essay on fenty beauty

Perspective

Fenty beauty exposed—and helped remedy—the makeup industry’s lack of inclusivity, how a celebrity brand shook up the cosmetics business, one shade at a time.

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Two years ago, model and businesswoman Beverly Johnson wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post looking back on some history she had made 46 years earlier. In August 1974, Johnson became the first Black woman to be featured on the cover of Vogue magazine.

But Johnson was not in a nostalgic mood. The fashion and beauty industry, she noted, had changed little from the exclusionary place it was almost 50 years ago.

“Black culture contributes enormously to the fashion industry,” Johnson wrote.

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Robert Klara

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Robert Klara is the senior editor of brands at Adweek, specializing in the evolution and impact of brands.

Rihanna is officially a billionaire. Here's how her game-changing beauty and fashion lines helped her land among the world's wealthiest entrepreneurs.

• Rihanna has officially become a billionaire, Forbes reported this week. 
• The singer, actress, and entrepreneur derives most of her wealth from her two businesses.
• Lingerie brand Savage X Fenty is valued at $1 billion, while Fenty Beauty is worth $2.8 billion.

Robyn Rihanna Fenty has officially reached billionaire status . 

The Barbados-born singer, actress, and entrepreneur is now worth $1.7 billion, Forbes reported this week, making her the richest female musician in the world and the wealthiest female entertainer besides Oprah Winfrey. 

Though she's been making hit records since she was 17, most of Rihanna's fortune stems from her business ventures — namely, her makeup and skincare brand, Fenty Beauty, and her lingerie line, Savage X Fenty.

Here's how Rihanna went from one of the world's biggest pop stars to a fashion and beauty mogul in her own right — and, now, a billionaire. 

Rihanna grew up around music, but her first big break came in 2003 when she met record producer Evan Rogers while he was on vacation in Barbados. Over the subsequent year, Rogers helped her record a few demos, which were sent off to record labels.

Source:  Forbes, The Guardian

She was invited to audition for Def Jam, where she impressed rapper Jay Z — then the label's president — and record executive L.A. Reid. She was signed to the label in 2005 and her first single, "Pon de Replay," became a worldwide hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Source: Billboard, Billboard

She released her first album, "Music of the Sun," in 2005. Since then, she's released seven more albums — most recently, "Anti," which came out in 2016.

Source: Rolling Stone

She's now sold over 60 million albums and won eight Grammy Awards, and has earned millions from her music: In 2016, following the release of "Anti," she took home $2.5 million from music sales and $7.6 million from streaming, according to Billboard.

Source:  Roc Nation, Billboard , Insider

Rihanna has also grossed millions from touring. Her 2013 Diamonds World Tour earned her more than $140 million, and ahead of her 2016 Anti World Tour, she signed a $25 million sponsorship deal with Samsung.

Source: Insider

Rihanna's first foray into business came in 2011 when she released her first fragrance, Reb'l Fleur — the scent reportedly garnered $80 million in sales in its first year. She quickly followed up with another scent, Rebelle, and has subsequently released nearly a dozen fragrances in total with another on the way via her beauty brand, Fenty.

Source: The New York Times , The Cut , Rolling Stone

Over the years, she's inked deals with fashion companies like Puma — where she's served as creative director — River Island, Armani, Dior, CoverGirl, and MAC.

Source: Time , Insider

In 2015, Rihanna took a stake in music streaming service Tidal. Six years later, Jack Dorsey's Square acquired the company for $297 million, reportedly netting Rihanna and the other artists involved nearly $9 million apiece, according to Variety.

Source: Insider , Variety

But Rihanna's ascendance to mogul status kicked into high gear in 2017, when she launched Fenty Beauty. The brand's goal from the get-go has been to promote inclusivity in the beauty industry by offering products made for a broad array of skin tones.

Fenty Beauty's immediate popularity sparked a trend in the beauty industry: After the brand introduced foundations and concealers in 40 different shades, other companies followed suit, a major shift for an industry that has often underserved women of color.

Source: Vogue

Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty in partnership with French luxury-goods giant LVMH, which owns half the company. Rihanna previously owned 15% of Fenty Beauty, but has since upped her stake to 50%, according to Forbes.

Source: Forbes

Just a year after launch, Fenty Beauty was bringing in over $550 million in annual revenue. These days, the line is worth at least $2.8 billion, Forbes estimates.

Shortly after launching her beauty empire, Rihanna introduced another venture: Savage X Fenty, a size- and skin-tone-inclusive lingerie line. The brand carries lingerie in sizes up to 3X and includes nude color options in a wide range of shades.

Source: Vogue, Insider

The company's annual fashion show, which is streamed on Amazon Prime Video, consistently includes a diverse cast of models with varying body types and gender expressions, a stark contrast to the Victoria's Secret fashion shows of yore.

Savage X Fenty's investors include Jay Z's Marcy Venture Partners and L. Catterton, a private equity firm that counts LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault as an investor. Last February, the company raised $115 million in fresh funding at a $1 billion valuation.

The company may now be considering expanding in Europe and adding new lines like athleticwear, The New York Times reported last December.

Source: The New York Times

Rihanna's entrepreneurial ventures have had some hiccups along the way. In February 2020, Savage X Fenty was the subject of a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission for promoting discounts that are only available to customers who pay a $50 monthly membership fee. A spokesperson for the brand said at the time that the complaint was "based on misconceptions of our business."

In 2019, LVMH announced that Rihanna would launch her own luxury fashion line known simply as "Fenty," making her the first woman to create her own brand at the renowned luxury house. But earlier this year, the brand decided to press pause on the ready-to-wear line "pending better conditions."

The decision came after the pandemic forced Rihanna to stay in Los Angeles rather than fly to Europe to oversee the collection, and amid a wider slow-down in the luxury fashion industry during the pandemic. The line had also struggled to find its footing from the start, with The New York Times describing it as too expensive and "more derivative than groundbreaking."

Source: WWD , The New York Times

Still, those rare missteps seem not to have dented Rihanna's fortune. At just 33, she's amassed a beauty and fashion empire and built a net worth of $1.7 billion.

