Is Fenty Cruelty-Free and Vegan?

Fenty Beauty and Skin are wildly popular joined brands that are consumer-conscious and all about inclusivity. Question is, have they ensured their products are cruelty-free, vegan, and ethical too? 

Fenty claims to be 100% cruelty-free. The brand confirms that it does not conduct animal testing on its products or distribute its cosmetics where animal testing is required by law. While Fenty Beauty does offer a range of vegan cosmetics, it is not considered a vegan brand. Fenty Skin is 100% vegan.

Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty in 2017 and Fenty Skin in 2021. 

The joined brands are very young, and they've already pushed BadGalRiRi's net worth to over $1.7 billion, according to Forbes, making her the second wealthiest female entertainer in the world (Oprah is number one). 

Everyone seems to love this musicians products. But there are a couple of concerns with Fenty's claims and ethics. 

So before you start shopping, here's what you need to know about its current animal testing policies, vegan ranges, formulation, and ethical standards.

Is Fenty Cruelty-Free and Vegan?

Fenty Claims to be 100% Cruelty-Free

It does not:

  • Test any of its products or ingredients on animals;
  • Purchase any ingredients tested on animals within its supply chain; or
  • Distribute its products to any countries that require animal testing by law.

Although Fenty claims to have rigorous cruelty-free standards – it does not have any accreditation from a third-party organization like Leaping Bunny. This means we have to trust what the brand states about itself. 

Fenty is also owned by the parent company LVHM – which owns other brands that are not cruelty-free. In a case like this, you need to consider what you are most comfortable using as an informed consumer. 

Something that does side in Fenty's favor is that it does make a lot of its products within the EU, where it is illegal to test and sell cosmetics or cosmetic ingredients on animals.

This brings us to the next point:

Fenty Beauty is Not Vegan

Although Fenty Beauty (makeup) is not entirely vegan, it does have great vegan ranges, and most of its products are created with vegan formulas.

Some of the most common animal-derived ingredients that Fenty uses include:

  • Honey and beeswax – these ingredients pose many health benefits to your skin and wellbeing. They have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and are loaded with essential vitamins.

    Just because beeswax isn't vegan, it doesn't mean it can't be cruelty-free. Find out more here: Can Beeswax Be Cruelty-Free?
  • Carmine – this ingredient is the red pigment made from the crushed female cochineal insect. A little gross, no? But it is completely harmless and is used in makeup to get those rouge tones.

    To find out why carmine is so cruel and the shocking amount of products that use it, you need to read this: Is Carmine Cruelty-Free and Vegan? 

Luckily, all Fenty's vegan products are marked on their website. Once you've selected the product of your choice, you can check whether it's vegan under the ingredient list.

If a product is vegan, you'll find the information here:

Fenty Beauty ingredient list and vegan products

Fenty Skin is 100% Vegan

While Fenty Beauty may have a few products with animal derived-ingredients. The Fenty skincare ranges are 100% vegan. 

Rihanna states on her website:

"I’ve lived and traveled all over the world and I wanted to make sure that Fenty skin represented the best-of-the-best when it came to our ingredients. I wanted safe, clean, effective formulas that celebrated and respected what our planet has to offer."

And to Rihanna, this means making everything vegan! 

If you're interested in which Fenty Beauty products are vegan or finding vegan makeup brand alternatives – keep reading or click on this link: Fenty Beauty vegan products

Animal Testing Policy and History

Fenty has been committed to making clean, easy-to-use cosmetics that are cruelty-free and as vegan as possible. This has been its intention since launching in 2017.

Cruelty-Free Status in 2021

Here is a screenshot of Fenty's official statement regarding its cruelty-free policies and vegan products, taken from their website:

Fenty Cruelty-Free and Vegan Website Claim

Certification

Fenty has no cruelty-free certification, and it would be nice to see some given it’s such a proudly cruelty-free brand.

Certification is ideal because it helps verify from a reputable outside party that: 

  • No animal testing is conducted on the ingredients, formulas, or final products they sell.
  • No animal testing is conducted by the brand suppliers or on their ingredients or formulas.
  • No animal testing is done by someone else that the company itself paid for.
  • Any other form of testing (beyond ingredient and consumer safety), such as worker safety and environmental health, are considered and evaluated.

