Photo credit: Kevin Mazur
If anything, Rihanna’s new makeup line, Fenty Beauty, just reminded the beauty industry how important representation and inclusivity is.
Since the singer debuted her makeup line, which includes 40 shades of foundation, last week, the dark shades have consistently sold out. While most brands release a small selection of darker shades, there are several dark shades featured in the Fenty Beauty collection. And let’s just say, the world is taking notice as Rihanna’s line clearly caters to women of color. According to Women’s Wear Daily, “African “American women spend $7.5 billion annually on beauty products.
Therefore, the darker shades selling out not only speaks to the Black buying power but also the need for inclusivity in the beauty industry.
The dark Fenty Beauty foundation shades are sold out everywhere! This is for all the makeup brands who think the dark shades won’t sell well pic.twitter.com/JDKddaMa5r
— Affinity Magazine (@TheAffinityMag) September 10, 2017
One of the models featured on the Fenty Beauty website, Nneoma Anosike, wrote in an Instagram post:
“Representing one of the dark shades of foundation for @fentybeauty is an amazing thing not only because it was created by Rihanna but more importantly, that the beauty world for people of color has welcomed yet another brand that goes into understanding that we melanins have different undertones and shades- not just 3 but multiple!,” Anosike said. “Thank you Fenty beauty and @badgalriri. Welcome to the makeup world! You started with a bang!!”
Another review came from beauty YouTuber Nyma Tang, who wrote: “I saw other dark skinned girls in Sephora getting matched in this foundation, and it literally melted by heart because it was so awesome to see such a huge launch, and there were girls that looked like me that were able to get matched for it, it was amazing.”
While the darker tones shades are indeed selling out fast, as of this morning, there are some still some available at fentybeauty.com, as well as online at Sephora. If you missed it, the collection is set to continuously restock.
Kudos to Rihanna for blazing her own trail in the beauty industry and using her platform to create a diverse cosmetic line that celebrates and includes all shades of melanin.