They say lightning never strikes in the same place twice, but wherever Rihanna goes, sparks fly. Fresh off her performance at the 2023 Super Bowl (which doubled as pregnancy announcement), the singer appeared at the Oscars to perform "Lift Me Up," as featured in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The ballad is nominated for Best Original Song, and marks Rihanna's first Oscar nod. And, she served not one, but two looks.
Just before the ceremony was set to begin, the singer quietly took to the red carpet — not that anything Rihanna does is exactly low-key. Case in point: She made a relatively simple top knot look totally ethereal and gorgeous, with face-framing tendrils cascading from her crown to down near the apples of her cheeks.
Speaking of cheeks, we predict this makeup look by Priscilla Ono will go down in history as a masterclass in blush application. A subtle wash of pink was placed on the apples of the singer's cheeks and blended up toward the temples. As for that glow and the twinkle in her eye? That's all baby, baby.
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Now, about that red lip: It appeared to be a similar if not slightly brighter variation of the shade that Rihanna wore at the Super Bowl, which Ono confirmed was Fenty Beauty Fenty Icon Velvet Liquid Lipstick in The MVP, but Fenty's Instagram account confirmed it's actually the Fenty Icon lipstick in Grill Mast'r, which has a little more sheen — perhaps because the singer didn't have to worry about choosing a matte formula that wouldn't budge during a non-stop halftime show broadcast to millions of people.
Later in the evening, RiRi took to the stage to sing Lift Me Up live and (as we hoped) gave us a whole new ensemble. She let her spiky topknot loose, but left the roots slicked back and she completely switched up her glam. In place of her red lip, she rocked a glossy nude (we suspect her iconic Fenty Gloss Bomb might have had something to do with it) and she added some gorgeous sparkle to her eyelid (we're placing our bet on it being the Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter in Fire Crystal).
Obviously a quick change calls for an entirely new outfit too, and Ri delivered with a black and silver sheer crop top, black elbow-length leather gloves and brocade trousers finished off with diamond earrings and a diamond choker.
This feature originally appeared on Allure.
