Rihanna, Fenty Beauty Founder is no stranger to most as the second-best-selling female music artist ever. Rihanna rose to fame with the release of her debut studio album, Music of the Sun, and its follow-up, A Girl Like Me (2006), which charted in the top 10 of the US Billboard 200 and respectively produced the singles “Pon de Replay” and “SOS”.
Rihanna launched her own beauty line, Fenty Beauty, in 2017. The brand was enthusiastically embraced by fans and was praised for its inclusivity in offering 40 different shades of foundation among others.
Asides from offering different shades of foundation, the beauty brand was able to put the customer first and craft a mission that has to do with providing beauty for all. Prior to the invention of Fenty Beauty, there was this long criticized gap in the products available, closing this gap by going ahead to produce Fenty Beauty and providing an array of options helped a lot of other cosmetics brands realize that they had not intricately defined their audience.
Fenty Beauty was an instant success partly because of the influence Rihanna has due to her music, but putting it at that alone would not be fair to the mammoth efforts and strategies that went into play during the planning, execution, and marketing of the brand.
We have lots of information about the beauty brand, its beauty products, its founder Rihanna and lots more. Let’s dive in!
Article Contents
What is Fenty Beauty?
Fenty Beauty is a makeup brand created by the iconic singer and fashion mogul, Rihanna. The brand quickly became a household name in the beauty industry, majorly because it focuses on inclusivity, diversity, and high-quality products.
Fenty Beauty launched in 2017 and is known for its wide range of foundation shades, which cater to various skin tones and skin types, including those that are often overlooked by other brands.
Fenty Beauty’s product line launched and has since then expanded to include concealers, highlighters, lip paints, eyeshadows, and more, all of which are designed to be inclusive and versatile. Its name comes from Rihanna’s full name, Robyn Rihanna Fenty.
Fenty Beauty is more than just a makeup brand, it’s a movement that celebrates diversity, individuality, and self-expression, empowering people of all backgrounds to feel confident and beautiful in their own skin.
In the 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. Rihanna, after years of experimenting with beauty including a collaboration with MAC Cosmetics and Parlux Ltd, recognized the exclusion of deeper skin tones, darker shades, and other skin types, and that led to the birth of the company we have today.
Rihanna collaborated with LVMH for the creation of Fenty Beauty and that just means doing business at the highest level possible. She did it through the luxury conglomerate’s Kendo division. Kendo Holdings, Inc, is an “incubator” company that manufactures cosmetics as white-label products for sale through cosmetics retailer Sephora, another LVMH subsidiary, as well as other outlets.
The company reportedly made $100m (£72m) in its first 40 days. It makes more money than other celebrity-founded beauty brands such as Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics, Kim Kardashian’s KKW Beauty, and Jessica Alba’s Honest Company, Forbes says.
Fenty Beauty’s debut products went on sale on September 8, 2017. The day Fenty Beauty released her products coincided with New York Fashion Week, where Rihanna had a show in collaboration with Puma, and it was promoted to the hilt. According to The New York Times, “One might be forgiven for thinking it’s actually Rihanna New York Fashion Week.”
One of Fenty’s UK launches happened at the Harvey Nichols luxury department store. In the UK, Fenty Beauty was originally exclusive to Harvey Nichols department stores, until it was announced in May 2019 that the line would also become available in Boots UK’s high-street pharmacies
In the US, the products were launched on Sephora. A lot of people rushed down to the Sephora stores, and the Sephora website to grab one of the Fenty beauty products. People also made purchases from Fenty Beauty’s website.
Fenty Beauty won the Women’s Wear Daily Beauty Inc. award in 2017 for the launch of the year in the prestige sector. The launch coincided with NYFW and it went bonkers on social media, the industry felt the effect. The lip paints came in all manner of colors, Baby pink, peach nude, chocolate brown, etc. The Fenty Foundation was also a hit. The award was more than well deserved.
Fenty Founder, Rihanna
Rihanna remains a source of inspiration to many women and it’s for a lot of reasons. In 2019 it was announced that Rihanna was partnering with LVMH Moët Hennessy—Louis Vuitton to create the fashion line, Fenty. She thereby became the first woman of color to head a fashion house at LVMH, which was the largest luxury-products company in the world.
Fenty Beauty Rihanna is worth $1.7bn (£1.2bn), with an estimated $1.4bn coming from the earned media value of Fenty Beauty. The rest of Rihanna’s fortune mostly comes from her stake in her lingerie company, Savage X Fenty, worth an estimated $270m (£194m), and her earnings from music and acting.