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How Fenty Beauty Changed The State Of Play In The Industry

The protracted queue. That was the first thing I noticed when I arrived. It was winding, unending and impossible to see exactly where it began. I asked one of the security guards if he had any indication as to the waiting time. His response was a “your guess is as good as mine” shrug. As the mammoth line snaked around the building, my heart sank further – it is a myth that Brits love to queue; we feel compelled to, we don’t love it. Resigned, but ready for the long haul, I joined the throng of people anticipating access to the store. This, readers, was not the new supermarket-shopping etiquette enforced on us by Covid-19. This was September 2017, outside Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge – a time before “social distancing” was etched into our consciousness. This was the launch of Fenty Beauty.

Read more: The Story Behind Rihanna’s Face Tattoo On The Cover Of British Vogue

To say that Fenty Beauty completely changed the beauty industry is no exaggeration. Undoubtedly there are many who will attribute the success of Fenty to the fact that its founder is Rihanna , already a hugely influential global superstar with a phenomenal fanbase, combined with the backing of LVMH. While it would be remiss to deny the key role those elements played, to attribute the impact of the brand to Rihanna’s celebrity is an inaccurate oversimplification. This is far from a “celebrity beauty brand”, and diminishing it as such is to ignore the state of the beauty industry pre-Fenty. From unrealistic beauty ideals to the blatant lack of representation reflected in campaigns and product offerings, the beauty industry’s relationship with diversity was problematic at best. The messaging – essentially that “if you don’t fit an age-old Eurocentric ideal of beauty, you are not welcome” – was the white elephant in the room of a tone-deaf business. Fenty Beauty didn’t just address this, it blew the conversation wide open.

The (now legendary) opening gambit was a 40-strong foundation range (since expanded to 50) that included shades for everyone and a marketing campaign that was as diverse as they come. The brand reportedly made $100m in just over a month, Time magazine named it one of the 25 Inventions of the Year, and what is now known as the “Fenty Effect” took hold. Suddenly beauty houses – niche, establishment and those in between – began extending their shade ranges to accommodate a wider variety of skin tones. Forty shades became the new standard. Anything less was deemed apathetic , anything more (brands are still desperately trying to outdo one another, launching 50, 60 and even 100 foundation shades), was celebrated as a trump card. Impressive as it might sound, I still maintain that 100 bad foundations – whether darker, lighter, in-between shades or all of the above – are still 100 bad foundations. It all comes down to formulation. Darker foundations cannot be created simply by taking foundations formulated for paler skin and adding extra pigment. The result of doing this, to quote Rihanna’s famous clapback, is inevitably “lol, still ashy”. 

The impact of wearing badly-formulated foundations goes beyond the aesthetic. In my book Palette, The Beauty Bible for Women of Colour , I talk about the “Biscuit Experience”. It is the moment you try the darkest shade (in my experience, this was called “Biscuit”), in a foundation range and realise, with a crushing sense of rejection, that the brand wasn’t created with you in mind. This has been a rite of passage for so many women of colour. Even as a beauty editor, for so long the only person of colour at press launches, I remember the burn of shame I would feel at foundation launches where there were no shades for me. Unlike my white colleagues, I would simply be relegated to trying the products “for the purpose of texture”. This was the landscape for many years.

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But here’s the thing, fundamentally the issue isn’t really about foundations per se. It is about representation and equality, and being penalised for not fitting the same mould as your fairer-skinned counterparts. Rihanna understood this, and decided to address it using the very powerful vehicle of make-up. Fenty Beauty connected emotionally with women who had long been treated as though they didn’t exist by the beauty industry. It not only highlighted the importance of being seen, it proved to the industry that women of colour have huge spending power, and that black can, and does, sell. Some of the most obvious proof came when the darkest shades of Fenty Beauty foundations sold out first. Which is why now, every savvy brand – and not just those in the beauty industry – is aware that without an inclusivity strategy, they have no growth strategy.

Read more: Rihanna Talks New Music, Fenty Skincare & Her Plans To Have “3 Or 4 Kids”

Pre Fenty, the words “inclusive beauty” were not part of our vernacular. Now? The concept is omnipresent. There are of course still brands who dip their toes in the water, yet to fully commit, persisting with a thoroughly inconsistent approach to their inclusivity strategy. But the point is, they are thinking about it, which was not the case before Fenty. Interestingly, the word “inclusive” was not actually used in Fenty’s initial marketing strategy, but the all-embracing “Beauty For All” mantra and campaign continues to be incredibly effective because, essentially, it is redefining the idea and ideals of beauty. Many brands have sought to emulate this – social media images featuring a row of arms in different skin tones showing off swatches of colour have become ubiquitous – but the debate around “authenticity or tokenism?” rages. On one hand, I will argue that businesses are exactly that: businesses. They are not social enterprises and so yes, now that they have recognised the spending power of black women, they are keen to make money out of it. On the other hand, I know of brands that claim inclusivity but will refuse to carry a line targeting darker skin tones because “it’s not really our customer”. There are others that sell themselves as champions of diversity, and yet the second an image of a darker-skinned model on their Instagram feed doesn’t rack up the likes, they resort back to a homogenous sea of white.

So perhaps yes, there is a lack of authenticity. Beyond the surface, the brands that are not truly invested in diversity and reframing the constructs of beauty are numerous. In fact, as an industry we have barely touched the sides. While products – from foundations to bronzers to concealers – now exist to cater for all skin tones, we still have a plethora of influential make-up artists who are unskilled in making up darker skin tones; models having to apply their own make-up backstage and on sets; stores that will only carry a certain selection of shades – a selection that does not include those for darker skin tones – and we still have a lot of marketing blurb that is undeniably #ohsowhite. That said, at least we are talking about it. Which is more than can be said of the days before Fenty Beauty. 

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How Fenty Beauty revolutionised the makeup and skincare industry

For too long, makeup counters were inhospitable places for women (and men) of colour, such as myself. Conversations with salespeople were at times alienating, at worst insulting. “We don’t stock your shade,” I recall one person saying unapologetically. “That foundation should probably work if you give it time,” another informed me, rounded off with the parting words of advice, “Send an email to head office, maybe they’ll consider making your tone”. When Rihanna ’s Fenty Beauty line was announced in September 2017, I knew it marked the beginning of a dramatic sea change. With its sexy, traffic-stopping promo video starring Rihanna herself alongside a diverse cast of women—Slick Woods, Duckie Thot, Paloma Elsesser and Halima Aden—it was clear what Fenty stood for: a more inclusive cosmetics industry and representation of beauty.

