Is Fenty Beauty Clean & Ethical? We Investigate.
Last Updated: March 16, 2023
Fenty Beauty is a relatively new company, founded by popstar Rihanna in 2017. The brand was included in Time Magazine’s list of genius companies, due primarily to the company’s inclusive focus upon all women – regardless of skin tone. This has been much celebrated not just morally, but as a deft business move – filling a void that should not have been there to begin with.
So does the companies attitude toward sustainability, ingredients, and animal rights match up to the high standards set with regards to their social cause?
Ingredients (Rating: Bad)
Fenty Beauty markets itself as a luxury brand – focusing primarily on beauty. As such, there are a number of ingredients favored by the brand that meet aesthetic criteria but nevertheless fall short with regards to safety.
Fenty is not a clean beauty brand, nor does it claim to be. Because of this, it contains a number of ingredients we recommend avoiding.
Sustainability (Rating: Bad)
Fenty Beauty writes that they are working on their environmental impact, committed to the three “R’s” (Reduce, reuse, recycle). The company writes that they are committed to the journey. Nonetheless, aside from the statements found on their website, there is limited to no data as to how this is being achieved, nor is this reflected in the products marketed by the company. Although there is a push toward using more recycled materials, as well as ensuring that packaging can be recycled at end-of-life, this seems somewhat limited.
Animal Welfare (Rating: Iffy)
Cruelty-Free
Fenty Beauty claims to be cruelty-free, but refuses to answer specific questions about their animal testing policies.
Vegan
Fenty Beauty is not considered a vegan company. A number of animal products are used in the creation of their products – such as beeswax and carmine. They do have a vegan “Fenty Skin” line.
Brand Ratings
Our rating scale ranges from “Best” (for having the best practices) to “Bad” (for having unacceptable practices). We rated Fenty Beauty as follows.
| INGREDIENTS | Bad – Virtually every product the brand offers contains a number of ingredients we recommend avoiding. |
| SUSTAINABILITY | Bad – Fenty Beauty provides only limited information as to how they are ensuring sustainability across their supply chain. |
| ANIMAL RIGHTS | Iffy- The company does well with regard to animal rights and has a vegan option. Hopefully, the brand will develop more vegan products in the future and phase out the use of animal products. |
Overall Rating: Bad
There are a number of ingredients used by this company that should be avoided. While the company has a commendable attitude toward animal testing, they are not a vegan brand. Further, in comparison to other major brands, Fenty Beauty provides limited information on sustainability, focusing exclusively on recycling. Far more information is required with regards to carbon emissions, the production of raw materials, and the use of finite resources.
