When it was announced that Rihanna was launching Fenty Beauty, it felt like the beauty world came to a hault. Everyone waited in anticipation to try out the products that their favorite Caribbean singer and fashion icon formulated. When Fenty Beauty finally launched in September 2017, they found immediate success making $72 million in revenue in its first month. With Rihanna as their founder and face of the brand, she vouched to create a makeup company that was inclusive to all, from its products to its advertisements. Fenty’s human focused branding and products has established Fenty Beauty as a company that cares and goes beyond the traditional limits of the beauty industry. Since Fenty Beauty will celebrate five years of business this year, we decided to highlight 10 times Fenty Beauty pushed beauty boundaries since its launch.
Launching a Wide Rage of Foundation Shades
Fenty Beauty has made headlines for pushing beauty limits since its inception in 2017. In their first product release, Fenty introduced their Pro Filter Foundation, which included 40 different light to dark shades. Although today, having a wide range of foundation colors is the norm, when Fenty launched, most foundation shades were limited to light colors. Fenty Beauty’s Pro Filter Foundation made history and set a new standard for established and up-and-coming beauty brands, giving women of color a place in the beauty world. Since then, Fenty has added 10 more shades, totaling 50 unique foundation shades in their Pro Filter Line.
Diversifying a Makeup Collection
But Fenty didn’t just create a foundation with women of color in mind, Fenty made an entire makeup line with women of color at its center. Consisting of golden and purple highlight shades, and a variety of contour, blush, and concealer colors and textures, Fenty Beauty produced makeup that worked and could be seen on all skin complexions.
Making Fenty Beauty for Every One
With the goal of diversity and inclusion in mind, Fenty did not identify women as their sole core demographic. In fact, Fenty has always prioritized making men equally valuable as women in the beauty sphere. Products for Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin and even Savage X Fenty, are made for and modeled by both men and women.
Embracing a Global Perspective
If you visit Fenty’s Instagram page you will notice the diversity in age, gender, race, and ethnicity present in their feed. Pictures of black men applying lip gloss, and older women feeling radiant in their skin can be found on their Instagram, broadening the beauty spectrum into something realistic and all-embracing.
Centering the Individual
Often, the faces that pop up on Fenty Beauty’s Instagram are unfamiliar because Fenty invites smaller influencers and content creators onto their page, instead of using professional models and talent to advertise products. This choice makes their social media pages a reflection of the everyday consumer instead of an image of perfection. Fenty also includes the influencers name and preferred pronouns in the captions, showing their clients that at Fenty Beauty, people matter and come before products and sales.
Showing Solidarity
Credits: @fentybeauty Instagram
Their support for marginalized groups stretches beyond representation on their Instagram and products. Fenty’s Instagram page has highlights for AAPI month, Hispanic heritage month, and Juneteenth. Each educating or celebrating the topic, showing respect, solidarity, and community while also documenting Fenty as more than just a beauty brand.
Using Popularity for Food: The Clara Lionel Foundation
Credits: Clara Lionel foundation page.
Although founded by Rihanna years before Fenty Beauty, The Clara Lionel
Foundation now utilizes Fenty Beauty’s global reach to spread awareness and fundraise for
their cause. Named after and in honor of her grandparents, Clara and Lionel, The Clara and
Lionel Foundation works towards raising funds and support for “groundbreaking and
effective education, health, and emergency response programs around the world.” Fenty
Beauty’s website even has a section dedicated to CLF, helping Fenty Beauty impact the world
positively beyond the sale of cosmetics.
If you want know more about this Foundation.
Forstering a Relationship Between Rihanna and Fans
Fenty’s ability to foster community is one of their greatest strengths and one of the things that separates them from other brands. Alongside launching Fenty, tutorials featuring the founder herself, Rihanna, using Fenty products were uploaded on YouTube. These tutorials brought together makeup enthusiasts and Rihanna fans, set a casual tone to the brand, and started a trustworthy relationship between Fenty and clients.
Helping the Planet Stay Green
This year, Fenty Beauty, who already had a selection of vegan products, made a stronger commitment to making environmentally conscious choices with their launch of the refillable Icon Lipsticks. These new lipsticks come in a 100% reusable and refillable packaging that will help minimize the use of plastics when manufacturing and buying lipsticks.
Rihanna’s deep involvement in the brand has contributed immensely to its success. Since founding Fenty Beauty, Rihanna has shifted her focus from her music to her business ventures, dedicating her time to bettering the world around her. Her activism, her desire for change, her leadership, and constant presence in her brand matters. Especially in an industry where celebrity products and brands often lean on a name to sell products that often lack luster. Rihanna, as a present female company leader, pushes against the narratives we know of celebrity beauty brands.
Words by Julia Bastos
Photo Credits: @fentybeauty Instagram
