New Fenty Beauty Foundation Replaces Fan Favorite Formula

Fenty Beauty is retiring one of its most recognizable products.

The original Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation—the foundation Rihanna launched with Fenty Beauty in 2017—is being replaced by Pro Filt’r Fluid Flex Natural Matte Longwear Foundation, a new $48 formula arriving September 4.

Fluid Flex launches in 50 all-new shades, meaning Fenty is not simply reformulating Pro Filt’r and carrying over the existing shade range. The brand has rebuilt the lineup with more neutral undertones and is asking longtime Pro Filt’r customers to find a new match.

The foundation will launch globally online and in stores. In the U.S., Fenty Beauty, Sephora and Ulta have already listed the new formula ahead of its September 4 release.

A matching Fluid Flex Foundation Brush 165 will launch the same day for $36.

New Fenty foundation replaces Pro Filt’r Soft Matte

Fluid Flex is not another Pro Filt’r option sitting beside Soft Matte. It is its replacement.

Fenty is currently selling through remaining inventory of Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation as it prepares to retire the formula.

That makes this a significant change for the brand.

Pro Filt’r Soft Matte debuted with Fenty Beauty in September 2017 and immediately became central to the brand’s identity. Rihanna launched the foundation in 40 shades at a time when complexion ranges that broad were still unusual across prestige beauty.

Fenty later expanded Pro Filt’r to 50 shades.

Its impact went well beyond a successful foundation launch. The breadth of the range helped push shade inclusivity into the center of the beauty industry conversation and raised expectations for what major brands should offer at launch.

Now Fenty is moving on from the product that helped establish that standard.

Why Fenty Beauty is changing Pro Filt’r

The original Pro Filt’r Soft Matte offered buildable medium-to-full coverage with a matte finish and oil-controlling wear.

Fluid Flex takes a different approach.

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Pro Filt'r Fluid Flex Natural Matte Longwear Foundation (paid link)
Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Fluid Flex Foundation Brush 165 (paid link)

Fenty Beauty Chief Brand Officer Erin O’Neill told Elle that customer feedback showed some shoppers considered the original foundation too full-coverage for everyday use and treated it more like a special-occasion product.

The new Fluid Flex foundation shifts Pro Filt’r toward medium, buildable coverage and a natural-matte finish designed to look more like skin.

Fenty also positions the new formula for all skin types rather than primarily emphasizing the oil-control benefits associated with the original Soft Matte foundation.

"It is essentially a modernization of what Pro Filt’r is supposed to be: less rigid, less obviously matte and easier to wear as an everyday foundation."

What Fenty Beauty claims Fluid Flex does

The centerpiece of the new formula is what Fenty calls Fluid Flex Foundation Technology.

According to the brand, the technology allows the foundation to bend and stretch with facial movement instead of sitting rigidly on top of the skin.

Fenty claims Fluid Flex provides up to 12 hours of wear and is waterproof while resisting sweat, humidity, fading, transfer and creasing.

The formula also uses color-true pigments that Fenty says help resist oxidation, along with starfruit extract to help control oil and shine.

Those are Fenty Beauty's performance claims rather than results from independent testing.

The brand has, however, released results from a 33-person consumer study. Fenty says 94% of participants agreed the foundation did not look cakey or settle into fine lines. It also reports that all participants agreed the foundation looked natural and felt lightweight for up to 12 hours.

"The small sample size is worth keeping in perspective, but the claims make Fenty's intention clear: Fluid Flex is supposed to deliver the longevity associated with Pro Filt’r without looking or feeling as heavy."

Fluid Flex has 50 completely new shades

The shade range may be the most important part of the transition for existing Pro Filt’r users.

Fluid Flex launches in 50 shades, matching the final shade count of the outgoing foundation—but the shades themselves are new.

Fenty has rebuilt the range with adjusted undertones and more neutral options across light, light-medium, medium, medium-deep and deep skin tones.

That means someone who currently wears Pro Filt’r Soft Matte should not assume the same shade number will be their Fluid Flex match.

Fenty is directing customers toward its updated shade-finding tools instead.

For a foundation franchise so closely associated with shade inclusivity, rebuilding the range rather than simply transferring the old shades is notable. It gives Fenty an opportunity to refine gaps in undertone and depth that became apparent over nearly nine years of selling the original formula.

It also means millions of existing Pro Filt’r customers potentially have to rematch.

Fluid Flex costs more—and contains slightly less product

The replacement also comes with a price increase.

Pro Filt’r Fluid Flex Natural Matte Longwear Foundation costs $48 for 30 mL, or 1 fl oz.

The outgoing Pro Filt’r Soft Matte currently sells for $40 and contains 32 mL.

That makes Fluid Flex $8 more expensive while containing 2 mL less product.

The difference is relatively small in volume, but the $8 increase represents a 20% jump in the U.S. retail price.

For longtime Pro Filt’r customers, the transition therefore involves more than finding a new shade or adjusting to a different finish. They are also moving into a more expensive version of the franchise.

Fenty is launching a new foundation brush with Fluid Flex

Fenty Beauty will also release the Fluid Flex Foundation Brush 165 for $36.

The brush features dense, wavy bristles arranged in an oversized concave shape that Fenty describes as a “soft scoop.”

The curved shape is designed to follow the contours of the face while spreading and blending Fluid Flex without absorbing excessive product.

Fenty recommends swiping the foundation across the skin to distribute it before using a stippling motion in areas where additional coverage is needed.

The brand recommends one pump for medium coverage, followed by another thin layer where fuller coverage is desired.

When does Fenty Fluid Flex Foundation launch?

Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Fluid Flex Natural Matte Longwear Foundation launches September 4, 2026.

The foundation will cost $48 and comes in 50 new shades.

Fluid Flex Foundation Brush 165 launches alongside it for $36.

The release is planned as a global online and in-store launch. In the U.S., Fluid Flex is listed through Fenty Beauty, Sephora and Ulta.

The bigger story, though, is what disappears when it arrives.

After nearly nine years, Fenty Beauty is retiring the original Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation and replacing one of the products most closely associated with Rihanna’s entry into the beauty business.

Fluid Flex keeps the Pro Filt’r name, but almost everything underneath it changes: the shades, coverage, finish, formula, price and intended wear experience.

For existing Pro Filt’r customers, September 4 is less a product launch than a reset.

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