Top benefits of Fenty Beauty
Tough to pick, but the top 2 benefits of Fenty Beauty are Inclusive Shade Range and High-Quality Formulas. These benefits alone would have still made the brand a hit in my opinion but the beauty line left no stone unturned.
Best Products Of Fenty Beauty
Fenty Beauty has a wide range of products and we created a list of the best Fenty Beauty products. You should check it out, However, here’s their best skincare product in our opinion.
Best Skincare Product: Hydra Vizor Invisible Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Sunscreen
This sunscreen is magic! It’s so good I rated it twice. With ingredients like Kalahari melon which delivers vitamin and antioxidant-packed hydration, Niacinamide which Fights shine and reduces the look of pores and dark spots, hyaluronic acid which Helps hydrate, soothe, and condition the skin, Barbados Baobab, A nutrient-rich superfruit that helps hydrate, this product is our number one pick.
Another feature we love about it asides from the ingredients and the high quality is its eco-friendliness. Eco-friendly brands are conscious of the planet and this definitely adds to the success of Fenty Beauty as a beauty brand. This is something I wish all brands could imbibe.
Fenty Beauty Pricing
Fenty Beauty’s products are generally considered to be on the higher end of the spectrum compared to other drugstore brands. However, the beauty brand has received praise for offering a wide span of shades to cater to different skin tones and undertones, which was previously lacking in the cosmetics industry.
Many customers believe that the higher price point is worth it because of the high-quality ingredients, innovative formulas, and sleek packaging.
Additionally, Fenty Beauty often offers limited edition sets and bundles that provide better value for customers looking to try multiple products. Overall, while Fenty Beauty may be more expensive than some other brands, the brand’s commitment to inclusivity and high-quality products has made it a favorite among many customers.
Fenty Beauty Pros and Cons
Everything that has a good side also has a bad rap. I know it sounds like all praises throughout this article but trust me, the hype is real. However, we would love to examine the pros and cons of the Rihanna released brand.
Fenty Beauty Pros
Diverse shade range: Fenty Beauty is well-known for its extensive span of foundation shades, catering to a wide variety of skin tones. As many brands failed to include a span of shades that fit different skin tones, Rihanna succeeded in including darker shades, developing formulas that work for all skin types, and pinpointing universal shades.
Inclusive marketing: Fenty Beauty’s first line of advertising and product launches often feature models of different skin tones, sizes, and genders, promoting inclusivity in the beauty industry.
Innovative products: Fenty Beauty has introduced unique and innovative products, such as the Gloss Bomb lip gloss and the Body Lava Luminizer. The Body Lava was Fenty Beauty’s first body product. The brand also created the kabuki brush, one of its most ergonomic beauty tools to apply it, which was a separate product.
High-quality formulas: Many Fenty Beauty products have received positive reviews for their long-wear, high-pigment formulas.
Cruelty-free: Fenty Beauty is a cruelty-free brand, which means that none of its products are tested on animals.
With all these advantages and some not mentioned, like being an ethical brand, you have to love Fenty. However, we identified a few cons…
Fenty Beauty Cons
Expensive: Fenty Beauty products tend to be on the pricier side compared to some other drugstore or mid-range brands.
Limited availability: Fenty Beauty is primarily available at Sephora and on the Fenty Beauty website, which may be inconvenient for those who prefer to shop at other retailers.
With these disadvantages, you might be thinking of some other alternatives, we got you covered!
Fenty Beauty Alternatives
Huda Beauty – offers a range of products with high pigmentation and a focus on inclusivity.
ColourPop – is known for its affordable prices and wide span of shades and products
Glossier – a minimalist makeup brand with a focus on skincare-infused makeup
My Experience Using Fenty Beauty
The color is amazing and lightweight on my face which seems to be the best for my skin type, The hydra vizor sunscreen is my favorite product from her line, it doesn’t only protect but also moisturizes the skin and gives it a luminous glow.
Conclusion: Should You Buy Fenty Beauty?
With Fenty Beauty, Rihanna created one of the best inventions of 2017. The idea was great, she spotted a gap in the market and literally owned it. This gives an example of how good business should be.
It is believed that the brand will release more shades in the future and with more news, will come more updates.
Should you buy Fenty Beauty? Absolutely yes! You should. You should at least try it and let me know your experience in the comments.
