Fenty Beauty Stirring Up A Storm

Ms. Rihanna Fenty is back at it again, and this time she is taking the makeup industry by storm. The pop singer launched her cosmetic line Fenty Beauty, on September 8th in 17 countries.
Partnering with Kendo, the beauty developer that is responsible for well-known brands such as Kat Von D and Marc Jacobs Beauty, Rihanna made it her mission to create an inclusive brand.
“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 for a someone in-between,” Rihanna said in a video on Fenty Beauty’s Instagram. “You want people to appreciate the products and not feel like, ‘Oh, it’s cute, but it only looks good on her.’ The singer did just that by releasing a line that includes 40 shades of foundation, a variety of concealers and highlighters suitable for an array of skin tones, and a single lip gloss meant to look good on everyone.
The line quickly gained popularity and praise all over social media from customers and from beauty bloggers for its diversity. So much so that the majority of the darker toned shades have been sold out on Sephora’s website, where the line is also available for purchase.
This is something other makeup companies have also taken notice of. Previously, some brands have attempted to accommodate black women, who spend roughly $7.5 billion on beauty products annually.
Several days after the launch, brands such as L’Oreal and Estee Lauder started advertising their own foundation shade ranges using black models on their social media outlets.
One brand in particular is Kylie Cosmetics, which posted a model of color wearing their “Brown Sugar Matte” liquid lipstick two days after the launch. The post gained a lot of backlash from social media. The Rihanna Navy was quick to respond with things like, “Fenty has done us black girls great, so why would we want this? Keep it.”
Another thing to be noticed about the beauty collection is the stocking. Despite being released in 1,600 stores across 17 countries and on multiple websites, it is still available days after the launch.
Another small factor that also comes into play is their social media tactics. All sneak peeks of the products were posted on accounts mainly focused on the Fenty brand. Even when teasing consumers about the brand, Rihanna still took inclusiveness into account with the models she used and not after the fact.
The various concealers, foundations and highlighters can be used on a variety on skin tones. The make-up is called Match Stix and they are sold as singles for $25 or you can get the Match Stix in a trio for $54. They also have the Killawatt Freestyle Highlighters, including the famed Trophy Wife, a 3-D hyper-metallic gold, that runs for $34. Other products include a primer, a blotting powder and blotting papers, and tools such as a blending sponge and brushes.
According to the Fenty Beauty website, the products are designed to feel lightweight and “make skin look like skin.” Rihanna goes on to say, “Makeup is there for you to have fun with. It should never feel like pressure. It should never feel like a uniform.”