Social-media users applauded Fenty Beauty and what it was offering so loudly that the beauty industry didn’t know what to do with itself. Almost all of the other brands rushed out new shades (read, darker) following the unveiling of the range of 40 that Fenty Beauty included. Makeup artist Ammy Drammeh, whose aesthetic is “real—more than natural”, uses the products on herself and her clients. She tells me that she feels inspired. “They are versatile and I use them in different ways, like highlighter and lipstick as eyeshadow.” When I ask Drammeh about the cultural shift that Fenty Beauty caused, she notes that “after Fenty launched its wide range of foundation everyone went crazy, I remember seeing the queues at Harvey Nichols. Shortly after that other brands did the same.”

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Scarred by my previous encounters, my first foray into Fenty Beauty was ordering a lipstick (Stunna Lip Paint in Uncensored) and a highlighter (Killawatt) online, bypassing the hundreds of people queuing for their personal sessions outside Harvey Nichols, London’s department store that stocks the brand exclusively. When I eventually visit the Fenty counter, struck by how many black and brown women are having comfortable and open conversations with salespeople who know what they need and the audience they are catering for, I am convinced to buy a foundation . When I get home, I try it on and feel... normal. For a makeup brand to do that to someone at the age of 28 is a very big deal.

A few months later, I go to the launch of a friend’s zine. Arriving alone, and very shy, I plan to read the zine in a corner and keep myself to myself. I arrive, marvel at the beautiful black and brown people in the room, feel suitably intimidated and take to my corner. I look up and a girl is staring at me from across the room. “Is that Fenty on your face?” she shouts excitedly—and after telling her yes, getting my highlighter and brush out and doing my best makeup artist impression on her, I now have a friend for life. One makeup brand has taken me, and many women like me, from feeling unseen by the beauty industry to feeling important and catered to, through 40 shades of foundation and 50 of concealer.

Fenty Beauty is a brand constantly evolving. At the beginning of May, a new range of products was revealed, then a week later, it was announced that Fenty Beauty will be stocked in Boots. What was once an exclusive range of products, only available in one of the most upmarket department stores in London, will soon be on the high street—furthering the Fenty Beauty mission statement that “women everywhere would be included”. Inevitably, social-media users were once again thrown into an excited frenzy, such is the “Fenty effect”, amazed at how a popstar can change the makeup game.

Fenty Beauty isn’t just about makeup, nor is it about Rihanna simply expanding her empire beyond music, underwear, or her recently announced fashion label, under luxury conglomerate LVMH . It’s a social movement, and has made other—and much more established—brands do better. In 2018, Time magazine named Fenty Beauty one of the most genius companies, noting that, “in only a year, Fenty Beauty has pulled off a makeover of the makeup industry”. When we think about the impact that beauty has on our society, there isn’t a word big enough to encompass that impact. It’s taken one young black woman, who cut her teeth in music, to bring inclusivity to the beauty industry , and to make a whole set of people feel seen in doing so.

Fenty Fashion: Everything to know about Rihanna’s fashion brand

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• What Is Cinema?

Why Rihanna Named Her Beauty Brand “Fenty”

On Sunday, the playwright Jeremy O. Harris, he of buzzy works like Slave Play and Daddy, teased something having to do with Rihanna :

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And later, as promised, a T magazine Q&A with Rihanna lands on our desk. It’s a romp, for sure, a document that captures the living legend’s headspace as she makes her first foray into the luxury-clothing market with the support of Bernard Arnault couture conglomerate LVMH, home to Givenchy and Dior, among other houses; her brand is the first that LVHM has built from the ground up since Christian Lacroix in 1987 .

In the interview, Rihanna is, at times, thoughtful, playful, and charmingly evasive. Occasionally, she’s all three at once. She confirms that she’s working on a reggae album. She speaks to the business model of the brand (a series of drops online, rather than following the traditional two to four seasons), as well as its muse (herself). She talks about fear, and what money means to her, and what it’s like to be the first woman of color that the luxury house has supported at her level. She talks about design, fabrics, and her habit of hiring kids just out of college, asking them if they want to do a year at Fenty. “I’m welcoming everyone’s vision here, because that’s what it’s gonna take. I can’t just think I know everything. I’m very smart with my control freak—a smart control freak. I welcome other people’s expertise. I love new, young talent,” she said.

She also explains why she decided to launch her extra-curricular brands—like makeup and lingerie—with her last name, Fenty:

I used to be afraid to step into the whole celebrity makeup world. I saw brands like Hilary Duff and Hannah Montana have so much success [in the aughts], but it got to a place where they were so oversaturated in the market that it diluted their personal brands. It made me think, “I’m not going to do this, because you lose your respect and credibility,” and so every collaboration I did outside of music, I used Fenty so that you didn’t have to hear the word “Rihanna” every time you saw something that I did. So Rihanna stayed the music, the person. But these other brands are called Fenty.

Recall that in 2017 , some were surprised to find out that Rihanna had a last name at all, let alone that she named her beauty brand after it. Now, we’ve come to know Fenty as well as we know Rih’s mononymous self, and the only surprise is that she ever thought the market could be oversaturated with “Rihanna.” It’s not a surprise, though, to see her business brain at work, and to watch her decide to enter a crowded market anyway and manage to stand out. It’s nice to see a figure like Rihanna express such vulnerability, and to be able to believe for one moment that Rihanna could conflate Miley Cyrus with Hannah Montana.

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How Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty Is Ushering in a New Era of Inclusivity in the Beauty Industry

Fenty Beauty may be a tipping for the beauty industry: If they continue to ignore minority women, it will be at their financial peril.

It’s been over a week since Rihanna unleashed her debut Fenty Beauty collection on the world, and the hype hasn’t died down. But that isn’t just because of the pop star’s celebrity. It seems Rihanna, by offering 40 different shades, has tapped into a palpable void in the market for more inclusivity in commercially sold beauty products.

“I wanted things that I love,” she told Refinery 29. “Then I also wanted things that girls of all skin tones could fall in love with. In every product I was like, ‘There needs to be something for a dark-skinned girl; there needs to be something for a really pale girl; there needs to be something in-between.’ There’s red undertones, green undertones, blue undertones, pink undertones, yellow undertones—you never know, so you want people to appreciate the product and not feel like: ‘Oh that’s cute, but it only looks good on her.’”

