Late last year, music and fashion icon Rihanna made a splash in the beauty industry, by launching her own make-up brand Fenty Beauty. Named after the singer’s surname, Rihanna wanted to create a beauty brand “so that women everywhere would be included” after seeing the huge gap in the industry. She highlighted that other makeup brands aren’t covering a wide range of skin tones within their makeup.
Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation
So Rihanna set out to create cruelty-free makeup products that could cater for a variety of skin tones, so that women everywhere could begin enjoying and experimenting with makeup, without the hurdle of not finding their exact match.
The real test of this brand’s promise will be in the foundation, which is the ‘literal foundation’ of anyone’s makeup routine and is the core element that needs to match your skin tone perfectly. This is the product that got beauty gurus and reviewers talking – so just how many skin tones could Rihanna cater for? The answer (so far) is 40 shades. Ranging from super-fair to very deep tones, Rihanna is sticking to her brand’s ethos and aiming to provide the perfect shade for every single person out there.
Alongside the foundation, Rihanna has also launched a primer, powders, blushes, highlighters, cream concealers and contour sticks, and a ‘universal’ lip gloss. She has also recently launched a bold red liquid lipstick that compliments every skin tone.
Sounds promising, right? Even beauty gurus around the world were raving about her products, especially when it came to matching their skin tones, so it wasn’t long before I was sold.
However, one issue I ran into rather early with Fenty Beauty, is the fact that in the UK, 
the only counters are located in Harvey Nichols stores. Even though you can order all of the products online, I didn’t want to take the risk with ordering the wrong shade of foundation.
So when I was in Edinburgh recently, I popped into the Harvey Nichols store and located the Fenty Beauty counter. The lovely makeup artist matched my foundation, where I surprisingly wasn’t the palest shade! So I went home with just the foundation to start with, hoping that if I enjoyed the foundation, then I could order more of her products online.
The Fenty Beauty ‘Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longer Foundation’ provides medium to full coverage and retails for £26.
So the following day, I applied the foundation using my usually makeup routine. I used my moisturiser and e.l.f. Blemish Control primer and nothing else before applying the foundation. This would allow me to see how the foundation would work in my own lighting, with my own products, and could therefore be compared alongside my other foundations.
I found out rather quickly that this foundation was more liquidy than my other foundations, but this is what I was expecting since this is a medium coverage foundation. However, I enjoy a more full coverage foundation, but this product states that it is buildable, so I applied it like a dampened beauty blender.
At first, the foundation applied rather sheer, however, I put this down to being used to thicker, more full coverage foundations. So I applied an even layer over my face and then went to build the foundation. However, because this product is long-wear and dries down matte, once I applied another layer, the foundation began to cake slightly around my chin and forehead. I also found that my concealer didn’t blend flawlessly when it was applied on top, again, around my chin and forehead.
Now it was time to see how long it would last.
This is where I was impressed. FYI I have combination skin, so my cheeks can get quite dry and my T-Zone is like an oil-slick. So by the end of the day, I don’t expect anymore foundation to be on my forehead, nose or chin. But by the end of the day, after around eight hours of wear-time, the foundation was still locked in place! Apart from some slight buildup around my forehead that can be easily solved with a little blotting paper and powder, the foundation had lasted brilliantly.
Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation in the shade 110
But after I had taken my make-up off that night and placed the foundation bottle next to my others on my vanity, I realised that this foundation hadn’t stolen my heart. I felt like it took a lot of work to apply it and build it up to the coverage that I wanted. Whereas, my more full-coverage foundations can be applied in a fraction of the time, and without the conflict with my concealers and inevitable cakiness.
If you’re after a medium coverage foundation that will last all day, or you have combination to oily skin, I would highly recommend this foundation. Also, the amount of product that you get in the bottle is brilliant for the price that you pay, so you won’t be shelling out every few months for it! But sadly for me, I just need that bit more coverage.
This hasn’t discouraged me from trying more of Rhi’s products. She has created a highly ethical and inclusive brand that is setting an example to all other companies in the beauty industry. Now it’s time that they sit up and listen.
Louiseeanna 