Growing up Rihanna mother never allowed her to wear make-up – but her makeup brand Fenty Beauty is what has helped catapult the superstar singer to becoming one of the richest women in America.
Many of us can sing her hit songs, and Rihanna has put in a lot of insert your own rendition of work, work, work, work, work since becoming famous as a singer she has since evolved into a style icon and makeup entrepreneur. Soon she’ll be the first black woman in charge of a major luxury fashion house. All those efforts add up to a $600 million fortune.
Fenty Beauty launched in September 2017 at Sephora, and online at FentyBeauty.com. It quickly becoming a viral success. Fenty Beauty racked up a reported $100 million in sales in its first few weeks. It didn’t hurt that Rihanna has a whooping 71 million Instagram followers.
Sales continue to soar. Fenty Beauty generated an estimated $570 million in revenue in 2019, after only 15 months in business. The entire operation is worth, conservatively, more than $3 billion.
Fenty Beauty has differentiated itself in another way, releasing 40 shades of foundation, far more than the handful of colors sold by other brands.
Stephanie Wissink, a research analyst at Jefferies says “Not only did Fenty Beauty achieve meaningful sales, but it potentially changed the industry permanently.”
Rihanna was inspired to create Fenty Beauty after years of experimenting with the best-of-the-best in beauty, and still seeing a void in the industry for products that performed across all skin types and tones. She launched a makeup line “so that people everywhere would be included,” focusing on a wide range of traditionally hard-to-match skin tones. Rihanna is multiracial – her mother is black and from South America, while her father is half black and half white. Due to her lighter complexion, Rihanna was bullied by other kids growing up in Barbados. Through her makeup line, Rihanna has become a champion for all skin types.
Fenty Beauty products are designed to feel lightweight, even as they deliver buildable coverage that effortlessly layers, to ultimately “make skin look like skin.” Most importantly, Rihanna creates makeup to inspire: “Makeup is there for you to have fun with,” she says. “It should never feel like pressure. It should never feel like a uniform.
The Barbados native, who overcame hardships including an abusive addict father has continued growing her empire with a lingerie line Rihanna launched several years ago called Savage X Fenty.
Interestingly enough, 11 of the 80 women on Forbes‘ list of the Richest Self-Made Women. made their money in beauty or skin care products. Many did what Rihanna did, turn to the low-cost marketing opportunity presented by social media.
Feel free to take chances, and take risks, and dare to do something new or different.
Rihanna
It’s a motto we all can take to heart!