The reaction has been, to judge by early indicators, positive. There was such appetite for Fenty Beauty that a handful of the darkest shades almost immediately sold out, The Cut reported. Celebrities, too, have been effusive in their praise. Comedian and actress Mindy Kaling showed her support for the launch the day of, tweeting a screenshot of the array of shades along with her own thank-you note to Rihanna. Meanwhile, Academy-Award nominee and Empire actress Gabourey Sidibe gave her seal of approval, tweeting , “In case you’re wondering about #FentyBeauty on dark skin, issa YES for me dawg.” Even one of the models for the line, Nneoma Anosike, expressed her thanks to Rihanna and eloquently summed up why Fenty Beauty is so important, writing on Instagram, “The beauty world for people of color has welcomed yet another brand that goes into understanding that we melanins have different undertones and shades- not just 3 but multiple! We have amazing brands representing us, yes, but not enough.”

One widely-liked photo on Instagram showed a Sephora counter with 13 of Fenty Beauty’s darkest foundation shades sold out, and a caption that read, “This is for all the makeup brands who think the dark shades won’t sell well.” The message may have been hyperbole, but the subtext was clear: Beauty brands are ignoring dark-skinned women at their financial peril.

“Rihanna’s shade range is incredible, especially for darker skinned women and very pale women, who are usually not represented in brand launches,” said Florence Adepoju, 26, the designer behind a thoughtful lipstick line for people of all skin tones called MDMflow . “Representation has been a huge problem in the beauty industry from a long time so it’s really refreshing to see Rihanna tackle this issue in a bold way.”

[#instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/BYyhG09Hvqr/?taken-by=ninioma ]

Even before Fenty Beauty launched, it positioned itself as an inclusive beauty line for all skin tones. The promotional images , which feature models like Paloma Elsesser , Duckie Thot, Slick Woods, Halima Aden and Leomie Anderson, had more models of color than white models, adding to the unprecedented diversity in campaigns this fall .

While the beauty industry has historically failed to represent people of color in ads and with products, Rihanna along with other celebrities and beauty moguls like Pat McGrath have taken matters into their own hands. Just this past month, Beyoncé introduced a baseball cap just for women with natural hair and curly hair for an accessible $35 as part of her Ivy Park collaboration with Topshop. Unsurprisingly, it sold out, as yet another reminder that there is an egregious shortage of beauty products that appeal to broad demographics.

Some brands are beginning to wake up to the potential of this underserved market. Last week, on the heels of the launch of Fenty Beauty, Insecure mastermind and star Issa Rae was named the new face of CoverGirl. “I remember being an awkward black girl in high school, reading the pages of my favorite magazines, casually flipping through @COVERGIRL ads, singing their slogan in my head,” she wrote on Instagram, announcing her new post. “Never EVER in my life did I imagine I’d be one.”

“For many years the beauty and hair space has treated women of color and our specific beauty needs as an afterthought and a special case to be handled when it suits the needs for sales,” said Patrice Grell Yursik, creator of Afrobella.com , a natural beauty activism blog. “But Rihanna, Issa Rae, Kerry Washington and Lupita Nyong’o have ushered in new awareness and possibilities. This is a really inspiring time for creators of color promoting inclusion and a diverse spectrum of beauty.”

Yursik argues the influx of beauty brands targeting women of color underscores that there’s always been more demand than supply, and when mainstream companies weren’t servicing that customer, she went elsewhere for her needs.

“The indie beauty brands that have risen to prominence, and now this wave of celebrity collaborations and product lines proves that we aren’t waiting for a special luxury brand to release limited edition shades for us. Our beauty isn’t a trend. We are here to stay and we demand quality and equality in all of our shades and textures of beauty,” Yursik added. “The gatekeepers need to wake up.”

While companies begin to build their arsenals to appeal to a wider set of customers, Adepoju also argued that the industry and beauty creatives need more education to better address the needs of minority women. When she studied cosmetic science at the London College of Fashion, Adepoju said students didn’t have enough resources to learn how to create products for all skin tones.

“If you read the textbooks, it seems like an impossible thing, because historically formulators and chemists didn’t factor in diverse skin tones,” she added. “As a chemist and brand owner, I have to be very intuitive around how I formulate. I rely on my community to test and sample what I’m working on. I also get a lot of feedback on what my customers are using so that I can see what already works for them and what tweaks they’d like to see being made. It’s an intensive labour of love because I am not only formulating for diverse tones, but also diverse skin types.”

Fenty Beauty, though, seems to be a tipping point. The pop star didn’t just slap her name on a product to make a few millions, but worked to address an industry problem that affected many women like herself. More celebrities of her magnitude could follow, and their sales could finally lead to a seismic wake up call.

In other words, as Yursik put it, “After Fenty Beauty, there are no valid excuses anymore—they’ve been taken away.”

Rihanna’s Most Daring Hairstyles of All Time, From an Angular Bob to Long Blue Waves

September 2006: Shortly after the pop star first burst onto the scene at 17 years old with her ‘Pon De Replay’ album, her natural brown fringe, lilac eye makeup and glowing fresh face gives her the sweet “girl next door” look.

November 2006: Rihanna decided to glam up her look at bit while attending the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards with voluminous wavy curls paired with flirty eyelash extensions and a natural nude gloss lip.

June 2007: The singer ditched her hair extensions for an edgier shorter look. Her razor-sharp bangs and cropped bob hairstyle were attributed not to just her change in fashion sense, but also in musical direction as her hit album “Good Girl Gone Bad” had recently been released.

October 2007: Rihanna switched up her style again with this jet black side-swept fringe and bob hairstyle. Her bold smoky eye, rosy cheeks and natural lip were the perfect touches to her simple slip dress look while attending the 2007 Cipriani Wall Street Concert Series in New York.

November 2008: Rocking a curly pompadour, soft brown smoky eye makeup and spiky lashes for definition, Rihanna looked like a glammed-up rocker babe for the 2008 American Music Awards at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

January 2010: The singer embodied full-on ice princess at the NRJ Music Awards at the Palais des Festivals, wearing a newly-blonde curly pompadour with shaved sides completed with frosty white eye makeup, spiked eyelashes for definition and a pink pouty lip.

November 2010: Rihanna debuted new cherry-red curly hair at the 2010 American Music Awards. Her natural makeup pared with a rosy cheek put all of the focus on her new bold hairstyle.

May 2011: Keeping with her scarlet color, Rihanna pulled off this mermaid-esque wavy hairstyle for the ‘Nivea And Rihanna Celebrating 100 Years of Skincare’ event at the Grand Hotel Intercontinental in Paris.

February 2012: At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, the singer looked stunning with dark roots and blonde beach waves. She had a natural glow as she kept her makeup rather simple with bronze eyelids and a pink matte lip.

