What started out as colorful beauty knick-knacks at the checkout line has transformed into rows and rows of indie beauty products in its main apparel store.
But Forever 21 just tried to up the ante even MORE with an entire spin-off store dedicated to beauty called Riley Rose.
That’s right, Forever 21 now has an entire beauty store and it’s nothing like the checkout line.
My first thought walking in was, Sephora and Ulta, this store is coming for your entire NECK.
To be a Black woman and see this brand on sale at a retailer made my heart super happy. Diversity is about more than just foundation shade matches!
Black women deserve to find products that suit them in makeup and to be embraced as business owners in the beauty industry. We aren’t just consumers; we’re creators, too.
The lineup also didn’t include BH Cosmetics’ Take Me To Brazil palette ($16.99, BH Cosmetics) — which is one of its most talked palettes online.
None of it was on display.
Riley Rose’s Peripera shelves were mostly full of lipsticks, correctors, highlighters, and blushes — which have an adorable design — but not exactly what would excite people familiar with the brand’s full options on the internet.
Though Riley Rose was meant to be an all-beauty Forever 21 spinoff, makeup only made up about a quarter of the store. So yes, you can find SOME items from Winky Lux, Clio, Girlactik, Pinrose, and Glitter Injections — but it was far from the fully loaded Sephora-like experience I’d been expecting.
The Unicorn Hair dye packets were pretty clutch, since they give people a chance to try it before investing in a larger, more expensive bottle.
When I tried Unicorn Hair, I would have certainly preferred to have my failed dye experience with a $1.90 packet than the $16 bottle the Revelist team bought the first time.
But back to the question at hand: Why such a Lime Crime makeup overload?
Still, I could have REALLY used about half the face masks, which felt repetitious after a while, and more unique makeup offerings in Riley Rose. Skin care is beauty, but c’mon — when you say “Forever 21’s beauty store,” YOU KNOW what the millennials crave is makeup by the boatloads.
I wanted to be DROWNING in makeup. Instead I doggy paddled a few feet and then took a deep dive into hundreds of face masks.
Other than a small can of dry shampoo, I don’t buy many products for my weaves. The stuff I need is for my textured hair.
Riley Rose had ZERO products for me. Nothing. The message sent and received? Riley Rose doesn’t want to serve people with natural hair.
For shame.
And this may be bad, but I know I would have still considered it a small win if it carried even one brand for textured hair. Imagine if white people had to be satisfied with just one kind of hair product?
“New hair. Who dis?” is a term that originated from the “New phone. Who dis?” joke amongst Black people that made its way to social media, and later to mainstream television shows.
Why is it so easy for brands to adopt Black slang to give edge to their style, yet so hard for those same brands to include us in something as simple as hair product offerings?
White people aren’t the only ones who need hair products. Here are stats: African-Americans have a buying power worth $1 trillion, according to Nielsen. Black women also spend 80% more on cosmetics than non-Black people do.
So what’s with the exclusion, Riley Rose?
Riley Rose had me hugging its one Black-owned brand display at the front of the store — but my trip through the hair care aisle reminded me that inclusion is about so much more than one brand and one Black person.
I also grabbed a hat with cat ears, because why not?
But I didn’t buy much in the way of beauty products — because as a makeup shopaholic, I already own most of the products Riley Rose sold. It’s why I was hoping to catch the standout stuff I hadn’t bought yet. Riley Rose seemed to have a decent basic offering, but that really special stuff just wasn’t there.
Maybe next time.
The makeup offerings are nice, but basic. Riley Rose is a new store, so perhaps the brand will start stocking more of the unique beauty products we all love to stalk online — and hopefully that includes WAY more makeup and hair options for all textures.
The store is beautiful, with lots of areas to take gorgeous selfies. So even if you don’t find the online-only palette of your dreams, you can at least get some great shots for Instagram.
I’m interested to see what Riley Rose does as the brand grows. Hopefully it evolves to become as beautiful, as unique, and as welcoming as we all want. Forever 21 changed the fast fashion game — and there’s still time for Riley Rose to step up and do the same for beauty.
title: “I Visited Riley Rose Forever 21 S Huge New Beauty Boutique” ShowToc: true date: “2024-09-17” author: “James Humphrey”
What started out as colorful beauty knick-knacks at the checkout line has transformed into rows and rows of indie beauty products in its main apparel store.
