It’s time again for Fenty Beauty’s latest launch, a collection of cream blushes and bronzers playfully dubbed Cheeks Out Freestyle. The future is here, and it was televised—or at least broadcasted on Instagram Live, where Priscilla Ono, global Fenty Beauty ambassador and Rihanna’s makeup artist, previewed the new range of products.
Working off the above image of Rihanna from September 2019 —being the boss has its perks—Ono recreated the bad gal’s look using the new range of products. The new collection playfully entitled Cheeks Out is a collection of ten blushes and seven bronzers.
The products are christened by Rihanna herself and Jenn Rosales (Fenty Beauty creative director), according to Ono. Behind-the-scenes info is just one of the many perks of having your makeup done—even virtually—by Ono. The makeup artist also let us in on Rihanna’s own beauty hacks: Apply blush to the temples for a full glow look and use a powder brush or larger brush to apply eyeshadow over a small pointed brush for a dramatic effect. As someone who lives in constant pursuit of looking like I’m about to star in the “Only Girl (In the World)” music video, I will never do my makeup the same way again.
@elleusa
Ono, who should go into talk therapy if this whole makeup-artist-to-one-of-the-world’s-most-famous-people thing doesn’t work out, walked me through a virtual beauty tutorial to try for Zoom dates, FaceTime sessions, and all my self-isolation needs. In full transparency, I was very nervous. I called Ono on Tuesday in a panic. “Are you going to make me cut my crease on the live?” I asked in fear that this whole session was an exam—and the whole Beauty Tribunal would be watching. But Ono made recreating one of Rihanna’s looks easy work. If you’ve got big virtual plans this weekend, here’s a breakdown of Ono’s Rih-inspired glam, so you can feel like a bad gal, too:
- Start with a dime-sized pump of foundation in the center of your face. Ono recommends focusing your foundation in the front of your face, where most redness or discoloration occurs.
- Next, apply three dots of concealer to your under eyes and blend with a small brush like this one.
- Use the new Fenty bronzer to add a bit of definition by applying just under your cheekbones. You can also apply to the sides of your nose for a slimming effect or to your chin.
- Ono recommends using an angled brush to pick up small amounts of product (swirl your brush in the bronzer) and then dab the excess off with your hand.
- Blush time! Using an angled brush, gently apply your blush above your bronzer on the high points of your cheeks. In Rihanna fashion, Ono recommends going all the way to the temple with the blush.
- Apply as eyeshadow! The fun thing about this product is you can move it all around your face. Ono had me moving it into my eye as a nice, subtle shadow. Highly recommend.
- Make it all pop with a lip! I used the Fenty Mattemoiselle Plush Matte Lipstick in Candy Venom for my pink lip. Ono also recommended blurring the outside of your lip line, in Rihanna fashion again, for a more casual but still polished finish.
- Take thousands of selfies
Today is the day to shop the new products at Sephora.com or FentyBeauty.com. The cream bronzers and blushes are beach days in a container and will run you $20 for the blush and $32 for the bronzer. The blush is super lightweight, and has a nice non-greasy creamy finish that melts into your skin like butter. It comes in 10 shades and the colors, like a bright orange called Fuego Flush or a mulled red named Summertime Wine.
And even though I’m not at all a bronzer person, this one might convert me. It has the same consistency of the blush—light-as-air, breathable—and it’s buildable, with seven shades that actually work on women of color.
I’m not going to be able to head to the beach anytime soon, but the tangerine shade Daiquiri Dip get me coming pretty close to a sunkissed glow. Have I, like Rihanna, been sunbathing in Barbados? Or am I just using Fenty Beauty?