The Honest Company is cruelty-free. The brand does not test finished products or ingredients on animals and requires the same standard from its suppliers and third-party partners. PETA lists The Honest Company in its Beauty Without Bunnies database as a certified cruelty-free brand.
What the Policy Actually Covers
The Honest Company’s cruelty-free commitment applies across its entire product line, including baby care, skincare, beauty, and household products. The company’s own glossary states it plainly: “We do not test on animals during product development or production, or allow any third parties to do so with our products.”
This extends to suppliers as well. Vendors that provide ingredients or finished goods to Honest must sign an animal testing attestation confirming that their products have not been tested or retested on animals to assess safety, efficacy, or environmental effects. Vendors are also required to notify the company immediately if that status changes. The company maintains what it calls a “NO List” of over 3,500 ingredients it refuses to use, and it works directly with suppliers to ensure materials meet its standards.
Third-Party Certification
PETA has verified The Honest Company as cruelty-free through its Beauty Without Bunnies program, confirming that neither ingredients nor finished products are tested on animals and that suppliers and third parties follow the same standard.
The Honest Company does not appear on the Leaping Bunny recommitment list, which is a separate and somewhat stricter certification program. Leaping Bunny requires companies to annually recommit to their no-animal-testing pledge and subjects them to independent audits. The absence of a Leaping Bunny certification doesn’t mean a company tests on animals, but it does mean that particular layer of third-party verification isn’t in place. For most shoppers, the PETA certification combined with the company’s vendor compliance requirements provides a solid level of assurance.
Does Honest Sell in China?
This is the question that trips up many otherwise cruelty-free brands. Mainland China has historically required animal testing on imported cosmetics as a regulatory condition. Brands that sell physical products in Chinese retail stores can lose their cruelty-free status because Chinese authorities may conduct post-market animal testing. The Honest Company primarily sells through its own website and U.S. retailers, and its PETA certification indicates it is not subjecting products to mandatory animal testing in foreign markets.
Cruelty-Free vs. Vegan
Cruelty-free and vegan are not the same thing. A cruelty-free product wasn’t tested on animals, but it can still contain animal-derived ingredients like beeswax, lanolin, or carmine. The Honest Company acknowledges this distinction in its ingredient glossary, defining vegan products as those free from any animal or animal-derived ingredients.
Not all Honest products are vegan. Some formulations may include ingredients like beeswax, which is common in lip balms and certain skincare products. If avoiding animal-derived ingredients matters to you, check individual product labels or ingredient lists on the company’s website. The brand’s glossary specifically calls out honey, beeswax, lanolin, collagen, carmine, cholesterol, and gelatin as examples of non-vegan ingredients that could appear in otherwise cruelty-free products.
Ownership and Independence
The Honest Company is a publicly traded, independent company. It is not owned by a larger parent corporation with a conflicting animal testing policy, which is a concern with some cruelty-free brands that have been acquired by conglomerates like L’Oréal or Estée Lauder. When a cruelty-free brand is owned by a parent company that does test on animals, some consumers consider that a dealbreaker because their purchase dollars ultimately flow to an organization that supports animal testing. That issue doesn’t apply here.