We know that Rihanna already won an award from PETA in 2020 for releasing a whole faux fur clothing capsule collection. So come on – let's apply the same cruelty-free care in beauty and skincare. 

If you want to support a brand that doesn't conduct animal testing – ensure that they have the cruelty-free symbol at the back of their products, usually marked by a rabbit.

Besides PETA, you can trust organizations like Leaping Bunny or Choose Cruelty-Free, which both have tough (but excellent) criteria.

Is Fenty Sold Where Animal Testing is Required By Law? 

Fenty does not distribute any of its products to China or any country that requires animal testing on any cosmetics by law.

China has a shocking track record. It is the country with the most amount of animal testing globally, with over 20 million animals used per year.

However, if you live in China or are concerned about its cruel beauty policies, there are a couple of loopholes to be aware of. Here's how to find cruelty-free cosmetics in China: Are Cosmetics Made in China Cruelty-Free?

What Fenty Beauty Products Are Vegan?

While Fenty skincare is 100% vegan, Fenty Beauty is not too far behind. It has a large range of vegan cosmetic products that continues to expand.

Just remember to select the exact shade you'd like to buy when it comes to makeup to confirm whether it's vegan or not.

A product's vegan status can depend on its coloring. Anything with a red tone might use carmine and is, therefore, not vegan. Unfortunately, most of Fenty's world-famous highlighters are not vegan. 

Luckily, if a product has vegan and non-vegan options, Fenty conveniently details which shades are suitable for vegans and which ones are not.

You can see this in the website screenshot shared above, highlighted under ingredients. 

To save you some time, here are some of their award-winning vegan makeup products and best-sellers to choose from:

  • Pro filt'r soft matte longwear foundation (all shades)
  • Pro filt'r hydrating longwear foundation (all shades)
  • Pro filt'r instant retouch concealer (all shades)
  • Pro filt'r instant retouch setting powder
  • Pro kiss'r lip loving scrub stick 
  • Gloss bomb universal lip luminizer
  • Flyliner longwear liquid eyeliner
  • Eaze drop blurring skin tint

Fenty doesn't have a designated page for vegan products. But you can find anything you're looking for on their website: Fenty Beauty 

Vegan Alternatives to Fenty Beauty 

Overall, Fenty is ahead of the game, especially for such a big, and commercial company. Its entire skincare range is vegan and its beauty products are nearly there too.

We find this commendable given it's not even the brand's main focus, but they consider it important anyway (as do we). 

While we love that Fenty claims to be cruelty-free and offers vegan options – it would be great to see some more certification behind the claims. 

If you do not support a brand that isn't entirely vegan – Fenty might not be your first choice.

If you're looking for 100% vegan brands that are sustainable, some great options include:

  • Elf Cosmetics;
  • Jeffree Star Cosmetics; 
  • HAUS LABS;
  • Clove and Hallow (for awesome highlighters); and 
  • Adorn Cosmetics. 

Is Fenty Natural and Organic? 

Fenty is not a natural or organic brand, but they claim to use safe and clean ingredients.

However, Fenty openly talks about the natural extracts it uses to enhance its product formulations – many of them are beneficial and unique. 

Some ingredients this luxury brand uses to enhance its cosmetics include: 

  • Barbados cherry – an ingredient Rihanna loves from her homeland; these cherries are loaded with Vitamin C, which is great for brightening your skin and acts as a sun damage protectant.  
  • Green tea – besides the caffeine, green tea is full of antioxidants that shield our skin from harmful environmental stressors like pollution. 
  • Australian lemon myrtle – not only does this plant acts as an astringent that tightens your pores and helps manage oily skin, it also has strong antibacterial properties to help fight off any infection wounds or even acne. 
  • Kalahari melon – a lot of research shows that this resilient fruit that can flourish in tough desert conditions has some serious moisturizing and hydrating properties for your skin too. 

Does Fenty Use Safe Ingredients?

As a conscientious shopper, you must read up on any brand's ingredient list before you make a purchase – especially if you live within the United States.

