Fenty Beauty

The beauty industry sold twelve to fifteen shades of foundation for forty years. Dark-skinned women walked into department stores, tested every brand, and left empty-handed. Nobody fixed it. In September twenty seventeen, Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty with forty shades. The darker shades sold out within hours. Not weeks. Hours. Sephora couldn't restock fast enough. Three hundred million social media followers meant near-zero marketing cost. First month revenue hit one hundred million dollars. Each bottle costs four to six dollars to produce and retails for thirty-eight. The math is stunning. Sephora gave prime shelf placement because Fenty moved faster than any brand they'd carried.