September 2012:__ Rihanna looked cute and sassy with her her new super-short pixie cut, long lashes and bold red lip at the MTV Video Movie Awards.

March 2013: At her Rihanna for River Island collection launch in London, Rihanna showed off ombre side-swept curls and a shaved undercut. Balancing out her new edgy hairstyle, she went for a natural makeup look by pairing copper eye lids with a moody maroon lip.

May 2014: 1. Rihanna pushed the envelope yet again by wearing bantu knots (commonly used as an overnight routine to preserve lasting and defined curls) in public, combined with bold eyeliner and a vampy green metallic lip to the 2014 iHeartRadio music awards.

August 2015: This honey-blonde curly ponytail gave Rihanna a glam yet sweet factor at her RiRi by Rihanna fragrance unveiling at Macy’s in Downtown Brooklyn.

The gorgeous superstar looked sleek and chic at the 2nd Annual Diamond Ball in December 2015. Her slicked back hairstyle accentuated her enviable bone structure while her orange/gold eye shadow made her green eyes pop.

Rihanna wore a sleek center-part chin length bob to the 2016 BRIT Awards at the O2 Area in London in February 2016. With lilac eyelids, cat-eye liner and soft pick lips, she looked the fairytale part.

Rihanna attended Black Girls Rock! 2016 at New Jersey Performing Arts Center on April 1, 2016 in Newark, New Jersey with a bold cat eye and embellished hair accessories.

Rihanna debuted a short, curly bob and bangs at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Rihanna wore dreadlocks to walk around Soho on October 6, 2016 in New York City.

Rihanna was positively glowing at the 59th GRAMMY Awards on February 12, 2017 in Los Angeles, California, with her long hair in red waves.

Stunning at the 2017 Costume Institute Gala, Rihanna wore her hair in a sleek top knot with bangs and an exaggerated frosted magenta smokey eye.

Wearing an elegant up do with a twist, Rihanna paired chic white sunglasses with minimalist makeup and slicked back hair at the Cannes Film Festival.

Sporting her newest do at the Crop Over Festival in Barbados, Rihanna rocked turquoise blue beachy mermaid waves with matching nails.

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Why Fenty Beauty's Launch Means Everything to Me as a Woman of Color

When I heard Rihanna was releasing a beauty line , I knew I had to support her. Rihanna has been a beauty and style inspiration for me since she took control of her image with the release of Good Girl Gone Bad .

Her albums have gotten me through heartbreak ( Rated R ), made me own my power as a woman ( Unapologetic ), and helped me realize there is always an opportunity to reinvent yourself even if people think your new vision doesn't work ( Anti ). I know many people share my same admiration for her as a style and beauty icon.

As a woman of color, she's much more than an unapologetic, beautiful badass. She is a true representation of #BlackGirlMagic.

She is a black woman who came into her own while dealing with private moments in the public eye. As she's risen to superstardom, she has never stopped advocating for us. When I say us, I mean women of color. Fenty Beauty speaks to that by offering a range of 40 shades of foundation that has us in mind.

I've heard disappointment from ladies about the collection being "basic." As one person put it to me, "There's no wow factor," which is true depending on your perspective. If you've never struggled with finding the right shade of foundation, this collection could seem lackluster to you. If you're someone like me who has always struggled to find the right foundation color, Fenty Beauty is everything .

If we want representation in beauty, we have to support brands that are thinking beyond dollars and cents.

I set an alarm so that I wouldn't doze off without making my online purchase from Sephora — but I overslept! Thirty-nine minutes after midnight, I was rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and frantically logging into Sephora to make my purchase. When I got to the checkout screen, I paused. I started talking myself out of spending money on new makeup. I had just spent more than $100 in Sephora the week prior, and your girl is on a budget.

But then I thought about it differently. How many brands out there are run by a brown beauty and made with us in mind? Not many. If I don't support Rihanna's initiative, there is a chance that other brands won't follow suit. If we want representation in beauty, we have to support brands that are thinking beyond dollars and cents. With this in mind, I followed through with my order.

We know that Rihanna's line is sure to sell out. She's Rihanna. But here is what also should be taken into consideration. Her campaign is inclusive , the packaging is on point (I didn't expect anything less), and she's made it clear that she is in the beauty game and here to stay.

I don't know if the items I purchased will live up to the hype, but I have a feeling they will. It's clear that just like her collaborations with River Island, Puma, and Manolo Blahnik, Rihanna doesn't put her name on anything she hasn't 100 percent dedicated herself to developing.

I know that this is just the beginning for Fenty Beauty, and I can't wait to see what's next.

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Rihanna Reveals The Inspiration Behind Her Makeup Line—And How She Gets Her Skin To Glow

“Lipstick in Barbados? Not unless I was a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding,” recalls Rihanna with a laugh when asked about her teenage beauty routine. “My mom wasn’t flexible. I wore no makeup.” Though she wasn’t allowed to partake, Rihanna says her mom, who worked at a cosmetics counter back in the day, inspired her passion for makeup and perfume.

Now 29, and with a few credits of her own under her belt (pop icon, designer, actress), Rihanna has channeled her lifelong love of maquillage into Fenty Beauty , her hot new line that has earned raves from both the industry and the general public since it launched in September. Though she loathes the idea of promoting “perfection” (“everyone is beautiful in their own way,” she says), the most buzzed-about products are the ones that allow her fans to share in some of her glow. They include 40 shades of velvety matte foundations that cater to women of all skin tones. (Worth noting: The darker shades sold out almost immediately.)

Here, Rihanna discusses how beauty helped her evolve from shy Barbadian to global phenomenon.

Did you always know you wanted to do a makeup line? You have all these ideas of things you want for yourself, and for me, beauty was a natural fit because makeup is such a huge part of my career and image. I wanted to do a line for years, but it needed to be credible, something that industry pros and girls around the world would respect.

Do you have a favorite product? I love the Killawatt highlighter because you can use it in so many ways. I put it on my eyes, cheeks, and body. It goes on smooth, and the texture is superfine, almost like liquid—plus it’s extremely high-shine. There’s a ton of different colors.

As a woman of color, I’m most impressed by the range of foundation shades. So often, makeup brands leave us brown girls hanging. That was very important to me. I wanted everyone to feel included. We actually started with foundation because it’s the very first makeup product I fell in love with.

