I bought into the Ariana Grande cloud. But after 21 days of swiping this on next to a $9 drugstore tube, I have some thoughts — and they aren’t all pretty.
The gloss is real, but so is the sticker shock. I needed to know if the R.E.M. Beauty Eclipse Lip Oil was actually doing something, or if I was just paying for the ponytail.
The Eclipse Lip Oil runs $21. The pitch? A weightless, high-shine oil that “hugs” your lips with color. I tested the shade “Misty” — a sheer, cool pink that screams “I woke up like this” but takes three swipes to show up.
Cushiony Applicator
The doe-foot is massive — covers my whole lip in one dip, which is great until you realize you just used half the tube.
The Shine Factor
It’s a wet, glass-like finish that lasts about 90 minutes before fading into a faint tint.
The Color Payoff
Sheer is an understatement. It’s more of a lip stain’s shy cousin — buildable, but you’ll work for it.
Photo: Lidye / Unsplash
It’s not just pigment and fairy dust — there’s a solid base here. But the texture feels thinner than I expected for the price, almost like a fancy hair oil for your mouth.
Photo: Jocelyn Morales / Unsplash
First swipe: heaven. It glides on like a dream, zero tackiness, and my lips looked plump for a solid hour. But by week two, I noticed the shine disappeared the second I sipped coffee, and I was reapplying more than my lip balm addiction allows.
The surprise? My lips didn’t peel. Usually, anything with peppermint dries me out, but this held up through winter wind. Still, the $9 rival from the drugstore kept my lips softer by the end of the day — that stung.
Photo: Nick Noel / Unsplash
After 21 days, my lips weren’t transformed — they were just… fine. The oil didn’t dry them out, but it didn’t fix my chronic flakiness either. The shine is pretty, but it’s a party guest that leaves early.
Photo: Content Pixie / Unsplash
It’s a pretty gloss, not a savior. If you want the name and the shine, go for it — but my wallet is staying with the cheap tube.