Getting Ready With Rihanna For The Super Bowl

Days prior to Rihanna's Super Bowl XLVII halftime performance, she had hinted at a surprise guest appearance. Once the pop icon hit the stage last night at the State Farm Arena in Glendale, Arizona, it didn't take fans long to realize that the surprise guest she was referring to was, in fact, baby number two with A$AP Rocky. The big reveal happened when the Fenty Beauty founder began singing the opening lyrics of her hit 2015 song “Bitch Better Have My Money,” while coyly rubbing her growing belly — sending the crowd (and over 100 million viewers) into a frenzy.

To make the moment even more memorable was the unmistakable cherry-red theme weaved throughout the entirety of the performance — from the lighting of the moving platforms suspended in air to the scarlet-hued Loewe boilersuit that hugged her baby bump to her cherry-red glam. On makeup duty was Fenty Beauty’s global makeup artist Priscilla Ono, who exclusively revealed to Bustle what went into making the look. “The wardrobe always leads when it comes to glam,” she says. “The color of the stage, the color of the wardrobe — we had to do that classic Rihanna red lip.” That signature red lip, in case you’re wondering, is Fenty Beauty’s new velvet icon lipstick in the shade ‘the MVP’.

The “Only Girl (In the World)” singer’s look was also accented with a pair of metallic silver wings and a soft matte glow, courtesy of Fenty Skin’s Pre-Show Glow and Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation “for that long-lasting, flawless skin,” says Ono. She reiterates that makeup was the final puzzle piece when it came to Rihanna’s Superbowl performance. “It’s the very last step once everything kind of comes together — it can come in and just be that cherry on top,” she says. During the performance, Rih sent Fenty fans even further into histaria when she paused in between songs to touch up with her blotting powder — the Fenty Invisimatte Instant Setting + Blotting Powder, to be exact.

Rounding out the monochromatic color palette were Riri’s coordinating square-shaped nails done by celebrity nail artist Kimmie Kyees using CND’s Devil Red. And her sleek, waist-length ponytail complete with face-framing ‘90s-like wispies? That was dreamed up by longtime hair stylist Yusef Williams. And while Ono reveals the look took a few trials and five to six hours to perfect — it’s because the team made a day of it. “Glam with Rihanna is an experience,” she says. “It’s fun, it’s a party, it’s a celebration...it’s not like straight-through glam. We’re having a good time, we’re having fun, listening to music and just prepping.”

Shop Rihanna’s Super Bowl Makeup Look