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She’s proof that it’s never too late to be yourself

When Rihanna first broke into the music scene, she had hits like Hate That I Love You and Unfaithful, which tugged at our heart strings and had us singing along. She sported curls or long hair in her music videos, was sexy without being extravagant and styled herself on the safer side.

Since then, she’s completely branched out and incorporated more provocative material into her work, both in music and in fashion.

She made beauty available for everyone

There’s are reasons why everyone has been raving about Rihanna’s Fenty beauty line: It’s inclusive, affordable and it works on women of all colors and nationalities.

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Makeup has been around for decades, yet some women have had to make do with foundation that isn’t their shade and concealer that isn’t tailored to their tones. But when Riri released Fenty, every shade was suddenly available without the fuss.

She’s still killing it in music

Rihanna may not be as active in music as she once was, but her career in the industry still speaks for itself. She’s one of the best-selling artists of all time, has won several Grammy Awards including record of the year (Work) and Best R&B Song (Kiss It Better) and she was the very first winner of the American Music Awards For Icons.

She knows her size does not define her and tells it like it is

For one reason or another, Rihanna has gotten some online hate for her size. It’s no secret that she hasn’t stayed on one number on the scale, but she’s been killing it in any and all dress sizes. What’s better still is that she has made no apologies for it.

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“I really pay attention every day when I go into the closet about what’s working for my body that morning. I feel like that’s how everyone should go after fashion, because it’s an individual thing,” she told The Cut. “And then, if you take it further, it’s like: What week are you having? You having a skinny week? You having a fat week? Are we doing arms this week? We doing legs this week? We doing oversized?”

She remembers to give back

But despite all her success, Rihanna’s never forgotten to give back. In 2006, she put up the Believe Foundation to help terminally ill children, which she has funded via several charity performances. She was also part of H&M’s Fashion Against AIDS line in 2008 and contributed to Just Stand Up!, a project that helped raise US$100 million for cancer research.

Rihanna has class, beauty, intelligence, strength and talent. The future undoubtedly holds so much more for her and we cannot wait to witness it.