Artiste’s dreams becoming a ‘Rre-ality’ - Rre launches beauty brand for Christmas

Dancehall-fusion singer Rre can now add beauty entrepreneur to her résumé. Rre, who wears many hats as a strategic key account manager with Digicel Group Limited, partnered with long-time friend Kristalle Chin to make her dreams of creating a respected brand a reality.

The Rre-Ality 3D Mink Lash line, introduced to the market in December 2017, became a big seller with styles named after Rre’s singles Nana, Crazy in Love, Money Queen, Dat Yuh Want and Forever.

Rre, given name Renee Reid, officially launched the latest additions – Rre-Ality Look and Rre-Ality Kiss – under the umbrella brand RreALITY Syndicate in Fontana Pharmacy locations, making her the latest female entertainer to venture into the business of beauty and style. However, she’s aiming to set hers apart with a grand marketing plan that is targeted at all age groups packaged in attractive plastic containers of different sizes and shapes – all printed with the brand in eye-catching font.

“It started first with the lashes alone, but I am eager to develop the beauty brand with more cosmetics, as well as sporty clothing for upcoming, hip, young professionals,” Rre told The Gleaner.

Two Christmases later, she says she is very excited to have added matte metallic and high-gloss lip colours, high cream shine lipsticks and “starlights”, which are glitter cosmetics, to the brand that far expands the artiste’s music.

Branding

The Make It Come True singer said: “It’s all about branding, so once you have a brand supported by your music, everything just comes into one. Being the meticulous individual I am, especially in regard to presentation, I thought Fontana was an ideal pharmaceutical place to use as leverage to showcase the brand.”

With beauty being a major defining element to an artiste’s brand, Rre said that RreALITY Syndicate comes at the right time for the Christmas season when glitter and glam is a style factor for not only entertainers but women who want to stand out. As Rre ventures into marketing her brand, she affirmed that music has not been placed on the back burner but that she is still recording songs which will be compiled for an EP next year.

“We’re calling our female clients, queens; we want our women to feel like queens. The starlights are strategically placed and separate from the actual lip colours for those who want something extra, but then there are seven matte metallic lip colours that work for every ethnicity,” she said.

“It is important to note, the products are for persons with sensitive skin. The idea is to also go into classic lip and eyeliners for individuals that follow the RreALITY movement, but for now Kristalle and I will be going across the island to do the Sip ‘N’ Shop pop-up events for the rest of the holiday period.”

Globally, celebrity or entertainer beauty lines don’t always prove feasible and it often depends heavily on the influence of the personality ,but Chin, who is the head of business sales at Digicel Group Limited, expressed the value of RreALITY Syndicate is one to be held in high regard for its determination to be a household name.

“I think it is important to go into business with someone that has the same drive and works just has hard as you do. Renée has that; whether it means we have to work our regular jobs in the day and end up investing late nights into discussing our next move,” Chin said.

She also noted that the brand being developed by two females, Rre as the artiste and her as a corporate executive, means that they will both strive to make sure all types of women are catered to.

“A lot of people think because she is an artiste it would be only be for those types of women and not necessarily 'corporate’, but she is able to pull off both. It doesn’t matter what you do or where you are from, all women want to glam up and look beautiful, and referring back to the name RreALITY … it’s represents real women …. As a corporate woman, I want people to make a double take when they see me,” she said.

stephanie.lyew@gleanerjm.com