Last Updated on November 20, 2022
Fenty Beauty is just as iconic as its founder, Rihanna. Here’s why!
Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin—both brands by Rihanna—have received worldwide acclaim for their groundbreaking additions to the beauty industry. Following the launch of Fenty Beauty, Rihanna and her makeup brand have been applauded endlessly for setting a great example of what a makeup brand should be.
Fenty Skin has also received its own accolades. For example, one of the reasons why people love Rihanna’s skincare brand is that she didn’t leave the men out. The wide-sweeping stereotype that skincare is feminine has led to many men having extremely basic or even non-existent skincare routines. But with Fenty Skin, everyone is included.
In this article, we explore Rihanna’s makeup and skincare brands with which she broke the mold and set new standards for the world to follow: Fenty Makeup and Fenty Skin.
TL;DR: Fenty Beauty’s brand profile
The origins of Fenty Beauty
Rihanna, no doubt, loves makeup. This love story didn’t just begin when she made it to superstardom. Rihanna was a little Barbadian girl when she first met and fell in love with makeup through her mother’s lipstick. Eventually, she got to experience makeup for herself and thus carried on the never-ending passion.
For BadGalRiri, makeup has always been her weapon of choice for self-expression. She’d had years of gorgeous glam looks using the finest, top-of-the-range beauty brands in her repertoire. Then, she eventually got inspired to create Fenty Beauty. Her inspiration stemmed from the lack of skin inclusivity in the beauty industry, a void that she daringly set out to fill.
After a very successful launch in September 2017, Rihanna carried on dropping more and more products that continuously disrupted the beauty market. But then, her fans wanted more. They wanted a skincare line! And so in July 2021, Rihanna gave the people what they wanted by dropping Fenty Skin.
Now, at the time of both Riri’s launches, celebrity makeup and skincare lines weren’t a huge thing. However, Rihanna was (and still is!) one of the most iconic music, fashion, and beauty superstars to ever walk the planet. Therefore, the expectations of her makeup and skincare brands were as high as the anticipation of them. What was Robyn Rihanna Fenty going to bring to the beauty table?
Fenty Beauty’s philosophy
The first thing Rihanna aimed to achieve with Fenty Beauty was maximum inclusivity. Hence, she launched her makeup line with products that targeted a range of skin types and tones broader than any other brand before hers. Beauty gurus, blogs, and makeup enthusiasts all over the world raved non-stop about Rihanna dropping a never-seen-before 40 foundation shades (which has now expanded to 50)!
In addition, Rihanna wished to give people products with which they could achieve makeup that looks like skin. Most importantly, she created makeup to inspire others to have fun. She believes that with makeup, you should never have to feel pressured or forced to look a certain way. You should be free to play with your looks and do your makeup whichever way you want.
With Fenty Skin, Rihanna set out to give Fenty Beauty customers the perfect base for beautiful makeup, which is great skin! In her “Behind Fenty Skin with Rihanna” video on YouTube, she says:
“I believe that great skin makes great makeup, and so great makeup looks like great skin…The inspiration behind Fenty Skin was just creating that foundation. Whether you want to wear light makeup, heavy makeup, whatever you prefer or are in the mood for, there is always a great foundation underneath that. And that is the inspiration for Fenty Skin.”
Rihanna
She also wanted to sell the best-of-the-best products that worked, and only the products that people really need. Based on her experience, the plethora of skincare products in the market can get quite confusing. Thus, she came out with Fenty Skin: a simple and perfected line of skincare essentials that are effective as well as affordable for everyone.
Rihanna believes Fenty Skin is the skincare line that everyone deserves. A big YES in our books because everyone does deserve great skin.
Golden question: Is Fenty Skin fragrance-free? No, and that’s because Rihanna believes that fragrance is an intrinsic part of a remarkable skincare experience. However, she affirms that the line only uses warm and clean fragrances.
“We never use more than 1% of a synthetic fragrance, and if we do, we don’t hide it. You will always know about it. We’re a clean brand, we’re a very honest brand, and we’re a very upfront brand.”
Rihanna
Fenty Beauty’s product range
Fenty Beauty’s cosmetics division carries a full-fledged makeup line. Trust, the brand has every makeup you need from A to Z. We’re talking face (primers, foundations, concealers, powders, contour, setting sprays, and blotting paper), cheeks (blush, bronzers, highlighters), lips (glosses, lipsticks, balms and treatments), eyes (brow pencils, eyeshadows, eyeliners, and mascara), body luminizers, brushes, and other makeup tools.
On the other hand, Fenty Skin is just about what’s necessary. The skincare essentials line offers cleansers, toner serums, moisturizers (for face and body), eye creams, face masks, skin treatments, and body scrubs. Fenty Skin is simply out to prove that skincare can be basic yet still very effective.
Top 5 Fenty Makeup’s bestsellers
Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation 1.08fl. oz (32ml)
Longwear and light as air, this foundation serves as the perfect medium to full-coverage base for any makeup look. Rihanna initially dropped this foundation in an astonishing 40 shades and has since increased it to 50! So, there’s no doubt that you’re bound to find your shade.
Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Liquid Concealer 0.27fl. oz (8ml)
This medium to full-coverage concealer concealer hides under-eye bags and blemishes. It’s a soft matte that not only mattifies but brightens as well. Again, Rihanna did it with the uber-inclusive 50 shades in which this creamy concealer comes.
Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter 0.26fl. oz (7.5g)
Rihanna sang “shine bright like a diamond” and gave us the perfect way to do that with Killawatt. It’s a cream-powder hybrid formula that blends seamlessly to give your skin an envy-invoking glow. It comes in 9 shades, with 5 of these being duos. The duos provide two finishes: soft and supercharged.
Stunna Lip Paint Longwear Fluid Lip Color 0.13fl. oz (4ml)
Rihanna’s real first love was lipstick. So, it’s no surprise that she poured her love into Stunna Lip Paints. This stunning line of liquid lipsticks provides soft matte finishes that stay kissably smooth for up to 12 hours! They come in 8 shades.
Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer 0.3fl. oz (9ml)
Everyone wants a bomb, glossy lip look. Not only do Fenty’s gloss bombs give you that, but they also contain shea butter to keep your lips super moisturized. The lip glosses come in 7 shiny shades.
Top 5 Fenty Skin’s bestsellers
Flash Nap Instant Revival Priming Eye Gel-Cream 0.5fl. oz (15ml)
This green tea-infused eye gel-cream works like a dream. You can fake a full 8 hours of sleep with it! It also helps to eliminate under-eye puffiness over time. This product also comes in a set with an eye massage tool for an extra boost of eye revival.
Total Cleans’r Makeup-Removing Cleanser 4.9fl. oz (145ml)
This is a 2-in-1 makeup remover-cleanser that deeply cleanses your skin to remove dirt, oil, and makeup. It does this without leaving it feeling stripped or dried out. The cleanser comes in both O.G (Barbados cherry) and fragrance-free variants.
Travel Size Start’r Set
This is the kit to get if you’re new to Fenty skincare. It contains the Total Cleans’r (1.52fl. oz/45ml), Fat Water toner (1.7fl. oz/50ml), Hydra Vizor sunscreen (1fl. oz/30ml), and Buttah Drop body cream (0.27fl. oz/8ml).
Butta Drop Whipped Oil Body Cream 6.7fl. oz (200ml)
Smooth like butter and ultra-luxurious, this whipped oil cream is a non-sticky and long-lasting body moisturizer. Its tropical oils, butters, and extracts will melt into your skin, giving you deeply moisturized, glowing skin to die for.
Cookies N Clean Whipped Clay Detox Face Mask 2.5fl. oz (75ml)
The detox face mask combines whipped clay which extracts dirt and oil with charcoal which absorbs impurities. Plus, there’s a healthy dose of salicylic acid to detoxify and cleanse your pores.
4 reasons to buy Fenty Beauty
1. Cruelty-free, gluten-free and partially-vegan
Fenty Skin is a fully vegan line, although Fenty Makeup isn’t 100% vegan. The brand admits on its website that a couple of its products may contain ingredients of animal origin, such as beeswax and carmine. Nevertheless, they range products that are 100% vegan-friendly, like the Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation and Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer. Also, all Fenty Beauty products are cruelty-free and gluten-free.
2. Environmentally-conscious
Fenty Makeup and Fenty Skin are highly environmentally conscious. The brand tries to eliminate any excess packaging and make use of recyclable materials where possible. They also have refillable systems where you buy the outer packaging of a product the first time and only have to purchase refills when you run out.
3. First-class accessible beauty
Rihanna has been open about wanting to make her makeup accessible to everyone. Thus, Fenty Makeup and Fenty Skin prices have been kept as average consumer-friendly as possible. The brand also runs an “Auto-replenish and Save” program on its website. Under this program, U.S. customers get 10% off and free delivery on all items that they subscribe to.
4. The Clara Lionel Foundation
The Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) is a child support foundation that Rihanna founded in 2012 in honor of her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite. CLF supports groundbreaking and effective education, health, and emergency response programs around the world.
Every time you purchase a Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter – CLF Edition ($38), 100% of the money is channeled towards developing the life of a young person. You can also donate to the CLF on the brand’s website with or without buying a product.
Where to buy Fenty Beauty products
You can shop Fenty Beauty products on their website as well as at Sephora, Ulta Beauty, and Kohl’s. Note that only the makeup range is available at Ulta Beauty and Kohl’s at the time of this article.
Fenty finals
Technically, Fenty Beauty is only partially black-owned, as Rihanna only holds 49.9% share of the company with LVMH owning the rest. However, the impact Rihanna has made—and continues to make—in the industry can’t be ignored. It’s nothing short of beautiful getting to watch a black woman make her mark in beauty while spreading the message of inclusivity.
From Fenty Makeup affirming that beauty lies in every skin tone and type, to Fenty Skin proving that skincare is essential but only really requires the essentials, the young mogul continues to send strong and meaningful messages through her Fenty brands. We’re certainly excited to see what the future holds for the Fenty empire!