Tried and tested: is Fenty Skin worth the hype?

Wherever Rihanna goes, hyperbole follows.

Whether it’s Fenty Beauty, Fenty fashion or teasing the Rihanna Navy (the name she gave to her fanbase) with new music, 'badgalriri' knows a thing or two about keeping her legion of adoring fans on their toes.

But when it came to Fenty Skin, the stakes were high. Fenty Beauty disrupted the cosmetics arena when it launched in 2017 and now has an approximate value of $3billion, but the world of skincare is a saturated one and skin complaints aren’t as generic as cosmetic requirements. The question lingered: could Rihanna really shake-up the beauty-sphere with a skincare line?

“Fenty Skin is my vision of the new culture of skincare,” Rihanna says of her debut line. “I wanted to create amazing products that really work, that are easy to use and everyone can apply. I wanted it to feel approachable, easy and to take the pressure off choosing a routine, so I created one for everyone.”

Her ambition is cut through the noise of the beauty industry, to create genderless, multifunctional products.

The inaugural range comprises only three dual-function products; the Total Cleans’r removes make-up and deeply cleanses, mitigating the need for a separate make-up remover. The Fat Water is a toner-serum hybrid, while Hydra Vizor is both a moisturiser and an SPF 30.

Fenty Skin’s products are housed in pastel lavender vessels, all of which use twistable lock-top caps so as to reduce the plastic needed to craft them. These earth-friendly credentials are in keeping with the brand’s clean ethos, with its trio of products also being vegan-friendly and oil and gluten-free.

She refers to these three products as her “nonnegotiables”, but would what works for Rihanna work for us too? We took it for a test drive to find out.

Fenty Skin Total Cleans’r

Fenty Skin Total Cleans'r, £25, buy it now

After intentionally painting my face with a heavy canvas of make-up, I took the Total Cleans'r for a test-drive. The balmy cleanser was designed to 'remove it all' and remove it all it did.

Once added to water, the product emulsifiers and left my skin feeling clean but not stripped and tight (as so many cleansers do.) Boasting a buffet of Barbados cherries (which have a higher concentration of vitamin C than an orange), gingko biloba (a tree commonly used in ancient Chinese healing techniques which helps control oil and clarify skin) and green tea, the cleanser was the stand-out product of the range for me and will be adopted as the first step in my nightly double cleanse.

One thing to note is that all of the Fenty Skin products smell of coconut and cherries (all fragrances used are clean, with synthetic fragrances making up less than 1 per cent of the ingredient list.) For my uber-sensitive and rather tempestuous skin, the sweet smell felt a little irritating, but I don't doubt that there will be others with more tolerant complexions that will love it.

Fenty Skin Fat Water

Fenty Skin Fat Water, £28, buy it now

Anything with the ultra-hydrating hyaluronic acid and that all-important niacinamide is a dead-cert in my eyes, so the Fat Water, a toner-serum hybrid, piqued my interest. Toners help your pores look tighter and control oil production, while serums deliver powerful ingredients that target specific skin concerns, so perhaps for a starter skincare kit this product would bridge the gap nicely.

However, for me, it lacked the potency of the serums I love and regularly reach for (Vintner's Daughter, I'm looking at you.). I've never been one for a toner, instead opting to double cleanse with a flannel, so I found the consistency of the Water a little too viscous for my liking, although its ingredients list was enough to turn my head.

Fenty Skin Hydra Vizor

Fenty Skin Hydra Vizor, £35, buy it now

Combining moisturiser with SPF 30 (the minimum you should wear on your face each day) was a smart move on RiRi's part. While sunscreens have gained a reputation for smelling medicinal and leaving a white sheen on skin, the Hydra Vizor truly was invisible and melted into my skin.

Would I want to use the melon-scented cream as my evening moisturiser, knowing it's got SPF in its ingredients list? Probably not, no. But for use in the morning under make-up, it's perfect and over all is a brilliant, glow-imparting moisturiser-SPF hybrid.

It’s also refillable: the inner cartridge clips into the outer holder, and refills cost £25, so it's bang for your buck too.

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