Fenty Beauty (LVMH)

Last Updated: February 8, 2023

How Ethical Is Fenty Beauty (LVMH)?

Make a positive impact by supporting companies with the same values and ethics as what matters most to you. To navigate and find ethical brands, here's a summary of Fenty Beauty's ethics and initiatives.

Ethical Analysis

Is Fenty Beauty cruelty-free, vegan, or sustainable? We’ve got the answers here! Read below for more details on Fenty Beauty’s policies.
Fenty Beauty is *Cruelty-free, but Fenty is owned by Kendo & LVMH, a parent company that is NOT cruelty-free.
Not all of Fenty Beauty’s products are vegan, but they have some vegan options.
Fenty Beauty claims they’re taking steps so that their products will have less of an impact on the environment. Starting with their packaging and embracing the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

That includes reducing excess packaging, reducing the use of virgin plastic by incorporating post-consumer recycled material, and making it easier to know how to recycle their products. But currently, it’s not clear what steps have already been taken. It seems like their skincare line (Fenty Skin) is focused more on sustainable packaging than their makeup line.
Fenty Beauty claims their mica is ethically sourced without child labor. See policy below.
Fenty Beauty products come in plastic packaging. The brand also claims they’re taking steps to reduce excess packaging and reduce the use of virgin plastic by incorporating post-consumer recycled material.

About Fenty Beauty (LVMH)

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna was created with the promise of inclusion for all women. With an unmatched offering of shades and colors for ALL skin tones, you’ll never look elsewhere for your beauty staples.
COMPANY BASED IN: USA
PRODUCTS MADE IN: USA
PRODUCTS: Makeup, Makeup Brushes
CERTIFICATIONS: N/A

Fenty Beauty (LVMH)

This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.

Is Fenty Cruelty-Free?

🐰 Fenty Beauty is a *cruelty-free brand. None of Fenty’s ingredients or products are tested on animals. Fenty has met all the criteria in our Cruelty-Free Checklist and is included in our Cruelty-Free Directory.

Does Fenty Test on Animals?

When asking, does Fenty Beauty test on animals? We must look beyond to ensure none of Fenty’s ingredients or suppliers test on animals. And they don’t sell in any country or under conditions that may require animal testing by law.

In our research, we discovered the following:

  • ✓ Fenty Beauty confirmed they do not test their products or ingredients on animals or ask others to test on their behalf.
  • ✓ Fenty Beauty confirmed all their ingredient suppliers do not test on animals
  • ✓ Fenty Beauty confirmed they do not allow or sell their products under conditions where animal testing is required by law

By meeting all of our Cruelty-Free Criteria, Fenty Beauty is a *cruelty-free brand by our standards.

*Fenty is owned by Kendo, LVMH, a corporation that is NOT cruelty-free because they allow some of their other brands to test on animals.

The decision is yours whether you want to support or boycott cruelty-free brands owned by a parent company that is not cruelty-free. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer to this. Do what you’re comfortable with. I just thought it was important to disclose that LVMH owns Fenty Beauty.

What is Fenty’s Animal Testing Policy?

Below is a screenshot of what’s currently stated on Fenty Beauty’s website about its animal testing policy:

Fenty Beauty Cruelty-Free Claims

Below is a snippet of the email response I received from Fenty Beauty:

“Fenty Beauty + Fenty Skin does not test our products on animals, nor do we test the ingredients on animals. Our manufacturers do not test our products on animals. We sell the same products in Europe and the cosmetic regulations in the EU require that we (and our manufacturers) do NOT test products on animals.

In addition, we are NOT allowed to use raw materials that are tested on animals for cosmetic purposes.”

What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

Fenty Beauty has confirmed they only sell their products online or in Hong Kong and Macau but not in retail stores in mainland China; therefore, they are not required to test on animals.

Since Hong Kong and Macau are not part of mainland China, they do not have the same animal testing laws. Also, cosmetics sold online, including online Chinese retailers like Tmall, do not require animal testing. Fenty Beauty is not selling in physical stores in mainland China so that they can remain cruelty-free.

With the current changes to China’s animal testing laws, some cosmetics sold in China can be exempt from animal testing under certain conditions. However, without meeting those conditions, animal testing is still legally required for most cosmetics sold in China in 2023.

Is Fenty Beauty Certified Cruelty-Free?

Fenty Beauty is not certified by a third-party cruelty-free accreditation like Leaping Bunny or PETA.

