Fall is the time for new makeup launches as we transition from summer months to the cooler winter. Celebrity-founded beauty brands have created a lot of buzz in recent years and Ariana Grande’s R.E.M Beauty is not an exception. For a while, it seemed R.E.M was being forgotten with no clear trending flagship products. The newest launch – Sweetener Foundation has been the resurrection of R.E.M as everyone on social media is jumping to try and review this foundation – including me.
Here are my thoughts:
This foundation claims to be a lightweight skincare hybrid. For a foundation that claims to be lightweight, the formula feels very thick. I didn’t find it thick like other foundations, it has a unique texture to it – almost airy and whipped. Despite it feeling like a thick formula, it feels nice and light on the skin – a nice surprise.
In regards to how it applies, the application is very smooth but you do have to work it into the skin more than your more liquid foundations. With this foundation launching at the end of summer/beginning of fall, I think R.E.M. Beauty’s goal with this foundation was to create something more full coverage and matte – a formula that tends to be more popular in the winter months. So the timing of this launch was very strategic with consumers rushing to switch their dewy skin tints to a more matte full coverage finish for the colder months. And that is exactly what this foundation did: it’s a soft matte finish with high buildable coverage. What I found interesting was that it still had that luminosity and dewiness that’s gained popularity on social media instead of being a truly matte foundation – something you’d expect when initially swatching it.
I was worried that this foundation wouldn’t look great on dry skin, but I was shocked to find this assumption wrong. It actually sits beautifully – even on dry skin. Having struggled with finding a more matte foundation suitable for dry skin, this stood out.
You can watch my first impressions and initial review in video form below:
