Fenty Beauty’s first products went on sale on September 8, 2017. The launch coincided with Rihanna’s collaboration with Puma during New York Fashion Week. In the United States, the line launched in Sephora stores, on the Sephora website, and on Fenty Beauty’s website. In the United Kingdom, Fenty Beauty was exclusive to Harvey Nichols department stores until May 2019, when the line would also become available in the high street chemist Boots UK. Currently, Fenty Beauty is available in 17 countries.
Fenty Beauty products have drawn international praise for the range of shades offered, particularly for the inclusion of darker shades for its Pro Filt’R foundation, addressing a long-criticized gap in cosmetic industry offerings for black women and other women of color. Many brands soon followed Fenty’s example after their initial release and added more inclusive shades to their own collections. Subsequent launches of new products and lines have been widely criticized for their lack of inclusive shades and overall failure to meet the new standards set by Fenty Beauty, such as Kim Kardashian’s line KKW Beauty, Tarte’s Shape Tape Foundation, and Benefit’s Hello Happy foundation.
On November 23, 2017, the first Stunna Lip Paint, a red long-wear liquid lipstick, was released, drawing broad enthusiasm. Reviewing the product at BuzzFeed News, Leticia Miranda noted the history of controversy around red lipstick for women of color, stating the context made the choice of color for Stunna “assertive, confrontational, unapologetic”.Following the release of the original red Stunna Lip Paint, Fenty Beauty released four more lip paints in baby pink, peach nude, chocolate brown, and black. On March 23, 2018, the brand launched a limited-edition highlighter called, “Dirty Thirty”, for Rihanna’s 30th birthday. Taken from the line’s popular Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter “Trophy Wife” (metallic gold).
On April 6, 2018, Fenty Beauty released three products in its Beach, Please collection. Fenty Beauty’s first body product “Body Lava”, is a liquid product that could be buffed into any part of the body for illumination. To apply the Body Lava, the Kabuki Brush is available for purchase separately. Meanwhile, the Fairy Bomb Glittering Pom Pom is both applicator and product: the vanilla-coconut scented pom pom was packed with rose gold glitter designed to fit all skin tones. Shortly after the luminizer products were released, Fenty Beauty launched in Saudi Arabia.
On October 4, 2018, Fenty Beauty launched their winter collection “ChillOwt”, which included a variety of winter-themed and cool-toned products. This collection included the Killawatt Foil Palette (highlighter palette with seven metallic shades), “Snow Daze” and “Snow Nights” (two lipstick sets), and sets of crayons for lip and eye and “Avalanche Powders” (loose pigmented powder).On February 17, 2022, Rihanna announced that Ulta Beauty stores would begin carrying Fenty Beauty products beginning March 6, 2022.
On May 10, 2022, Rihanna announced that Fenty Beauty would be available in 8 African countries, Kenya, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, Zambia, and Zimbabwe on May 27, 2022.
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