Rihanna is a talented woman who is now a beauty industry icon.

Fenty Beauty’s quick success

The music and fashion star recently unveiled Fenty Beauty, an inclusive makeup line. Fenty’s main products are its foundations, primers, contour products, and concealers that match the skin tones and undertones of women of color.

Each of Fenty’s products come in varied colors. For example, the brand’s foundation comes in 40 different hues. Fenty also has a lipgloss—a rosy nude with a hint of simmer—that Rhianna swears works “well on all skin tones.”

So far, the brand has received praise for its diverse products. Women of color with dark skin tones are easily able to find a foundation that’s a good match. The line also boasts a foundation that albino customers can confidently wear, Teen Vogue reports.

Women of color and the beauty industry

Although Fenty Beauty isn’t the first brand that’s addressed the makeup needs of WOC—Black Up Cosmetics, IMAN Cosmetics, Black Opal, L’Oreal Paris True Match, and many more brands have over the years—it’s Rhianna’s star power that could send her brand, and all of its hues, mainstream.

“Rihanna’s global appeal makes the success of Fenty Beauty the closet thing to a sure bet,” Cardyn Brooks, writer and innovator, says. “Her public persona transcends ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, social class, nationality.”

Fenty’s immense and quick success may be what the mainstream and blindingly white beauty industry needs to make it the intersectional place it should be. After all, women of color adore wearing makeup that’s fun, pleasant to wear, and matches their skin tone.

However, this universal change may, unfortunately, hinge on sales.

Money counts

“[Change] will come down to Fenty Beauty maintaining ‘comeback’ sales, and a loyal following before other brands follow suit,” Amber Stanfield, beauty blogger, says.

And Mindy Green, Owner of MG Beauty, reiterates how important sales are by explaining that in the past, other brands have attempted to address the makeup needs of WOC, but have ended production on their lines because of sales.

“I can recall when Revlon introduced the Color Style line in the mid ’90s with a strong ad campaign featuring Veronica Webb and other top models of color,” Green says.

“It appeared to be doing fairly well. Then, Revlon pulled the plug. I’m sure they sighted sales less than expected or projected. But how do you know what to expect or project for something unprecedented?”

However, if Fenty continues to sell, it can only improve the industry, Diane Elizabeth, founder of Skin Care Ox, adds.

“Fenty has received rave reviews from women who have been largely without a solution for their whole lives,” Elizabeth says. “This passion and fervor will translate into fantastic sales and put every other makeup brand on notice.”

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