But Forever 21 just tried to up the ante even MORE with an entire spin-off store dedicated to beauty called Riley Rose.
That’s right, Forever 21 now has an entire beauty store and it’s nothing like the checkout line.
My first thought walking in was, Sephora and Ulta, this store is coming for your entire NECK.
To be a Black woman and see this brand on sale at a retailer made my heart super happy. Diversity is about more than just foundation shade matches!
Black women deserve to find products that suit them in makeup and to be embraced as business owners in the beauty industry. We aren’t just consumers; we’re creators, too.
The lineup also didn’t include BH Cosmetics’ Take Me To Brazil palette ($16.99, BH Cosmetics) — which is one of its most talked palettes online.
None of it was on display.
Riley Rose’s Peripera shelves were mostly full of lipsticks, correctors, highlighters, and blushes — which have an adorable design — but not exactly what would excite people familiar with the brand’s full options on the internet.
Though Riley Rose was meant to be an all-beauty Forever 21 spinoff, makeup only made up about a quarter of the store. So yes, you can find SOME items from Winky Lux, Clio, Girlactik, Pinrose, and Glitter Injections — but it was far from the fully loaded Sephora-like experience I’d been expecting.
The Unicorn Hair dye packets were pretty clutch, since they give people a chance to try it before investing in a larger, more expensive bottle.
When I tried Unicorn Hair, I would have certainly preferred to have my failed dye experience with a $1.90 packet than the $16 bottle the Revelist team bought the first time.
But back to the question at hand: Why such a Lime Crime makeup overload?
Still, I could have REALLY used about half the face masks, which felt repetitious after a while, and more unique makeup offerings in Riley Rose. Skin care is beauty, but c’mon — when you say “Forever 21’s beauty store,” YOU KNOW what the millennials crave is makeup by the boatloads.
I wanted to be DROWNING in makeup. Instead I doggy paddled a few feet and then took a deep dive into hundreds of face masks.
Other than a small can of dry shampoo, I don’t buy many products for my weaves. The stuff I need is for my textured hair.
Riley Rose had ZERO products for me. Nothing. The message sent and received? Riley Rose doesn’t want to serve people with natural hair.
For shame.
And this may be bad, but I know I would have still considered it a small win if it carried even one brand for textured hair. Imagine if white people had to be satisfied with just one kind of hair product?
“New hair. Who dis?” is a term that originated from the “New phone. Who dis?” joke amongst Black people that made its way to social media, and later to mainstream television shows.
Why is it so easy for brands to adopt Black slang to give edge to their style, yet so hard for those same brands to include us in something as simple as hair product offerings?
White people aren’t the only ones who need hair products. Here are stats: African-Americans have a buying power worth $1 trillion, according to Nielsen. Black women also spend 80% more on cosmetics than non-Black people do.
So what’s with the exclusion, Riley Rose?
Riley Rose had me hugging its one Black-owned brand display at the front of the store — but my trip through the hair care aisle reminded me that inclusion is about so much more than one brand and one Black person.
I also grabbed a hat with cat ears, because why not?
But I didn’t buy much in the way of beauty products — because as a makeup shopaholic, I already own most of the products Riley Rose sold. It’s why I was hoping to catch the standout stuff I hadn’t bought yet. Riley Rose seemed to have a decent basic offering, but that really special stuff just wasn’t there.
Maybe next time.
The makeup offerings are nice, but basic. Riley Rose is a new store, so perhaps the brand will start stocking more of the unique beauty products we all love to stalk online — and hopefully that includes WAY more makeup and hair options for all textures.
The store is beautiful, with lots of areas to take gorgeous selfies. So even if you don’t find the online-only palette of your dreams, you can at least get some great shots for Instagram.
I’m interested to see what Riley Rose does as the brand grows. Hopefully it evolves to become as beautiful, as unique, and as welcoming as we all want. Forever 21 changed the fast fashion game — and there’s still time for Riley Rose to step up and do the same for beauty.
