Earlier this month, Rihanna released her new makeup line, Fenty Beauty, which has since garnered much attention for its all-inclusive foundation shades.
Fenty Beauty includes 40 shades of foundation across a wide spectrum, as well as versatile highlighters and a lip gloss that is said to match anyone.
“I’m so happy because not only is there a really strong level of diversity as far as darker shades go, but she also went to really include all of the undertones for lighter colors as well,” said Myia Fitzgerald, a freshman English major from Dania Beach, Florida.
Fenty Beauty’s Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation includes shades designed to match the undertones of each skin color, such as Color 440 for deep skin with cool red undertones and Color 450 for deep skin with warm undertones.
“I haven’t really ever had any issue finding the right foundation for my skin tone, but I know that a lot of people do, and I think that coming out with that line is awesome to make available for everybody,” said Abby Jasper, a junior theater education major from Birmingham.
On the Fenty Beauty website Rihanna said that she created Fenty Beauty for everyone, including women of all shades, personalities, attitudes, cultures and races.
“I wanted everyone to feel included,” the Fenty Beauty website said. “That’s the real reason I made this line.”
Kyla Michelle Pittman, a freshman communication major from Enterprise, said that “when people know that they are included in something, it makes them feel important.
“In the past, some people thought that having darker skin or a certain type of skin was ugly. So, when (Rihanna) came out with the all-inclusive line, it’s like ‘Yeah, you’re pretty; we want you to buy this, and don’t be discouraged.’
“Now with this Fenty Beauty, I feel like I have more opportunities.”
The darker shades of the foundation quickly sold out in Sephora stores and online. On the Fenty Beauty website, eight shades are still sold out, seven of which are on the darker end of the line.
“It’s really, really difficult to try and get shades that dark, and it’s not that it can’t be made — it’s that companies are choosing not to make them,” Fitzgerald said. “The speed that people have gone crazy over the darker shades just shows there’s a market.
“There’s a whole area of people that are waiting to have something for them, and they will buy it if it’s there.”
Rihanna’s line is drawing a lot of attention for its high inclusivity in its first release, but it is not the first and only makeup line to have such a wide variety of shades.
Maybelline released 16 new shades of its popular Fit Me Foundation in May, raising its total shade count to 40. Fit Me Foundation costs only about $8 online and $6 at Walmart.
M.A.C. offers between 42 and 48 different shades in its two most diverse forms of foundations, Studio Fix Fluid and Studio Fix Powder, each costing $29.
Fenty Beauty’s foundation sells for $34 online on both the Sephora and the Fenty Beauty websites. Most students seem to agree that this is a reasonable price for high quality make up that is sold in a fair quantity.
“I loved Rihanna before, I love her even more now, and I just keep on loving her,” Pittman said. “Go buy it — it’s not even a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — this is just a good opportunity.”
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