Fenty's Slip Up and Tokenism in the Beauty Industry

If you follow Instagram accounts along the likes of Diet Prada and Estée Laundry, you have most likely seen that what seemed like a “do-no-wrong” brand has made a major mistake in product naming. Ever since its launch, Fenty Beauty has been praised for its shade ranges and its inclusivity in marketing promotions. Rihanna has certainly made diversity a priority in her brand. Unfortunately, her latest product was inconsistent with her established brand.

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An addition to the Killawatt Highlighter line, a product with the shade name “Geisha Chic” hit Instagram, being teased by various influencers who had received PR packages to promote a future launch.

Pages such as Esteé Laundry were quick to call out this racial insensitivity and lack of cultural understanding or appreciation relating to the term geisha. Those of Asian background took to their Instagram question log, describing the ever-present exoticization and misunderstanding of what geisha and geisha culture represent.

Fenty fans questioned the intent of the brand as well as whether this product would be renamed or entirely pulled from its launch. Considering that influencers already had their hands on the product, manufacturing was likely nearly complete and the product ready for sale.

After this major backlash, Fenty announced that it has decided to “completely remove this shade from online and in stores until further notice.” It was definitely a faster response to beauty community scrutiny than other brands have shown in the past.

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Unfortunately, this is just one of the more recognized cases of racial insensitivity toward Asians in the beauty industry. Brands like Tatcha have indulged in a similar exoticization and almost fetishization of geisha culture, while in reality, white-washing the brand to appeal to wealthy, non-POC populations. The marketing scheme behind Tatcha certainly requires more revision, as seen below, the brand has committed some heavily insensitive collaborations in the past.

It is only with hope that callout culture will adjust brand behavior in the future and create a more accountable and racially-appropriate environment in an industry that profits off of tokenization and ignorance.

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Rihanna Makes History with LVMH Partnership

We may not be getting new music anytime soon, but everyone’s favorite multi-hyphenate businesswoman Bad Gal RiRi is expanding her empire with the world’s largest luxury conglomerate LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy). This historic deal marks her as the first female designer of color to receive her own clothing brand with the huge parent company, which also owns Dior, Givenchy, and Fendi.

Details about the contract are currently unknown, but sources close to LVMH have confirmed the partnership. According to these sources, LVMH has already handpicked a number of employees from within the company to work on the project with Rihanna and her associates. The Internet went into a frenzy with speculation when Rihanna stepped out in Manhattan wearing gold shades with her her Fenty brand name spelling out across the temples. Some claimed the star was test-driving a prototype of the sunglasses, while dropping a tease for this next big step in her career.

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Rihanna has been a monumental influence in the make-up and fashion world for many years now, with her tenure as the creative director of Puma, successful lingerie line Savage x Fenty, and iconic outfits cementing her as a fashion icon.

The launch of her formidable beauty brand Fenty Beauty in September 2017 changed the way that people of color are treated in the beauty community. Her efforts to create make-up for all skin shades with the creation of 40 shades of Pro Filt'R foundation, shook the beauty community and garnered her international acclaim from industry heavyweights. The undeniable success of Fenty Beauty has compelled other makeup companies to similarly fall in line and expand their range of options for consumers; it’s even been nicknamed The Rihanna Effect.

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Her collection with LVMH will span ready-to-wear, leather goods and accessories, and could potentially be released with her ninth album (speculated to come out sometime later this year). Rihanna’s new luxury line signals a shift in focus for LVMH as it continues to diversify its holdings beyond its heritage brands, including investing $2.6 billion in luxury travel operator Belmond Ltd.

Images via: cover photo, Rihanna in gold glasses, Rihanna’s 40 Shades

Rihanna Is My Fairy Gothmother This Halloween

In order: Unbutton, Uninvited, Uncuffed, and Unveil (Image via)

In order: Unbutton, Uninvited, Uncuffed, and Unveil (Image via)

Rihanna has recently come out with an explosion of new makeup products for this upcoming holiday season. From a new highlighter palette to multi-purpose metallic crayons, she’s got your whole face covered.

However, in the spirit of Halloween I wanted to review the Fenty Stunna Lip Paint in the shade Uninvited, which is the goth-y black lipstick color of my emo dreams. Uninvited released alongside three other nude colors: Unveil, Uncuffed, and Unbutton. I personally have been loving Unbutton, which is an everyday peachy nude.

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In preparation of being Sam from Danny Phantom this Halloween (I know she wears purple but I want to go full angst mode), I picked up Uninvited to try out for the weekend. It happened to be that I was sick so my lips didn’t go through a whole day of usual wear, but instead suffered through a whole day of sniffling and consuming mass amounts of chicken soup.

Upon application the lip paint stayed wet and glossy on my lips for a few minutes before drying down into a smooth finish. I only needed a single layer for full opacity, which is super impressive for a black lip. My usual Wet n’ Wild black lip typically needs two applications for the look I desire. My lips didn’t look dehydrated or chapped like I had thought they would, and stayed the same way for the next several hours. Around hour five I noticed some fading, which is great for such a dark lip. The only issue I had was the the lip paints claimed to be non-transferrable which wasn’t true for me.

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Comparing Uninvited to other black lipsticks, it’s clear that it’s a strong contender. Not only was the opacity far better than other black lipsticks I’ve tried, but the finish of it is unique. The Fenty Lip Paints are a hybrid between a normal lipstick and a liquid lipstick in terms of texture and finish, leaving a sexy, velvet look. This is definitely going to be my choice for this year’s Halloween night.

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Beauty Brand Review: Fenty Beauty's Match Stix

Ever since Colourpop discontinued their contour sticks and my personal ban against Tarte after its shade range debacle, I've been struggling to find new contour products as well as some sort of concealer to rival Shape Tape. I've been using the drugstore brand Profusion powder contour, but I know I wanted something more. It took me a while (and a lot of self control) to convince myself to invest in new makeup just because I don't want to keep hoarding, but now that I've tried Fenty Beauty's products... I'm here for it.

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Last week, I purchased two Fenty Beauty Match Stix, which can act as highlight, concealer, and contour. These products come in twenty shades ranging from light and dark tones to peachy pink tones. You know Rihanna doesn't play around when it comes to shade range.

The product itself looks a lot like a hybrid between KKW Beauty packaging and Colourpop's stick concealer. The packaging is a little light, which makes it look a little cheaper. However, as an ensemble, the products come together to look a little like a honeycomb. That's pretty neat.

In terms of product quality, it reminds me a lot of the Tarte Face Slenderizer but with more of a dense texture and product rigidity. The product itself has a seemingly high glitter content, so if you're not about shine and want a more matte look, this might not be the product for you.

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The product blends out easily with a damp beauty blender and applies seemlessly. The rigid nature of the crayon-like applicator gives you a lot of control and is generally forgiving for those who might not be familiar with contouring.

The product retails for $25 each. I'd say overall the product rates about a 4.5/5. I haven't run into many issues with it at all. It has longwear power and just the amount of shine you want. 

 

 

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Stop the Presses, Rihanna is Launching a Lingerie Collection!

As if we needed another reason to throw money at anything Rihanna releases/debuts/sends our way. Savage x Fenty marks the music artist turned fashion designer and makeup industry titan's latest foray into the world of beauty and fashion.

The line will debut online on May 11 and be available for purchase worldwide. In the mean time, track Savage x Fenty's official Twitter page for updates on all things lingerie and Rihanna related and refer to the brand's official site for a countdown until the release!

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