“I don’t do this! Oh my god, I’m new here.” Ariana Grande didn’t have the most confident of starts with her first YouTube video for R.E.M. Beauty. But for better or worse, the platform’s beauty community comes with the territory of launching a makeup line, and so the “Positions” singer persevered — with the help of makeup artist and YouTuber Gottmik — in a chatty Tuesday (March 1) video titled “Wingin’ It” to show off her new products.
“I’m really proud of this s–t,” the two-time Grammy winner said of her brand, which launched in November, after laughing and tearing up over the video’s rocky start. After getting some words of encouragement from her guest — “I’m so glad you got that off your chest,” the RuPaul’s Drag Race alum laughed — the pair proceeded to test out and talk about their favorite products from the line.
While doing each other’s makeup, Grande revealed that she began working on R.E.M. Beauty over two years ago — all the way back when she was still touring in support of her 2018 album Sweetener. “Tour was a great time to test things on stage,” she told the drag star, who was the first transgender man to compete on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The “Positions” singer didn’t go full drag in the new video. Instead, Gottmik did Grande’s makeup with a lighter touch, saying, “We’re gonna give you like a baby, girly version of what I have going.”
The 28-year-old pop star is far from the first big name to have their face done by Gottmik, aka Kade Gottlieb. Gottlieb has worked with Kaia Gerber and Heidi Klum, and was the artist behind Lil Nas X’s iconic Nicki Minaj Halloween costume in 2020.
Watch Gottmik ease Ariana Grande into the YouTube beauty landscape in R.E.M. Beauty’s adorable new video below: