Fenty Beauty celebrates its expansion into the Caribbean with the launch event of Barbados – Essence

It was a special homecoming season for Rihanna. This week, the makeup artist and popular culture icon officially celebrated the launch of Fenty Beauty in the Caribbean with a launch event in her home country of Barbados!

Rihanna announced via Instagram come early October that the brands might be officially available at select retailers in nine different Caribbean territories. This includes Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and St. Maarten from October 24, 2024.

“I always felt awkward that my brand wasn’t in my home, so I always wanted to do it,” the Barbadian native told ESSENCE at the launch event. “I always insisted,” she said. “The moment we received permission to come here, we arrived.”

She also said she plans to proceed rolling out Fenty Beauty in the Caribbean. “The Caribbean, I carry it on my back, just like Barbados. Even though we have now launched operations on nine islands, we will continue to open and expand. We intend to cover the entire Caribbean and beyond,” said the superstar.

Stars prefer it Queen Carterand the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, were present at the launch event. The ceremony took place last Thursday at the idyllic QP Bistro, an oceanfront restaurant overlooking the island’s west coast. Rihanna, who can be one of Barbados’ national heroines, delighted the participants by having fun with the guests and even taking up the DJ’s microphone.

Rihanna also touched on how her Caribbean heritage has influenced the development and trajectory of her brands, stating: “Beauty has all the time been a really honest space. But now I incorporate ingredients from the island into my skincare, my beauty and the reason I even have the only powder that may mattify you at any time, especially when wet!

“The launch in the Caribbean actually reinforces what we built this brand to be from the starting – which is that it’s inclusive. Everyone found shade, everyone found their soul mate in our gondola,” she said. “I want to keep pushing it. The first person I saw applying foundation was my mother, a black woman. I never knew there was a void. I just did it from the bottom of my heart because that’s what I know.”

For Rihanna, “inclusiveness does not mean being limited to one space. This means insulting everyone. I want to be able to shop at Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, Fenty Hair – that’s my goal.”