Fenty Beauty First Impressions and Swatches

The makeup line that has been most talked about in the past month is Fenty Beauty. Rihanna is a singer, actress, fashion designer, and has now expanded into the world of beauty. She dropped her entire collection in Sephora stores and online during New York Fashion Week. What a smart move! I had to get a few things from the collection because of all the videos I saw on Instagram of the highlighters and lip gloss.

First Impression: The packaging is super cute and aesthetically pleasing. The color palette used is black, ‘millenial’ pink, and white. There’s a graffiti feel to it but it’s not tacky or overdone in my opinion. The packaging of the makeup itself is also really cute; I really like that there is an iridescent sheen to the compacts. The Match Stix are magnetic which is SO convenient for those who travel often, like myself!

As far as advertising goes, I feel like Fenty Beauty’s advertising was all-inclusive, which is so important to us women of color (WOC). The brand’s main tagline is ‘makeup for all’ and I couldn’t be more excited. And… this might be an unpopular opinion, but I really love that Rihanna didn’t enlist the help of fellow celebs or top influencers to push her products. The good things I heard about her collection came from people I could relate to, which made me feel like I could give RiRi all my coins! 😉

1. Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter in Trophy Wife.
When I saw Rihanna rocking this highlighter, I knew I had to have it. My dear melanin queens… YOU NEED THIS. It is a 3d hyper-metallic gold, so apply it with a light hand unless you are determined to be noticed from outer space. The formula is a cream-powder hybrid and it really does last all day. I wore it for twelve hours the first time I used it, and I was shining, shining, shining, shining, yeaaaaah. The highlighters retail for $34 a pop, with two singles and four duos.

2. Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation.
This was a deluxe sample I received with my order from Sephora because I was curious to try it before I buy it. This sample is in the shade 420, which was the closest shade to my complexion at the time. It was too dark for me, but I helped blend it into my face with lighter powder so I didn’t look too crazy. The Fenty Beauty website claims that this foundation is sweat and humidity resistant, which is a necessity in Central Florida. I wore this foundation all day and not only did it feel like my bare skin rather than makeup, it lasted all day without requiring a touch-up.
Once I get my actual shade, we’ll be in business! I imagine it looks even better with the Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer. This also retails for $34.

3. Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer
This gloss retails for $18 and was made to flatter everybody. It is described as a universal rose nude shade, which I think is pretty accurate. Personally, a lot of glosses are iffy because I have to make sure it doesn’t look like chalk on my lips. Gloss Bomb gives me a ‘my lips but better’ look when worn alone and looks even more poppin’ when I add a slightly darker lip pencil to the mix.

Now, onto some swatches:

I had to swatch Trophy Wife individually because it deserves its own spotlight. You can see the fine shimmer in this picture, and it is just as pigmented applied with a fan brush as it is swatched with my finger above. Although it is shimmery, the glitter stays put! I haven’t had any issues with it. If you’re not a shimmer lover, skip this one and go for some of the more subtle highlighters.

Trophy Wife is on the top, Gloss Bomb is in the middle, and the Pro Filt’r foundation is on the bottom. Everything is exactly what I dreamed it would be! Next up on my wishlist are the Match Stix (the concealer, contour, and highlight set that you can customize), Full-Bodied Foundation Brush, Portable Contour & Concealer Brush, and Invisimatte blotting powder.