Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty testers who tried Pro Filt’r Fluid Flex ahead of its Sept. 4 launch described it as more forgiving and skin-like than the 2017 formula, with several saying it blends seamlessly across different undertones and holds up through long days without looking cakey.
Why did Rihanna decide the original formula needed replacing at all?
Nearly a decade of feedback pointed to the same complaint. Chief brand officer Erin O’Neill said customers had started describing the original Pro Filt’r as too heavy for daily wear, treating it more like a special occasion product than something to reach for every morning. Some also felt the shade range, while groundbreaking for its time, leaned warmer than their actual skin tone. Fluid Flex was built specifically to correct both issues, staying matte while feeling closer to skin and adding more neutral options across the 50 shade lineup.
What do actual testers say about the new formula on their skin?
Reactions have been largely positive, particularly from people who never got along with matte foundations in the first place. One reviewer with neutral undertones said she’d never been a fan of the original but found Fluid Flex noticeably more flexible and better suited to long events like weddings. Another described finding her most accurate shade match ever with the new range, while a third, who typically avoids matte formulas due to dry skin, said she was surprised by how comfortable it felt without settling into fine lines the way older mattes often do. The most common critique across testers was minor settling into texture over time, something a smoothing primer can offset.
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How is Fenty making sure future shade complaints don’t take years to fix?
Fenty beauty built a permanent feedback loop into the launch itself. Fenty is introducing the Unfiltr’d Inbox, a chat feature on its website where customers can flag shade or wear issues directly. North America general manager Roshini Greenwald described shade development as a process that never truly ends, framing the new inbox as a way to catch problems in real time rather than waiting for another multi-year reformulation cycle.
What went into actually building the new shade range?
Getting to 50 final shades took real trial and error. The team started with 80 test shades and narrowed them down through five in-person shade matching events held in different regions around the world. That process, paired with the underlying Fluid Flex polymer technology developed in Japan to resist oxidation and control shine using starfruit extract, took three years from concept to shelf.
What does this launch mean for Fenty’s legacy nearly a decade later?
Pro Filt’r’s 2017 debut still gets credited as the moment the beauty industry was forced to expand its shade ranges beyond the roughly 20 shades most brands offered at the time. Fluid Flex arrives alongside a companion foundation brush priced at $36, landing globally on Sept. 4 at Fenty’s own site, Sephora and Ulta. Industry analysts are projecting around $70 million in first year retail sales, though Fenty has not confirmed figures itself, and the brand’s willingness to retire its own signature product suggests it’s still treating inclusivity as an ongoing project rather than a launch it already won.