Although Fenty Beauty is not certified cruelty-free, the company has confirmed to us it is a truly cruelty-free brand by meeting all the criteria in our Cruelty-Free Checklist.

Note that companies can remain to be cruelty-free without an official cruelty-free certification. Some companies may choose not to be certified cruelty-free because of cost, privacy, or lack of resources.

Cruelty-Free Policies 2023

Just because a brand claims it is ‘Cruelty-Free,’ doesn’t always mean that’s the case.

That’s because there is no legal definition for the label ‘Cruelty-Free.’ It can mean different things to different people. But Cruelty-Free is generally used to imply no animal testing. More specifically, the ingredients, formulation, or finished product are not tested on animals at any stage of product development.

At ethical elephant, we always assess a company’s cruelty-free policy using our Cruelty-Free Checklist. This ensures no animal testing was performed by the brand itself, its suppliers, or any third parties.

How We Assess Cruelty-Free Policies

Since 2015, the start of my blog, I’ve been emailing companies asking about their animal testing policies and cruelty-free commitments.

And based on the responses I receive from companies, I’ll research to find any supporting facts needed before concluding whether the brand should be classified as “Cruelty-Free,” “Animal-Tested,” or “Grey Area – Unclear Policies.”

☕️ Every week, I continue to reach out to new brands while trying my best to keep current brands updated. If you found any of my posts or guides helpful, consider Buying Me A Coffee! I would greatly appreciate it! ❤️

What about Vegan?

Just because something is called Cruelty-Free, doesn’t always mean it’s Vegan. And vice versa.

Cruelty-Free only refers to no animal testing, while Vegan means formulated without animal products.

Some brands are Cruelty-Free, but not Vegan.

And some are Vegan, but not Cruelty-Free.

Another important distinction to know is, Vegan in cosmetics can refer to an entire brand is 100% Vegan or a specific product is Vegan.

Is Fenty Vegan?

⭐️ Fenty Beauty (the makeup line) is NOT an entirely vegan brand. Fenty Beauty offers some vegan options that are free of animal products. While Fenty Skin (the skincare line) is all vegan.

Fenty Beauty Vegan Claims

How to know which of Fenty Beauty products are vegan?

All of Fenty Beauty’s vegan products are clearly marked on their website. See below for an example.

How to know which of Fenty Beauty products are vegan?

Where to buy Fenty Beauty? Check out fentybeauty.com, Sephora, and Boots!

Vegan Policies

Similar to ‘Cruelty-Free,’ there is no standard or legal definition for the label ‘Vegan.’ But Vegan is generally used to mean formulated without animal-derived ingredients or animal by-products.

Some common animal products in cosmetics include carmine, lanolin, snail mucus, beeswax, honey, pearl or silk-derived ingredients, animal-based glycerin, keratin, and squalene.

There are plant-based and synthetic alternatives to animal-derived ingredients. But unless a brand explicitly labels its ingredients or product as Vegan, it’s often difficult to know with certainty whether a product is vegan just by reading the ingredient list.

So it’s best to ask the company and manufacturers to ensure the ingredients they chose were from non-animal sources.

Where are Fenty’s products made?

I asked Fenty where their products are manufactured and they told me:

“FB+FS is manufactured in San Francisco, CA, US.”

Ethical Mica Mining Policy

Mica is a mineral used in cosmetics to add a shimmery effect. But the mining of natural mica has been linked to child labor and human rights violations.

Unless the company discloses its mica mining policy, we have no way of knowing whether its mica is ethically sourced without child or forced labor.

So I asked Fenty Beauty if their mica is ethically sourced without the use of child labor and they responded by stating,

“Fenty Beauty is committed to only use natural mica from mines that comply with human rights and labor standards. We make every effort to ensure the traceability and transparency of our supply chains for the natural mica used in our products.


I hope this article helped you to understand Fenty Beauty’s cruelty-free and vegan status and by choosing cruelty-free together, we can help end animal testing for cosmetics once and for all!

If you found this helpful, consider Buying Me a Coffee. So that I can continue to keep this site running and updated.

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What do you think

1 thought on “Fenty Beauty (LVMH)”

  1. I really appreciate that you wrote this and that it is updated for 2023, as any accurate info is so hard to find. After reading your article, I feel like Fenty in the grey area for being cruelty free, vegan and humane. I just don’t feel 100% confident. I bought you a coffee because I appreciate you doing the work for people like me who try our best to be as conscientious as we can be!

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