REVIEW | Fenty Beauty By Rihanna

I'm pretty sure that I'm the last person on planet earth to be doing this review, but it's with good reason! It's been well over a month (almost two) since Rihanna slayed the makeup game - and our existence -  by dropping her new makeup line, Fenty Beauty, and it's taken me this long to finally get this post up because: a. work has been absolutely nuts and b. I ended up making a second, follow-up order for a lighter foundation and two previously out-of-stock items to give you guys a better review. So le'go!

Fenty Beauty officially launched on September 8th, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that their products also dropped on the same day on Sephora Hong Kong's website! I'm not usually one to buy into all the hype with celebrity makeup (I have never purchased a single Kylie Cosmetics or KKW product) but this is RiRi, and I just couldn't help myself. Her initial launch (her second launch - the galaxy holiday collection - already dropped two weeks ago and I can barely keep up) was complexion-focused and offered products to create the perfect base, so that's exactly what I got - the foundation, the concealer, contour and highlight match sticks, and in my second order, another foundation in a lighter shade, one of the duo highlighters, and the lip gloss. I think we can all agree that Rihanna's makeup is always on freakin' point, so if using her makeup products means I can look half as good as her, I'm sold. Just take my money.

Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation

$280 HKD at Sephora HK | $34 USD at Sephora

40 shades | 32 ml

First things first - Rihanna launched a whopping 40 shades of foundation during her initial launch (say whaaat), catering to a huge, inclusive range of skin tones and undertones. Bravo! But, I must say, picking my shade online was an absolute pain in my behind - the swatches provided on models of different skin tones (shown below) did help a bit, since the names of the shades are all very similar. After watching what felt like hundreds of youtube videos and checking to see what shades other people purchased, I narrowed my choices down to either 230 or 260, both described as 'medium shades with neutral undertones'. Considering the fact that everyone was saying this foundation oxidises a shade darker, I finally made the painstaking decision to get 230. Aaaaand, you guessed it - it was still. way. too. dark. Heartbreaking, I know. I also got a deluxe sample in the shade 210 with my first order which, disappointingly, was also too dark. This is why I made a second order and chose shade 140 - after another stressful deliberation - described as 'light warm', and it turned out to be significantly lighter (a bit too light, actually) than shade 230. So now, I just use a mix of 140 and 230 to get my perfect shade and it works like a charm.

Image from Sephora Hong Kong

The foundation is packaged in a beautiful frosted glass bottle and comes with a pump (thank youuu), and is described to be "a soft matte, long-wear foundation with buildable, medium-to-full coverage, in a boundary-breaking range of shades". I've had this on almost every single day for the past month or so, and I've decided (drumroll please) that I have a love-hate relationship with this thing. It has a nice, liquidy consistency that blends nicely but dries down quickly in comparison to other bases. It does offer a solid medium coverage upon first application and is indeed mattifying, leaving just a slight sheen on the cheeks. Although this foundation is wonderfully catered to a diverse range of skin tones, I don't think it will complement all skin types - if you are dry, normal or even combination, more likely than not you'll find this drying and that it clings to dry patches, so you must prep the skin incredibly well to be able to wear this comfortably throughout the day.

Even after setting my T-zone with powder, my nose and forehead gets very shiny after just three hours to the point where I can't not blot. On my oily-combination skin, I looked dry in certain areas (mostly around the chin) and found it also emphasized some texture around my nose and on my cheeks - if you looked close enough. I will say, my skin looks absolutely flawless from far away and also phenomenal in pictures, but the closer you get, the more flaws you can detect.

However, this foundation is truly long-lasting, and is still pretty much intact at the end of the night before I wash my face. Even on days when I am sweating profusely, beads of sweat will just seep through and sit on top of the skin while the foundation manages to stay put, undisturbed. So as you can see, there are different aspects that I love and hate with this foundation and it'll probably take me a while to decide which side I'm leaning towards.

140 | 210 | 230

The shade 230 comes out yellow-toned straight out of the bottle, but then oxidizes - well, more accurately 'dries down' - after a few minutes to a much darker, peachy shade. Oh, the horror! I was honestly quite upset as soon as I saw the shade discrepancy as I thought I had already picked a light enough shade and accounted for the oxidisation. Shade 210 also dried down darker and shade 140, although at least two shades too light, turned out to be the closet match to me out of the three. FYI, 210 is the exact same shade as my Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Powerless Foundation in 128 Warm Nude straight out of the tube, and dries down to be half a shade darker.