RELATED: Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty Collection Is Finally Here

What was your first experience with foundation? When I was a teen back in Barbados, I was in a pageant, and my mom did my makeup for it. I will never forget the feeling I had after seeing how even my skin looked when she put foundation on my face. And I remember my brother being so upset. He was like, “You’re gonna put that on every day?” I loved it. It’s like Photoshop. I like my makeup to look like skin—really good skin.

I read that your mom used to be a professional makeup artist. That’s true. She worked behind a cosmetics counter at a department store in Barbados, and she did makeup for weddings. That’s where my obsession for cosmetics and perfume came from, but I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup unless it was for a special occasion.

Tell me about your look in high school. What was your go-to hairstyle? I wore cornrows until I got a perm. Then once I got a perm, I rotated between ponytails and wearing my hair pressed straight. But when I would go to the hairdresser and my hair was freshly done, I wouldn’t put it in a ponytail until it got a little greasy. I had some really strange hairstyles, though. I would do stuff like pull one random piece out of the ponytail or have two cornrows braided down the middle of my head that connected into the ponytail. What was that?

So now that you’ve experimented with so many different hair and makeup looks , what’s been your overall favorite? Definitely when I wore a Jean Paul Gaultier couture gown and a doobie wrap with bobby pins to the American Music Awards [in 2013]. It was just so wrong. I couldn’t believe what I was doing, but I ended up loving it so much that I kept wearing my hair like that for the next two weeks. I pinned it every day and everything.

On the days when you’re not feeling so hot but still have to go out and be Rihanna, what do you do? I start by looking for my outfit, and even that can be like, “Ugh, I gotta figure something out.” If I’m still not feeling it, I go to the mirror and get my beat together. Makeup is therapeutic for me. Once I start my glam—the makeup, the hair—I’m good. I’ll play music, find the good light in the bathroom, and just have a great time. That’s what gets me motivated.

You always seem so confident. What pressures have you gotten over? I don’t know if it was a confidence thing, but I was very shy at one point. I knew what I was about and what I stood for, but I was not very vocal. In the Barbadian culture there’s this thing we say: “Speak when you’re spoken to.” It’s polite not to blabber. It took me a couple of years to come out of my shell.

At what point in your career do you think you came into your own? I would say after Good Girl Gone Bad [2007]. That album led me to this place where I was like, “What is there to lose?” I just have to be myself. I have to be at peace every day of my life.

What advice do you have for young girls who might be struggling with their identities in this age of social media? The biggest mistake you can make is to compare yourself with someone else. I hate the pressure that’s being put on us by social media. Young girls don’t know which way to go; they’re still figuring themselves out. And what we’re teaching them through social media is this idea that you have to be perfect. I just reject that at every cost. I only know how to be me, and people thrive when they’re who they’re meant to be. I can only try my best to encourage girls and women to respect their uniqueness and be 100 percent true to themselves.

This article originally appeared on InStyle .

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What Beauty Thought Leaders Say About Fenty

These four cosmetic industry design experts offer their points of view on the brand and its packaging.

‘Youthful-Edginess & Authentic Urban-Ease’

Elle morris, senior vice president of global strategy at marks, part of sgs & co. comments:  , ‘all-inclusive—and not just another celebrity brand', gina rokose, award-winning package designer, creative manager and adjunct professor in the beauty and consumer product goods industries comments:, ‘fenty is for all ethnicities’, nick dormon, founder and managing director of uk-based echo brand design comments:, 'minimal, contemporary, & geometric aesthetics', nick vaus, partner and creative director at free the birds comments:.

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The Business of Diversity in the Beauty Industry: Fenty Beauty, Inclusive Marketing, and Social Media

This paper explores the business of diversity in the beauty industry. Using Fenty Beauty as a case study, this paper explores its business strategy, inclusive marketing, and social media management. This paper received First Class Honors at Trinity Business School.

Related Papers

State of Social Media, Middle East: 2018

Damian Radcliffe , Payton Bruni

This report is the seventh in an annual series of publications showcasing the latest developments, trends and research in social media usage across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Using a wide variety of academic, industry and media sources, this White Paper features key insights from social media's development over the previous year. Notable trends from the past year include the continued popularity of Facebook and Facebook-owned products, especially with Arab Youth, as well as increasing challenges to online freedom of expression in many parts of the region. Saudi Arabia continues to be a social media powerhouse, being one of the biggest national markets for Snapchat and YouTube in the world. Meanwhile, the rise of social media influencers has met with some pushback; from regulation in UAE, to more tragic and threatening responses in Iraq. This report explores these developments, as well as emerging questions about the rise of fake news on social media, and the role that social networks are playing in Yemen's civil war. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/24301

yonnah okuna

Jean KRAEMER

This research work questions several main themes of the American society and way of life; the importance of beauty in social integration, and the impact of marketing in this pursuit, but more generally the role and place of African American women in the USA today, from a mainstream culture made with and partly by marketing and the media, to a multicultural way of life involving minorities and ambivalent in terms of a high social pressure to conform to beauty (among other) standards, but on the other hand stronger claims of self assumption and demands of difference acceptance. African American women suffer from an undervalued image, and endure more adverse conditions; they have to face the double jeopardy of being women in a male dominated society and black in a predominantly white one. They do not correspond to all western mainstream beauty standards imposed by marketing and media in a world running on appearances and stereotypes. This creates frustrations and needs, and black women are compelled to spend a lot on beauty and hair care products to attain general acceptance as well as a good self-esteem. The other way around, we also can consider that marketing and media may play a positive role, by offering the information and products needed to attain their objectives of social integration and maintaining their identity.

Hafsa Owais

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How Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty delivered ‘Beauty for All’ — and a wake-up call to the industry

The launch of Fenty Beauty highlighted the importance of inclusive marketing, which jolted the industry and shifted the beauty landscape. Sandy Saputo, chief marketing officer at Kendo Brands, which includes Fenty Beauty, shares the inside story.

The first time we showed the Fenty Beauty campaign trailer internally, a room full of business leaders, including myself, got very emotional. It was the first time underrepresented, underserved women and cultures were featured in a global prestige beauty campaign.  

We knew the brand would touch women’s hearts around the world, but we had no idea of the greater impact our work would ultimately have. There was no precedent to our radical approach to inclusivity. We had to break and disrupt all the traditional marketing rules and carve a new path.

The results exceeded all of our expectations.

In our first year of business, Fenty Beauty became the biggest beauty brand launch in YouTube history , drove huge success commercially, and was named one of Time Magazine’s best inventions of 2017.

