshadow
Liquid eyeshadow is notorious for being difficult to manuver, but the Starlet Lustrous Liquid Eyeshadow takes that gripe head on. The vivid, multi-dimensional shimmers, which are available in eight metallic and iridescent shades (Comet, Fembot, Glitch, Horoscope, Lab Coat, Muse, Nebulous, and Siren), are blendable, and wear comfortably.
I tried the shade Lab Coat, which appears as a shimmery white in the tube, but blends out to a subtle glittery pink. I loved that I was able to apply the shadow with the applicator and tap it in with my finger to diffuse it across my lids. It didn’t dry down super quickly, so I had time to move it and place it exactly where I wanted it. And it never felt stiff or uncomfortable on my eyes throughout its wear.
Final thoughts
If you’re looking for makeup that has fun colors, embraces glitter, and is easy to use I think r.e.m. beauty is the place to look. The chrome packaging created a fun, futuristic aesthetic that would look cool on your vanity or even in your makeup bag and I found that it fit into my routine seamlessly and didn’t require a lot of trial and error to get it right.
I loved how easily the eyeshadows and blush applied, without needing to use a brush, and I found the color payoff to be impressive. While I would personally choose the Essential Drip Glossy Balm over the On Your Collar Plumping Lip Gloss, I liked that the plumping gloss came in such bold glittery shades and I think they could work nicely as a lipstick topper.
Overall, r.e.m beauty makes any makeup routine fun and approachable, which is why I think it’s worth it.
