FENTY BEAUTY IS RETIRING THE FOUNDATION THAT CHANGED THE INDUSTRY

Fenty Beauty is retiring the Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation, the 40-shade launch that redefined shade-range inclusivity across the beauty industry when it debuted in 2017, and replacing it with an entirely new formula: Pro Filt'r Fluid Flex, launching globally on 4 September at fentybeauty.com, Sephora and Ulta Beauty.

Rather than simply extending the original formula's shade range further, Rihanna took the brand's existing 50-shade line back to the drawing board entirely - fine-tuning undertones, developing more neutral options, and testing the new formula across markets worldwide rather than relying on the original testing process from nearly a decade earlier. "When we launched Fenty Beauty, it was about making people feel seen in a way they hadn't before," Rihanna said in a statement, framing the reformulation as a continuation of that founding mission rather than a simple product refresh. Fenty Beauty's chief brand officer, Erin O'Neill, described the move as Rihanna asking the team "to take a look at what we would do as a next step in foundation from scratch."

The new $48 formula launches alongside a dedicated Pro Filt'r Fluid Flex Foundation Brush, $36, featuring a dense, wavy bristle design built with a soft-scoop shape specifically for the new formula's application. Industry sources forecast roughly $70 million in first-year retail sales for the launch - a meaningful projection for a single foundation SKU, reflecting how much brand equity Fenty has built around foundation specifically as its signature category.

Retiring a nine-year-old product that fundamentally changed industry shade-range standards is a genuinely risky move for any brand, however well-resourced the reformulation process. That Fenty is willing to take that risk, on the same product category that built its reputation in the first place, suggests real confidence that Fluid Flex can extend rather than dilute the foundation's original legacy.