Here’s how we did it — and three lessons we learned along the way.

Exclude no one

From the beginning, our founder Rihanna was very clear that absolutely no one was to be excluded. Her vision of “Beauty for All” became our marketing mission.

Fenty Beauty first launched with 40 beautiful shades of foundation and today we have 50. At the time, there wasn’t a brand that truly reached everyone from the lightest skin to the darkest. Many undertones, such as olive ones like mine, were also underserved in beauty. Inclusion was more than the number of shades; it was the well-crafted nuance of each shade in the range that also served as a proof point. This allowed so many women to find themselves in the brand and feel included.

Think with Google

Fenty Beauty offers 50 shades of foundation, serving everyone from the lightest skin to the darkest.

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Let values inform process.

Rihanna wanted her brand available to women everywhere around the world at the same time. This was insanely difficult from an operational perspective.

The brand went live in 17 countries on the same day at the same hour (regardless of time zones) with a completely omnichannel marketing strategy. We were also ready to ship directly to 137 countries.

Distributing content around the world in real time required surgical precision. One mistake could derail the entire marketing plan. Press and consumers ultimately saw a fun and flawless execution, but what they didn’t see were the efforts of more than 500 global leaders across brand and merchandising, supply chain, marketing, social, and retailer teams doing synchronized swimming to pull it off.

The consumer and market reactions were phenomenal. We received photos of lines forming outside of our retailers’ stores around the world. Hundreds of people started posting selfies of themselves wearing Fenty Beauty on social media; our first repost was of a beautiful woman wearing a hijab. And direct sales surpassed all of our estimations, crashing our website.

We were so proud to be able to authentically market a beauty brand envisioned by Rihanna to serve all women of all cultures. Our marketing mission was underway to build a beauty brand for the next generation.

Show, don’t tell

Our dream was to create the biggest brand launch in beauty history. What resulted is a movement that shifted the beauty industry. You really don’t know it’s happening until it’s happened.

Our approach to inclusion marketing has always been about “showing, not telling.” Never once did we use the word “inclusive” in our messaging.

After Fenty Beauty launched, we began to see headlines that coined the term “The Fenty Effect.” It was a call to action for all industries to do more and challenge the status quo. In beauty, it caused a chain reaction of brands that responded positively by expanding their makeup lines to be more inclusive.

Our approach to inclusion marketing has always been about “showing, not telling.” In fact, we never once used the word “inclusive” in our messaging. “Inclusive” is how we were defined by the press and consumers. The marketing, social, and creative team prioritizes and engages in this conversation on a daily basis with the Fenty Beauty community.

The best way to break through with inclusive marketing is to share authentic stories that are rooted in culture and are emotionally meaningful to the consumers you serve.

If you haven’t thought about inclusivity in your advertising, I’d encourage you to make the case for it. The best way to break through with inclusive marketing is to share authentic stories that are rooted in culture and are emotionally meaningful to the consumers you serve.

By having Rihanna and her vision as our north star, we were able to nail the execution of the Fenty Beauty launch with integrity. Success also wouldn’t have been possible without my diverse, insanely creative and brave marketing team — each with their unique background and voice. I consider them like spices on a marketing spice rack — cooking up well-seasoned stories that are good for the world and good for business.

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Exclusive: Rihanna reveals the secrets behind her new brand, Fenty

Rihanna : "This project came about with LVMH reaching out to me and wanting to collaborate on a brand from scratch and be partners... It was a big deal to work with LVMH... I couldn't say no."

Rihanna : "We spent a lot of time just creating what we call the DNA of the brand. I'm the muse, I know that sounds kind of narcissistic but basically it's what I like to wear, what looks good on my body because I'm curvy so I know I want it to look good on every body type. I like to walk into my closet and play and put things together so I wanted people to have that same experience here at Fenty. And I want women to feel that they can do anything and wear anything that they want as long as they feel good in it."

Rihanna : "Moody for one, I get bored really easily, I don't know what you would call that in one word. Also, daring. I love to try new things."

Rihanna : "Play. It can't work, it's too much, it's too this...Play, that's what fashion is about, it's not that serious."

The first Fenty collection by Rihanna

Rihanna : " I love this because you could wear it as a dress and you also could wear it as a jacket. You can wear it open, or buttoned up with jeans, but as a dress it is so flattering, it's beautiful on the body, it is snatched. It's the same type of corsetry detail that we have on this blazer that I'm wearing right now.. and all of this detail is super important, your waist looks snatched and your butt looks super good.

This reversable jacket is also one of my favorite things. That's almost like a light trench coat and on the other side it's like a shiny rain coat.

This is such a badass suit. The fanny pack is designed to cinch your waist in, so it makes you look really sexy ."

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The Best Fenty Beauty Products Worth Your Money

If we had a dollar for every time someone's asked us what the best Fenty Beauty products are, well, let's just say we'd have enough to clear out the shelves at Sephora. Since Rihanna's makeup line launched in 2017, every new drop—from lipstick to eye shadow palettes to even blotting papers —has resulted in immediate fan frenzy .

Really, it's not hard to see why. From Fenty's massive range of foundation shades to her looks-good-on-every-skin-tone lip gloss, not only has Rihanna created a collection of quality products at a reasonable cost (nearly everything from the brand is under $50), but she also takes every possible shopper into consideration when formulating her line. No skin tone is forgotten or overlooked. Also, who doesn't want cheekbones like Rihanna's?

While—no exaggeration—you really can't go wrong with anything from Fenty, the reality is you can't buy it all at once. So over the past few years, we've swatched , swiped , and tested our way through the best Fenty Beauty has to offer to distill our top recommendations. Read on for our editors' unfiltered reviews on the best Fenty Beauty products, below.

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Fenty Beauty Match Stix

Fenty Beauty

Since Fenty Beauty dropped in 2017, it’s changed the makeup industry and the way I contour my face. The precision of the Match Stix in Truffle helps me chisel out my cheekbones, and the cream formula allows me to blend it to perfection. They also come in a Match Stix Trio set , which includes the perfect highlighter, making it an absolute must-have for traveling. —Khaliha Hawkins, producer

Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation

This foundation is truly something else. I’ve never worn a foundation (and I’ve tried them all!) that literally makes my face look airbrushed—so much so that I actually get compliments on my skin on days I wear this. It's lightweight yet full-coverage, and just one pump goes a long way. Plus, the color blends seamlessly into my skin, matching both my skin tone and undertone, which can be impossible to find. —Adazeh Valanejad, contributor

Fenty Beauty Stunna Lip Paint

I’m a little self-conscious about my lips (people mention their size all the time), so I normally shy away from bright, punchy colors, but this one is fantastic. It went on so easy and has so much pigment that you don't have to do a ton of layers. It feels good on your lips, not drying, and it's so light I kind of forget that it’s on. Did I mention this red looks incredible on everyone too? —K.H.

