As noted by Emily Mackay of NME, her vocals sound 'restrained' and 'controlled'. As commented by Robbie Daw of Idolator, the song's 'real' hook is 'the fuzzy electric guitar' that begins sawing through the melody about three minutes in, and continues building until it reaches 'a, er, climactic solo at the very end.' Rihanna's vocal range in the song spans from the low note of G 3 to the high note of B♭ 4. 'Skin' is a R&B song, that contains elements of dance-pop and dubstep, while the song is composed with bass instruments, synthesizers and an electric guitar. 'Skin' is written in the key of G minor and is set in common time with a moderate groove of 62 beats per minute. The song was recorded at Studio at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.

'Skin' was written by Kenneth Coby, Ursula Yancy and Rihanna, with production helmed by Coby under his stage name Soundz. 'Skin' was also used in Rihanna's advertisement campaign for Armani Jeans. The song was included on the set list of the Loud Tour (2011), where Rihanna retrieves a man or woman from the audience near the end of the song, and performs a lap-dance whilst on an elevated platform. 'Skin' received generally positive reviews from critics, as part of their overall review of Loud, praising 'Skin ''s compositions as well as Rihanna's sensual vocal performance. Musically, 'Skin' is a R&B song that contains influences from pop, dance-pop and dubstep genres, while lyrically, the song is about being in a relationship with someone and only wanting to feel their skin close to the protagonists. The song was written by Kenneth Coby, Ursula Yancy and Rihanna with production helmed by Soundz.

' Skin' is a song by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna from her fifth studio album, Loud (2010).

Rihanna skin album tracklist