Fenty Beauty is a makeup and skincare brand founded by Rihanna in September 2017. Rihanna was inspired to create Fenty Beauty after years of experimenting with beauty products that did not perform well for all skin types and tones. The main goal of the brand is to produce products which work on a wide range of traditionally hard-to-match skin tones. Fenty offer over 50 inclusive shades and were the first makeup brand to do so, initiating well-needed change within the industry.
“The Black Lives Matter movement is accelerating transparency and accountability in all industries, but in particular, the beauty industry. For decades, the beauty industry has dictated what is beautiful and what is not, creating an “ideal” for beauty. The Black Lives Matter movement has helped to increase awareness of “whitewashing” in the beauty industry and is fast-tracking real and lasting changes.” (Harries, 2020).
The Black Lives Matter movement was first founded in 2013, however it wasn’t until May 2020 when the movement really came to light within the media and general public, when George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis. This sparked universal outrage and lots of mass protests around the world, as well as the campaign #BlackoutTuesday, in which people posted a solid black square in solidarity to fight racism and police brutality.
Fenty took part in the social media campaign and captioned the post: “We are not staying silent, and we are not standing by. In solidarity with the Black community, our employees, our friends, our families, and our colleagues across industries, we are proud to take part in #BlackoutTuesday.” (FentyBeauty, 2020). Not only did the makeup brand post the solid black square, but they also stopped operating completely in a statement of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Most brands posted tributes to George Floyd and brought attention to the Black Lives Matter movement for a couple of days then returned to posting content as usual. However, Fenty continued to raise awareness to issues surrounding race and celebrated black and ethnic minority makeup artists across their social media platforms and as a result there was a clear visual message being shared across their platform as seen by their Instagram feed.
Fenty have always made it their mission to celebrate diversity and promote inclusivity within the beauty industry, and they did this perfectly with their social media campaign on Instagram throughout the month of June. They dedicated posts to depict photos of black makeup artists and influencers wearing their products, which not only highlighted their stance on the BLM movement but showed a representation of how inclusive their brand is, in providing shades to suit all skin tones.
Fenty posted these images of black makeup artists to showcase their work and celebrate their skin tone. They captioned the post with “So much #BlackExcellence 😍😍. We’re showin y’all some amazing work from a few Black makeup artists! Make sure y’all check em out.” (FentyBeauty, 2020). This not only helped Fenty to celebrate diversity and show their support of Black Lives Matter, but also highlighted how their products are inclusive for all and can be used on all skin tones no matter how light or dark.
Fenty also posted this image to their Instagram page with the caption: “Fenty Family, we have always been about celebrating Black beauties and we will continue to do so! Over the next few days, we’re asking y’all to share your favourite Black creators across all experiences and identities to be featured on our page.” This post performed well with their audience and received over 135,000 likes.
Although Fenty were the first to initiate change, more still needs to be done to combat problem. Makeup artist Sam Fine stated, “every brand is launching 40 foundation colours now because it’s the trendy thing to do. But is the brand actually doing the work? It’s not just about putting a black model next to Gigi Hadid, the stock needs to be there.” (Marshall, 2020).
As a business, Fenty Beauty had one of the best responses to the death of George Floyd. They operated respectively and genuinely, from suspending their trading to show their support, to continuing to speak up about issues and topics regarding the Black Lives Matter movement. Through their use of social media, they brought attention to important issues regarding race, and as a result has changed the game within the beauty industry by being so inclusive when it comes to their shade range for their makeup line, further signifying their stance on racism within the beauty industry.