Fenty Beauty Changes the Makeup World

By Cynthia Miranda

A lot of eyes have been on Rihanna recently - more than usual. This is because the highly renowned singer and actress has added another achievement to her already long list. Rihanna released a beauty line named Fenty on Sept. 8, 2017. She planned the line for two years before its release.

Women with darker skin tones often find it hard to find a foundation shade that perfectly matches their skin, especially with high-end makeup brands. Rihanna tried to target this issue with her Fenty Beauty makeup line. Her line has 40 different foundation shades including light, medium and darker skin tones, compared to the majority of makeup brands that range from ten to 20 shades.

Health and society freshman Dumebi Nzegwu said it's often hard to find a foundation shade that matches her skin tone. She was excited when Rihanna released her Fenty beauty line not only because it was made by Rihanna, but because of its inclusiveness.

"As a black woman I know that she will get my shade right," Nzegwu said, referring to Rihanna. "It should be a game changer for the industry." 

Nzegwu is only one example of how the release of the new products have left beauty consumers #shook. Beauty vloggers and makeup lovers were quick to share their opinions on Fenty.

Elena Gonzales, ten-year beauty specialist and current beauty ambassador at Sephora, also shared her views on the new makeup line. She said Fenty Beauty has seen a wide demographic of consumers and the public's reactions to Fenty Beauty have been overwhelmingly positive.

"Everybody and their mother wants it," Gonzales said. "I have daughters coming in to get color-matched with their mothers." 

Gonzales explained that she had color-matched a Sephora customer and her mother, just moments before the interview. She reinforced the idea that the popularity of the makeup line is largely due to the large shade range.

"It made the claim that it has the shade for everyone," Gonzales said.

However, Gonzales believes "there is way too much hype" on the product. Social media played a large role in popularizing Fenty Beauty. Consumers were able to share their positive experiences with the product, adding to the hype. For example, an albino woman publicly shared her experience with finding a foundation that matched her skin tone for the first time. The story was shared widely through social media.

"Don't get me wrong, it's a great product. It works very well," Gonzales said. "But it's a prime example of how much social media has so much weight in people's lives."

She explained that, essentially, the product is not much different from others that she had seen in the market. However, customers have shown great curiosity in the product, often asking how it is different from other brands, what shade they should purchase, and if Gonzales would personally recommend the product.

Gonzales said she would recommend the product to those with normal to combination skin types. She praised the foundation's sweat-proof and water-resistant qualities. She said she had some foundation on her arm even after washing the makeup residue multiple times.

"It's true to what it says, in that it's a matte that blurs and filters the skin," Gonzales said.

Rihanna's Fenty Beauty makeup line makes the claim that it will be more inclusive of diverse skin tones. The brand said the product has been receiving a lot of love, largely because of its mission.

Gonzales said the only way to figure out if the product fulfills its mission is to test it out.

"Give it a try!" she said. "Form your own opinion about it."

All photos are copyright free

Cynthia Miranda is a freshman journalism student at the University of Texas at Austin.