Fenty Beauty Killawatt Highlighter

When Rihanna makes a highlighter, you go out and buy that highlighter. The color really holds up all day, doesn't look too glittery, and can easily be toned up for a day-to-night look. And since it's crazy pigmented, when I want a super-shimmery eye look, I'll dip my finger in water and swipe it over my eyelids. —Shanna Shipin, commerce editor

Fenty Beauty Full Frontal Mascara

One of my all-time favorite mascara tricks is starting with a thick, fat mascara brush, then going back over it with a smaller, more spindly brush to grab and define every single lash. This brush combines the best of both worlds with a “flat-to-fat” design, which has traditional rounded, fluffy bristles on one side, and shorter, flat bristles on the other. It's definitely takes a second to figure out—I had to keep staring at it to make sure I was using the right side—but once you've got the motions down, you'll watch your lashes double in length before your eyes. —Lindsay Schallon, senior beauty editor

Fenty Beauty Flyliner Longwear Liquid Eyeliner

As someone who rocks a cat eye daily, I take my liquid eyeliner very seriously. I've been using the same drugstore liner for years and I rarely stray from the path—until this, that is. This Fenty liquid eyeliner is armed with a sharp felt tip and a solid black shade that makes application almost sinfully easy. And for someone who applies liner with one foot out the door (and occasionally at my desk), a product that's consistent and easy to use is a must. —Sarah Morse, contributor

Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Setting Powder

I've used setting powder only a handful of times before, since it always seemed like an extra step I could easily do without. However, Fenty's setting powder went above and beyond. True to form, the brand came through with a wide range of skin tones to choose from (eight is a lot for this kind of product—some brands offer just two), so it blended well with my medium-tan skin and yellow undertone. Rihanna knows a thing or two about being camera ready, and it's obvious with this product, because the pore-blurring, mattifying effect would be worthy of digital camera days of the early aughts, or even the brightest of Lumee Lights . —Erin Parker, commerce writer

Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Blush

The shades of these blushes look intense in the pan, but don't be intimidated. On your cheeks, they turn into a pretty flush of color that wakes your face right up. They're also really buildable and sink right in, so the finish is natural, no matter how many layers you tap on. —L.S.

Fenty Beauty Brow MVP Ultra Fine Brow Pencil & Styler

I recently had a chat with an eyebrow expert who quietly told me to always, always use pencil on my brows. She said anything else can actually make them more sparse, so I've been on the hunt for one that deposits natural-looking pigment without pulling or tugging. Fenty's Brow MVP in Black-Brown delivered tenfold—I barely had to press down, and the pencil created feathery volume without looking too dense. I also love that it comes with a mini brow brush on the other side, not just a standard spoolie. —Perrie Samotin, digital director

Fenty Beauty Body Lava

In the bottle, Body Lava looks like it could turn you into a copper penny, but it's much more tame when it's actually on your skin. Rather than any sort of sparkle, it gives your skin a dewy sheen. The effect is so subtle I don't even think it really counts as a shimmer—but as far as luminizing goes, it does the trick, because my skin does indeed look luminous, and naturally so, after using it. It's like a low-key highlighter for your body. Worth a note: It smells like vanilla. —Deanna Pai, contributor

Fenty Beauty Sun Stalk'r Instant Warmth Bronzer

Despite my Sicilian heritage, I'm on the pale side of the spectrum, so a lot of bronzers can lean orange on me. Fenty's, thankfully, did not ; in fact I could have gone a shade darker if I wanted more of a "just got back from vacation" glow. India Sun has true neutral undertones, so it just gave my skin a touch of warmth and made my cheeks look more defined, without verging into full-on contour territory. The powder is pretty sheer, which I prefer in a bronzer, but builds up easily without getting cakey or too powdery-looking. It was pretty swept over my eyelids too. —B.C.

Fenty Beauty Mattemoiselle Plush Matte Lipstick

I think it speaks for itself that as I'm writing this review, 10 of the 24 shades of this lipstick are currently sold out on Sephora. Clearly, people know what I do: that this Fenty lipstick glides on like butter and gives you Rihanna levels of confidence whenever you have it on—even when you branch out of your color comfort zone . That said, Ma'Damn is perfect if you're still not quite ready to go for a blue or green. —L.S.

Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer

I’m obsessed with this gloss. It makes my lips look so juicy and pretty. The rose gold color is crazy flattering, and the subtle shimmer wakes up my face instantly without making me look too “done.” It’s super shiny without being sticky, and when paired with a lip liner, it makes my lips look way fuller, which I’m always down for. I have a tube in my purse at all times. —Bella Cacciatore, beauty associate

Fenty Beauty Portable Touchup Brush 130

The most underrated products in Rihanna's Fenty collection are her makeup brushes, IMO. Nothing beats the perfectly sized, do-it-all brush that can apply everything from bronzer to contour powder, which is why this one has a permanent spot in my bag. And with the metal retractable tube and cap, the bristles stay perfectly intact without getting flecks of highlighter everywhere. —Jillian Ruffo, contributor

Invisimatte Blotting Paper

Perhaps this will be of no surprise to you that, hey, these things are great at oil blotting . You can tear off as much as you'd like, pat it all over your face, marvel at how much grease it picked up, and then feel satisfied that you are marginally less disgusting than you were before. I do recommend! —Anna Moeslein, senior editor

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The rich hydration your skin craves, now in a lightweight, milky body lotion: Butta Drop Hydrating Body Milk.

A NEW ERA OF REPAIR

The wait is over.

THROW ‘EM IN YOUR BAG

Snatch these fenty faves you won’t wanna do without., forever fenty faves.

Discover need-it-now obsessions.

No matter your hair type, texture or need, you're going to find a go-to.

Express your every mood with game-changing formulas in hella shades.

Everything you need for lasting looks start with a smooth complexion.

Thirst-quenching treats for allover nourishing hydration.

Our #1 pore-busting routine to step up your tone, texture + brightness.

MEET THE FENTY HAIR LINEUP

Your hair on fenty it’s stronger by the style., want more inspo we got you.