Rihanna’s beauty line, Fenty, finally launched on September 8 and has received rave reviews. Rihanna fans, beauty critics, and bloggers all seem to widely approve of the line of products. Fenty Beauty started when Rihanna saw a gap in the industry for products that worked for all skin types and tones, and in-line with her personal brand and commitment to diversity, she decided to start a line of all-inclusive makeup.
The Fenty Beauty foundation is available in 40 different shades, with colors never before seen in a makeup line. Rihanna wanted things girls of all skin tones could fall in love with, and it was something that was of utmost importance to her when developing the line. Of this goal she says, “there needs to be something for a really dark skin girl, there needs to be something for a really pale girl, and there needs to be something for someone in between.”
Shade matching has always been a major concern among consumers, with 60 percent reporting at least some difficulty in finding a foundation shade that matches their skin. This dilemma is especially difficult for women with less popular skin shades. Nyma Tang, a makeup artist, created a YouTube channel to address this exact problem: The Darkest Shade. Her videos are meant to help women with darker skin find brands and shades that would best fit their skin tone; a challenging task due to the lack of shade inclusivity in the market. Tang shared her approval for Fenty Beauty, “I am so glad someone came out with a foundation literally for every skin tone. And this just goes to show other brands that darker skin tone foundation does actually sell.” Eight out of ten of Fenty Beauty’s darkest hues sold out within days of the line’s launch.
Fenty Beauty seems to be a perfect fit for women on the other side of the spectrum as well. Krystal Robertson was born with albinism, a genetic condition that affects the pigmentation of her skin, hair, and eyes. Most of the foundations she tried in the past left her looking orange, or causing her face to be a different color than the rest of her body. When Fenty Beauty launched she was finally able to find her perfect match. Her photos with the foundation on went viral, and she received so much positive feedback. Roberton said, “this thing I hated about myself, the world embraced. It really touched me.” Fenty Beauty is helping all women be more confident in their own skin; that alone will revolutionize the beauty industry.
Since the launch of Fenty Beauty, other brands like L’Oreal and Maybelline have been pushing content about the diversity of their foundation lines and targeting women of color. However, consumers are responding negatively to this sudden influx of diversity content due to Rihanna’s launch of Fenty Beauty. The one thing that sets Fenty Beauty apart from these other brands, is Rihanna’s genuine effort to make an inclusive beauty line.
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Title image via Flickr courtesy of user Tatiana T at https://flic.kr/p/THyMk4.