Match Stix Trio

$450HKD at Sephora HK | $54USD at Sephora

4 different sets

So I was probably a little more excited about these match sticks then I was about the foundation solely based on the packaging - 'cos look at them! Pink, magnetic hexagon tubes that stick together and form a honeycomb design - super cute, and super easy to store and travel with. The Match Stix are sold individually as well as in trios with pre-chosen shades to conceal, contour and highlight, and I decided to go with the trio in Light, which came with the shades Linen, Amber and Starstruck. These sticks are of a creamy yet stiffer consistency - it requires a bit more pressure upon application - but nonetheless they still blend seamlessly into the skin (for the most part), and its cream to powder formula seems to work in sync with the foundation.

Linen | Amber | Starstruck

Linen | "fair to light cool pinky undertones"
As a concealer for under my eyes, this is a no-go - the consistency, colour, and coverage all don't work well under the eyes. However, using this to highlight my forehead, down the nose, as well as underneath my contour has been working wonderfully.

Amber | "contour shade with cool undertones"
My favourite shade of the three, hands down. It is the perfect contour shade for my complexion, with the perfect balance of grey and warm tones, creating the perfect shadow in the hollows of my cheek. Obsessed. And I actually prefer the drier consistency with this stick because it doesn't feel like my contour will slip off as the day goes on. A month on and this has been my go-to contouring product.

Starstruck | "iced-out pearl"
This has the driest consistency of the trio and applying it directly from the tube onto my skin actually disturbs my foundation underneath, so the best way to apply this is warming it up on my finger then tapping it on my face, or applying it using a small, tapered highlighting brush. This is an icy pink shade that looks quite soft and pretty on the skin, and while I usually prefer more gold and champagne highlighters, this one works well when I want a subtle, "feminine" glow.

 Linen | Amber | Starstruck

Lastly, I noticed that inside each of the match stick caps is a thin, foamy insert that 'cushions' the product and prevents it from getting all mushed up and destroyed if twisted up too high when capped off. That's just a tiny design aspect that shows incredible attention to detail and I had to point it out! Sometimes, it's the smallest things that make the biggest difference.

Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter Duo

$280HKD at Sephora HK | $34USD at Sephora
4 shades

I didn't get to buy this highlighter in my first order, and could not stop thinking about how much I wanted it in my collection. This particular duo in Mean Money/Hu$tla Baby called out to me (although I was also contemplating over the duo in Lightning Dust/Fire Crystal) and the pearly, golden shades are right up my street. The formula is described to be a weightless cream to powder, and application is so easy and effortless with either just fingers or a brush. Mean Money is the lighter, more subtle shade of the two (perhaps too subtle for some, but a great highlighter for work days), whereas Hu$tla Baby really packs a punch and instantly lights up the face (aka the go-to shade for a blinding highlight on girls' night out or weekend adventures).

Hu$tla Baby | Mean Money

My apologies for the poor swatches, but it was a struggle to capture the radiance of the two shades, especially when they are quite similar to my skin tone.  Hu$tla Baby turns out to be a close dupe to Becca's Champagne Pop - a long-time favourite of mine - with Champagne Pop being just a slight bit darker and more pigmented.

Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer

$180 HKD at Sephora HK | $24USD at Sephora

1 universal shade

I can count the number of times I've worn lip gloss this past year on one hand, but this just looked way too pretty to resist. Plus, almost every review and video I came across gave this absolutely glowing reviews, and it keeps on selling out online! Fenty Glow is a universal rose nude shade with "explosive shine" that is supposed to look (and feel) amazing on everyone, and has an "addictive peach vanilla scent" that truly smells quite delish. My lips are quite pigmented on their own, so while this doesn't add too much colour, it does provide a beautiful, moisturizing sheen to my lips, making them look fuller, plumper and more kissable (although I do advise against this while having this on) and it doesn't have the dreaded sticky texture that most glosses have. Staying power isn't great, but I don't mind reapplying since both the scent and the look it gives my lips are so yummy.

Well, I think this has to be one of the longest reviews I've ever posted on this blog - huge props if you're still here! So let's try to end this massive review with a short yet sweet conclusion - I'm really pleased with my first venture into Fenty Beauty, and mark my words, this definitely won't be my last. My standouts from this haul would have to be everything except the foundation (in which I will continue to perform intensive testing). It'll be exciting to see whether Rihanna comes out with another foundation formula that is more moisturising and catered to drier skin types, cos I'll be all over that. It's so lovely to see Fenty Beauty make a statement on inclusivity and diversity through their makeup, and I cannot wait to see what other products Rihanna comes out with next. Keep slayin', RiRi!