This is because the FDA has only banned or restricted 11 harmful chemicals from cosmetics within the country. Europe, on the other hand, has banned 1,328!

With makeup, here are some ingredients you really want to avoid:

  • Butylated compounds,
  • Benzophenone compounds, 
  • Carbon black,
  • Formaldehyde, and 
  •  Lead or other heavy metals. 

Both Fenty Skin and Beauty have a relatively clean range of ingredients. They also avoid using anything that could be harmful where possible.

According to Skin Safe, it has a 73% - 91% allergen-free ranking for each product, but some score as high as 100%.

Our gal RiRi doesn't let us down here: 

  • Fenty's products are free of allergens such as phthalates, mineral oil, sodium laurel sulfate (SLS), gluten, nickel, parabens, soy, and lanolin.
  • Although there are only 11 harmful chemicals banned in the USA, Fenty follows EU regulations and has banned all 1,328 listed there. 
  • Fenty's two best-selling foundations (Pro filt'r soft matte longwear and Pro filt'r hydrating longwear) are also 100% non-comedogenic.

Even with all these great facts, it's still worth your while to check what ingredients are listed at the back of any cosmetic product you buy. 

Although Fenty's current products are quite clean, all ingredients are subject to change so keep your eyes open.

Are Cruelty-Free Ingredients Safe?

If you're worried about how safe it is to use cosmetics that are not tested on animals – please relax and take a sigh of relief.

There is no reason why cruelty-free products shouldn't be just as safe, if not safer, than anything tested on an animal.

Not only is it easy to test ingredients without using animals altogether, but there are so many pre-approved ingredients you can use to make cosmetics that there really is no need.

Here's more on the subject if you're interested: Are Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Safe?

Is Fenty Sustainable and Ethical? 

It's no secret that the world has a huge waste problem, and cosmetic brands are only making it worse by using unsustainable packaging and harmful ingredients.

Fenty Beauty and Skin are making their mark in sustainability by embracing the three R's. 

  • Reducing – minimizing the amount of packaging used wherever possible. When necessary, it tries to use protective boxes made from cardboard that are easily recyclable. 
  • Reusing – creating a refillable system for their products where you simply buy product refills that are also more affordable. 
  • Recycling – making it easy for customers to know exactly how to recycle each part of any product they buy. 

Another great thing is that Fenty has eliminated the use of plastic microbeads as well – helping our world's oceans. 

In saying that, Fenty also has some very questionable practices that have come to light. 

Fenty is Scrutinized for Its Mica Mining Policies

For all the good about this brand – there's also something shockingly bad! 

Fenty does not have any clear Mica mining or child labor policy available to the public – and now the brand is being called into question.

Currently, the National Commission for the Protection of Child's rights is surveying Fenty Beauty. It has allegedly sourced Mica from Indian mines where child laborers are known to work in horrific conditions.

The problem?

Fenty doesn't seem to have Supply Chain Clearance Certification, which would prove it sources its ingredients ethically. 

The brand also says it doesn't do any mandatory audits when it comes to the Suppliers Code of Conduct under Californian law. 

In other words, things like human trafficking, slavery, and child abuse might not be monitored. 

All beauty businesses know that Mica mining is a huge problem, especially in India, where impoverished children put their livelihoods at risk for a conglomerate's bottom line.  

Final Thoughts

Fenty is a newly developed brand that has gained massive popularity in a very short amount of time.

They claim to be cruelty-free. However, they do not have any certification to back this up. You need to decide as a well-informed consumer whether you can trust the brand's values. 

Fenty's skincare is 100% vegan, and Fenty Beauty has many vegan products available. Both beauty and skincare products have clean formulations as they're free of most allergens. 

The brand is also trying to minimize its carbon footprint, but there's very little information about exactly what it's doing to achieve this with numbers or statistics to back them up. 

Unfortunately, Fenty really falls short with its supply chain transparency. It's now come under scrutiny for questionable Mica mining policies and its indirect support of child labor in India. 

This is a huge issue that cannot be ignored. As consumers, it's our job to articulate that we want to purchase products that come from transparent supply chains and will not settle for less. 

Please, keep this in mind when you do your next cosmetics shop. 

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