In a March 4 Instagram video, Ariana Grande—currently 32—briefly let her natural dark-brown curls show while rifling through her handbag and counting lip products. The Wicked star pulled out 17 lip items, including multiple pieces from her R.E.M. Beauty line, and said the haul represented only “half” the bag. The short clip prompted renewed attention to her long-running choice to wear a high ponytail after years of chemically treated, fragile hair. Fans and commentators used the moment to revisit Grande’s early bleaching and the private nature of her curly hair.
Key Takeaways
- Ariana posted the video on Instagram on March 4, where she revealed at least 17 lip products from her handbag.
- Counts included five glossy bombs, five plumping glosses, three lip stains and two lip-and-blush sticks tied to her Glinda-inspired collection.
- The singer is 32 years old and has credited repeated bleaching during her Victorious years for long-term damage to her natural hair.
- Grande has long used a signature high ponytail onstage; she has described her natural curls as something few people see.
- The clip also featured a sheet mask and a puffy headband, and Grande noted the bag still held “exciting testers of things to come.”
- The moment revived discussion of her evolving public image from Nickelodeon actor to pop star and Wicked lead.
Background
Ariana Grande rose to fame on Nickelodeon series including Victorious and the Sam & Cat spinoff, during which she regularly bleached and colored her hair. In a 2014 social-media post she said frequent bleaching and dyeing left her hair brittle, prompting long-term styling solutions. To protect fragile strands and build a stage persona, Grande adopted the high ponytail that has come to define much of her public look.
Over the last decade her public image shifted from teen actress to chart-topping pop star and, more recently, a leading actor in the Broadway-to-Hollywood adaptation Wicked. As her career advanced, she has experimented with many hair colors and styles—red, platinum blonde and more—but has repeatedly described her natural, dark coils as the private version of herself. That privacy has made rare photos or videos of her down hair notable to fans and lifestyle media alike.
Main Event
The March 4 Instagram clip opens with Grande wearing a puffy headband and a sheet mask as she empties her handbag and narrates the contents. She counts multiple lip products aloud—glossy bombs, plumping glosses, stains and sticks—and expresses mild astonishment at the numbers. The haul included several items from R.E.M. Beauty, the cosmetics line she launched, along with limited-edition pieces tied to her Glinda costume from Wicked.
Midway through the clip she notes the 17 lip products represent roughly “half” of what’s in the bag, saying the rest contains miscellaneous items and testers. While she did not display hair-care items during the video, the visual focus on her loosened curls drew commentary because she rarely appears with her hair down. Photographs from her career—red-carpet looks, award shows and promotional images—show a long history of wigs, extensions and stylized updos that have hidden her natural texture.
The singer has previously explained that the repeated bleaching and dyeing required early in her career made her natural hair fragile enough that wearing it down was impractical on tours and on set. In interviews she has called the high ponytail part of her onstage identity and described her loose curls as “who I am privately,” language that resurfaced in reactions to the Instagram moment.
Analysis & Implications
Grande’s brief reveal functions on multiple levels: a humanizing offstage glimpse, a product-promotion moment for R.E.M. Beauty, and a reminder of how early industry demands can shape a performer’s public persona. The video neatly ties product visibility—17 items counted—to personal branding at a moment when she is also a stage actor in Wicked, creating cross-promotional value without a formal ad.
Culturally, the clip underscores broader conversations about hair, especially for performers whose natural textures are altered to fit industry expectations. Grande’s narrative—bleaching and wearing wigs or extensions—parallels other artists who have publicly discussed long-term hair damage from styling, elevating the exchange beyond celebrity gossip to questions of aesthetic labor in entertainment.
Commercially, the visible inventory of R.E.M. Beauty items signals continued consumer focus on celebrity-founded brands; showing multiple SKUs in an informal setting can function as indirect soft marketing. If the “testers” Grande mentioned turn into new launches, the casual reveal could be an early promotional tactic that blends authenticity and product awareness.
Comparison & Data
| Product Type | Count Grande Displayed |
|---|---|
| Glossy bombs (R.E.M. Beauty) | 5 |
| Plumping glosses | 5 |
| Lip stains | 3 |
| Lip-and-blush sticks | 2 |
| Total shown | 17 |
The table above summarizes the counts Grande called out in the clip. Showing 17 visible lip items in an everyday handbag is notable against typical purse samples in celebrity content, and Grande’s comment that this was only “half” suggests a larger unseen inventory. Such informal product counts can drive immediate social engagement and prompt conversations about celebrity beauty routines versus everyday consumer practices.
Reactions & Quotes
Supporters and beauty commentators framed the video as both a candid lifestyle moment and a subtle commercial reveal. Social responses mixed admiration for her natural curls with curiosity about upcoming product releases she hinted at in the clip.
“I’m going through my purse and I think it’s actually crucial that you see,”
Ariana Grande — Instagram video, March 4
The line introduced the clip and set a playful, confessional tone as she pulled items from her bag. The remark helped foreground both the hair reveal and the product count as the main takeaways for viewers.
“This is not a bit that I preset to make you guys laugh,”
Ariana Grande — Instagram video, March 4
With that short assertion she pushed back on any suggestion the moment was staged, signaling the video was meant to be an authentic peek rather than a scripted promotional skit. Viewers interpreted the phrase as emphasizing spontaneity even as the content carried commercial undertones.
“My actual hair is so broken that it looks absolutely ratchet and absurd when I let it down,”
Ariana Grande — 2014 Facebook post
Her earlier public explanation for wearing protective styles provides continuity to the March 4 reveal, offering context for why the loose curls remain rare in mainstream appearances. That 2014 reflection continues to frame commentary around her hair choices.
Unconfirmed
- Whether the bag actually contained only half of its contents as Grande claimed is unverified; no full inventory was shown.
- Grande mentioned “exciting testers,” but the specific products, launch dates or confirmed new SKUs were not disclosed.
- No hair-care products were shown in the clip, so any assumptions about what she carries for daily hair maintenance remain speculative.
Bottom Line
The March 4 Instagram clip was a short, layered moment: an offstage glimpse into Ariana Grande’s personal grooming, an informal showcase of R.E.M. Beauty inventory, and a reminder of the long-term effects of early-career styling choices. By briefly revealing her natural curls, Grande reinforced the distinction between her public persona and private self, a line she has managed throughout her career.
For observers, the clip spotlights how celebrity content now serves multiple functions—authenticity, branding and audience engagement—simultaneously. Expect beauty conversations and product speculation to continue while Grande’s choice to occasionally show her curls remains a meaningful signal about identity and hair health.