Rihanna recently announced her new skincare line earlier this month in order to expand her beauty empire. Fenty Skin launched on July 31, with early access available as of July 29.
https://twitter.com/rihanna/status/1284307641112510464
‘The new culture of skincare’
Rihanna said she is focused on providing skincare for everyone regardless of their gender with her new product line. Although most skincare products can be used by everyone, many skincare companies heavily focus on women and typically only feature women in their promotions.
Rihanna took to Instagram to share the news of Fenty Skin, and since then, has invited stars like A$AP Rocky and Lil Nas X to promote this new venture. Her main branding message was that this is “the new culture of skincare.”
“Whoever told you skincare has a gender, LIED to you,” Rihanna tweeted in response to a fan’s tweet from 2017 asking if she would ever launch a skincare line exclusively for men.
However, some homophobic reactions to the skincare’s promotional campaigns on Twitter show why genderless beauty is still considered novel to some.
lil throwback to when we launched @FentyOfficial using these incredible images from Kwame Brathwaite’s archive. pic.twitter.com/ayaUWF5hyI
— Rihanna (@rihanna) July 7, 2020
Breaking down beauty barriers
This isn’t Rihanna’s first time mixing social justice and beauty. Her debut makeup line, Fenty Beauty, was the first to release 40 shades of foundation, so that every person of colour could find their shade and be represented. This has now become an industry standard.
Her advertising campaigns for Fenty Beauty have also been diverse. She has cast a number of Black models and models of colour such as Halima Aden and Paloma Elsesser to promote her products.
https://twitter.com/rihanna/status/1284962543627202560
Men’s personal care industry
The success of her new advertising campaign doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows about the men’s personal care industry. Men’s personal care has been a booming market for the past few decades, even though men have worn makeup since the dawn of ancient civilizations.
According to a 2019 report by Statista, the men’s personal care industry is predicted to reach US $81.2 billion by 2024 (prior to COVID-19 changes in consumer trends), as men are becoming more and more conscious of their appearance. This estimate predicts about a 34 per cent increase from 2018, when the industry’s market size was US $60.6 billion.
A few decades ago, men’s care regimens only consisted of shaving and applying fragrances. In recent times, men have increased the number of products they use to include things like cleansers and moisturizers.
According to a NPD Group (formerly National Purchase Diary) iGen Beauty Consumer report, 40 per cent of adults aged 18 to 22 have expressed an interest in gender-neutral beauty products. This popularity is because of factors such as changed attitudes towards traditional masculinity, and the rising influence of e-commerce and social media.
This shift in society can be somewhat attributed to e-commerce and social media. Brands have become better at targeting this demographic and as a society we have to come to accept the idea that using cosmetics doesn’t emasculate anyone. Society has become more accepting of men who wear makeup and who use skincare in recent years.
Rihanna is a celebrity with a huge fanbase catering to consumer desires and a changing personal care environment.
Not the ‘only girl in the world’
Even though Rihanna has brought this very pertinent issue of genderless beauty to the limelight, it would be unfair to not recognise previous brands who have taken initiatives to make beauty genderless and have helped in paving the path. Some of these brands are Panacea, ASOS Face + Beauty, Fluide, llamasqua and Jecca Makeup.
It’s important to acknowledge that Rihanna is not the first person to ever launch a genderless skincare line. However, she is the first to have such a big influence and she has helped educate more people in this area than ever before.
It’s important to support Fenty Skin, and other smaller brands like those mentioned earlier, so that society can continue to move forward and break down gender norms.
Featured image provided by Rihanna via fentybeauty.com.
