Let me start by saying that I’m rarely ever starstruck. In fact, I’m probably one of the most cool, calm and collected people you’ll ever meet when it comes to being in the presence of celebrities. However, until Friday, I’d never been face-to-face with Rihanna. Interviewing her at the Fenty Skin and Fenty Beauty event in Los Angeles, in the thick of Super Bowl weekend, my composure was certainly tested like never before — especially when the first thing she looked at me and said was, “I’ve been seeing you over here with this outfit, I love it.”
Radiating on the carpet in a purple and green sequined set (which has already gone viral, btw) I was able to chat with the Bad Gal herself about the intersection of beauty and pregnancy, how she avoids being “ashy,” and the nostalgic way she fell in love with fragrance.
“I’m a versatile bitch,” Rihanna tells me when asked about why the Fenty brand hasn’t relegated itself to just one aspect of beauty. “I genuinely care about skincare I genuinely care about makeup, I feel like they go hand-in-hand.” And while those two segments may have come first, a foray into fragrance was always inevitable. “My mom used to be a sales clerk for a fragrance department so I had my fair share of exposure to fragrance at a young age and I kind of understood the profile of smells and fragrances,” she shared while reflecting. “So we started small and we moved into this niche world of fragrance and created Fenty Fragrance.”
However, it’s not the eau de parfum that she says is her forever must-have. “Gloss Bomb for sure,” she begins before changing her answer. “Or maybe it’s Buttah Drop because I can still put it on my lips.”
The star makes it abundantly clear that these days her priority is hydration, especially for her growing bump. “I can’t be ashy!” she explains rubbing her belly. “Black people especially, we’re big on skin and being moisturized — and I mean, hello I’m clearly not missing an inch!”
Another priority these days, as told to ESSENCE, is satisfying those cravings. “I want a cheeseburger,” she tells us before entering the event.
Someone get our sis her cheeseburger!
