The How to Get Away with Murder star is a huge fan of the pop singer's new cosmetics company, which boasts a range of colour palettes to match complexions of all hues.
"The thing about Fenty (Beauty), which I own, is that I can get a base makeup that is exactly my skin tone," Viola tells Refinery29. "I don't feel like I have to get something five shades lighter, or mix two shades together in order to get my shade. And it feels like my natural skin. It's full coverage, and I'm honoured by the fact that I'm recognised in this beauty line.
"I thank Rihanna for that. As opposed to going to a drugstore and another drugstore, especially if you're somewhere in like, I don't know, Montana where you can't find anything for you. It makes you think then, ok no one is thinking of me. It's something that I struggled with a lot."
African-American beauty Davis, 52, insists no one should have to struggle to find a match for their skin tone and has appealed to beauty industry executives to make it a priority to offer more inclusive products.
"(I ask beauty industry bosses) to embrace all shades and sizes, to not beauty shame or body shame us into feeling like if we don't look one way, then you're off the beauty radar," she shares. "If you're not a size zero to a size four, you're out. If you're darker than a paper bag, you're out. If your hair is crinkly, you're out. If your nose is big, you're out. I want people to have a more expansive definition of what (beauty) means."
Viola is an ideal customer for Rihanna, who has revealed in the past her primary focus with the release of Fenty Beauty was to create quality makeup products with universal shades for hard-to-match skin tones, "so that women everywhere would be included".
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