Celebrity Beauty: What Is Rihanna’s Real Eye Color - Natural Green, Or Does She Wear Green Eye Contacts? 50k Ask Google

MANY RIHANNA FANS assume that the recording star wears green eye colored contact lenses, as they are unsure how a person of African descent can possess green eyes. But green and blue eye colors do occur naturally without contacts. By Ben Arogundade. Sept. 20, 2023.

GREEN-EYED GIRL: Many of Rihanna's online fanbase are unsure what her real eye color is. Some assume that the music celebrity and fashion designer wears green eye contact lenses to turn brown eyes to green, unaware that people of African ancestry can possess this color naturally.

50,000. THAT IS the approximate number of global Rihanna fans who type online search queries about the music star's real eye color into their Google browsers every year. But why? The answer is partly to do with her overall popularity as a celebrity, as the world's biggest stars also tend to have the biggest search numbers on a variety of beauty-related subjects.

IS RIHANNA’S REAL EYE COLOR GREEN?

The other reason for the popularity of Rihanna's eyes is racial. Many are unsure how a person of African ancestry can possess eyes that are not the more ubiquitous natural brown color. As a result, some assume that music celebrity's real eye color — green — is actually fake, and that she wears green eye contact lenses to artificially turn brown eyes to green. In fact, 500 people Google the question, “Does Rihanna wear contacts?” somewhere around the world each month.

HOW RIHANNA'S GREEN EYES HAPPEN

The truth is, green and indeed blue colored eyes do occur naturally within people of African ancestry. Genetically, there are two reasons that explain why:

Genetic mutation

If a person with non-brown eyes has no Caucasian ancestry, it is possible that one of their key eye color genes has mutated, creating another color. Incidences are rare, but do occur. Ocular albinism is a form that occurs mostly in men, and happens within eyes that do not make melanin — the substance that gives skin, hair and eyes their natural color. A person’s eye color is determined by how much pigment they create within special cells called melanocytes. Someone with no pigment production for example, will have blue eyes, whereas someone with a little will have green eyes, and someone with high concentrations will have brown eyes.

Caucasian ancestry

People of African ancestry who have Caucasian relatives on both sides of their family, such as actress Vanessa Williams or Tyra Banks, are more likely to have naturally non-brown eyes. Each forebear needs to be a carrier of the gene for these colors. For example, two people of African ancestry, both of whom have brown eyes, can produce a blue-eyed child if they both carry that gene somewhere within their heritage.

BLACK PLUS WHITE EQUALS GREEN

In Rihanna's case, both parents have the green-eyed gene within their proportion of European ancestry, which has its roots within the era of colonialism and slavery. Rihanna's father, Ronald Fenty, is a Barbadian of Afro-Irish heritage — the Irish came to Barbados in 1648 — while her mother Monica is Afro-Guyanese. Guyana, off the northern coast of South America, has been colonised by Europeans since 1616. Green eyes are very rare in the human race, appearing in only two per cent of the population.

Rihanna's global fame, and fans fascination with every aspect of music celebrity's life, has brought the genetic legacy of her green eye color into sharp focus. One can only guess as to the exact details of the back story of her ancient family history.

GREEN ROOTS: Music star Rihanna's naturally green-colored eyes are the result of European ancestry on both sides of her family who possessed the gene for this particular color. Rihanna's father Ronald is of Barbadian and Irish heritage, while her mother Monica is Afro-Guyanese.

THE EYES HAVE IT: Music star Rihanna's naturally green-colored eyes are the second most Googled in the world for any living celebrity. 4,400 fans search the term “Rihanna eyes” each month. Many assume that her eye color is not natural, and that she is wearing green eye contacts.

*RIHANNA'S GREEN EYE COLOR - ACCORDING TO GOOGLE SEARCH

300

The number of people worldwide who Google the phrase, “Rihanna green eyes” each month.

500

The number of people worldwide who Google the phrase, “Rihanna contact lenses” each month.

3,000

The number of people worldwide who Google the phrase, “Green eye contacts” each month.

6,500

The number of people worldwide who Google the phrases, “Rihanna eye color”, and “Rihanna eyes” each month.

*All figures for “Rihanna's Green Eye Color According to Google Search”, supplied by Google. Stats include global totals for laptop and desktop computers and mobile devices.

SEE RIHANNA’S EYES IN CLOSE-UP

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