Oscars 2014: Lupita Nyong’o’s lip balm goes viral after Ellen’s gag

During one of Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres’ several crowd-involving comedy bits on Sunday, she solicited money from Brad Pitt, Harvey Weinstein and Lupita Nyong’o to tip the pizza delivery man she had summoned for snacks during the evening.

Nyong’o reached into her clutch and handed DeGeneres a blue-and-white tube of Clarins HydraQuench lip balm, which has now caused a social media frenzy anchored by the hashtag #lupitaslipbalm.

The hashtag began appearing next to others such as, #PharrellsHat and #Oscaritems just minutes after the night’s supporting actress winner dropped the tube of balm into the “Happy” singer’s hat.

The tweets and GIFs made from the Oscar beauty moment have spawned through-the-roof sales for the French beauty brand. According to a Clarins press release, the HydraQuench lip balm has “almost sold out across the country over night.”

We knew Nyong’o was a style setter who has been stellar on the red carpet all season, but if a two-second flash of her lip balm causes such a firestorm, who knows how much power in the fashion and beauty arena can grow?

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