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R.e.m. beauty: How Ariana Grande Has Fans Dreaming About Her New Makeup Line

Published on October 20, 2021 at 8:12 p.m.
by Mallory Westry.

Although tiny, singer Ariana Grande is surely living up to her last name with her latest career move. Grande’s new makeup line, r.e.m. beauty, has acquired over 800,000 Instagram followers since its first post a month and a half ago — and the products haven’t even been released yet.

Ariana Grande
Photo of Ariana Grande fromInstagram 

While many other celebrities have created their own beauty lines, Grande undertook the project with her own unique flair. On Sept. 9, she announced her arrival into the beauty industry, posting a six-second teaser video. Since then, Grande has been strategically uploading Instagram posts and stories to slowly introduce supporters to her makeup line — set to launch this fall.

Sparking curiosity
In August, the singer’s team distributed a graphic to be displayed on walls in city locations, such as New York and Paris. These graphics spelled out the acronym “r.e.m.” and were followed by another illegible, distorted word. After viewing the graphic, supporters were able to quickly make the connection to their favorite singer, as she has a song titled “R.E.M,” and the same font was used on her recent album’s promotional materials. In addition, the design was displayed on a billboard in Times Square, where it piqued the interest of even more fans.

Eager supporters took to their social media fan pages to share selfies and other images in front of the walls and in Times Square, exposing the design to yet another group of people who were unable to see the artwork in person. Though fans were excited that their favorite celebrity was noticeably working on a new project, one question remained fresh on their minds — “what does the other word say?”

On Sept. 1, Grande finally spilled the tea. The same artwork made a reappearance in Times Square, but this time unveiling the full name of her makeup line — r.e.m. beauty.

Becoming Instagram official
In addition to the brand’s feature in the Big Apple, r.e.m. beauty’s Instagram account rose to the surface in August. When the account was first created, fans were skeptical of whether it was real. However, after a tweet from Grande’s team stating that the page is “not fake,” the followers began to pile in.

Following the makeup line’s name unveiling in Times Square, the page made its first official post on Sept. 9, which garnered 1.1 million views. Currently, only 12 photos occupy the profile, some of which include Grande wearing the beauty products in Allure’s October issue.

To keep supporters engaged and curiosity high, the account releases snippets of information every few days. For example, Grande recently announced that the first “chapter” of her line is titled “ultraviolet,” and went on to provide a list of the items that will be featured in the first drop. To maintain the element of mystery, half of the product names on the list were blurred out.

Similarly, r.e.m. beauty’s profile refrains from hinting at colors that might be included in the initial release. The account’s profile picture displays an image with a simple, neutral background and ellipses to signify its loading state. All of the other photos on the profile follow a pattern of neutral tones.

makeup line release
Photo by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash

With no official release date, Grande’s efforts to softly launch her makeup company has fans attempting to piece together what exactly the line will entail. Complementary to the name, Grande has left supporters plenty of room to dream up the aspects of the brand’s first drop, as they eagerly await for her next announcement. Due to constant promotion on both her personal and r.e.m. beauty’s social media accounts, Grande has been able to maintain excitement and develop relationships between her followers and the upcoming makeup line.

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