Rihanna’s red-on-red-on-red Super Bowl look was the perfect start to Valentine’s Day week. She paired her crimson jumpsuit with the Fenty Icon Velvet Liquid Lipstick in the shade MVP (v fitting for a sporting event) and it looked absolutely flawless for all 13 minutes of her set—a feat almost as impressive as performing on a transparent platform dangling above a football field. After all, getting a smooth application with matte lipstick (especially when it’s red!) can be tricky, because these types of formulas tend to draw attention to dry, flakey lip skin… which means proper preparation is key.
Being the beauty maven that she is, Rihanna had the foresight to bake lip prep into her pre-game routine–and her two-step process will help keep your lipstick looking fresh on Valentine’s Day and beyond.
Follow Rihanna’s Super Bowl 2-step lip-prep routine
1. Exfoliate
First, Rihanna used the Pro Kiss’r Lip-Loving Scrubstick ($16) to get a smooth canvas. It’s a lip scrub in a twist-up stick that’s packed with apricot seeds to gently exfoliate skin and remove any dry buildup without the mess of traditional lip scrubs. It also has coconut oil, beeswax, sunflower seed oil, and more to moisturize your lips so they’re left smooth, soft, and nurtured.
2. Moisturize
To really lock in the moisture, RiRi followed up the lip scrub with the Plush Puddin’ Intensive Recovery Lip Mask ($22). Although you can lay it on thick before bed to rehab your lips as you sleep, you can also use it throughout the day like you would a lip balm. It’s made with four key ingredients: coconut oil castor oil, a pomegranate and Jojoba oil complex, and pomegranate sterols. The coconut and castor oils bind to the lips and help them retain moisture to look fuller and healthier. The pomegranate and Jojoba oil complex firms and plumps lips, giving them a full and bouncy appearance. Finally, the pomegranate sterols enhance the lips’ moisture barrier and boost hydration.
3. Add the lipstick
With the prep done, RiRi’s pout was ready for the main event: Fenty Icon Velvet Liquid Lipstick ($29). Although her lips were soft and supple before application, this formula is designed to be hydrating (or at least, as hydrating as a matte formula can be) meaning her lips didn’t get dry and flakey looking over the course of the evening.
