Honest Beauty is known for their clean, sustainable, and functional products. I might also add accessible, because they are one of the first clean beauty brands that you can find at your local drugstore!
*Affiliate Disclosure: I do have affiliate links in this blog post. If you purchase something from my link, I will receive a small commission from the sale. This comes at no cost to you, but is paid by the company. I do not take becoming an affiliate with any company lightly. If I am, it’s because I believe in the company and their product.
*Suzi(Gurl Gone Green) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Honest Beauty
The brand was founded by actress, Jessica Alba who set out to build a diverse, inclusive, ethical company based on values of transparency, trust, sustainability, and a deep sense of purpose. One of the ways Honest Beauty lives up to its name, is by banning over 3,500 questionable ingredients and requiring products to undergo rigorous testing,
They also back up their sustainability claim through their compostable recyclable paper to their recyclable aluminum, tin, and glass. Honest Beauty is known for being purpose driven and giving to families in need, providing disaster relief, and supporting socially-conscious causes.
Where To Purchase Honest Beauty
You can purchase Honest Beauty products online through their website and at retailers such as Target, Nordstrom, Walgreens, GNC, most major grocery stores, and Amazon.
Best Honest Beauty Products
Extreme Length Mascara + Lash Primer
This 2-in-1 mascara made from jojoba esters is the #1 clean mascara on Amazon for good reason. It provides volume with the primer and length with the mascara.
Review
This mascara is so good! If you’ve followed me for any length of time then you know it’s one of my tried and true clean mascaras. It gives length and separation and builds so well. I also love the price- $19.99! Sometimes you can get it for even less with sales on Amazon. I don’t get flaking at all from it.
Daily Green Juice Antioxidant Serum
This antioxidant serum can give your skin that “healthy green juice” glow. In a consumer study of women over 35, in fact, 94% of women agreed that their skin looked and felt healthier and had a healthy glow.
Review
I definitely noticed a glow to my skin after using this. I especially loved using it in the morning before my makeup as it really amped up my skin and left it feeling plump and revived. I call it my green smoothie for my skin! I apply this first, then my moisturizer. Works well under makeup too.
Tinted Lip Balm
This vegan lip balm provides color and nourishes lips with just one swipe. Choose from 7 shades.
Review
This is such a great everyday lip color. It gives your lips a great hint of color, but also leaves them feeling moisturized at the same time. I have the color Fruit Punch. It looks bright but it’s a lot more subtle than you think.
Gentle Gel Everyday Facial Cleanser
This cleanser gently washes away dirt, calms and refreshes skin through Chamomile and Calendula Extracts.
Review
This cleanser was ok. Not my favorite. It felt a little too stripping for my dry skin. It also didn’t get all my eye makeup off like I would like. It might be a great option for someone with normal to oily skin that doesn’t wear eye makeup, but it didn’t work for my skin.
Makeup Remover Wipes
These face wipes are gentle, hypoallergenic, non-comedogenic yet strong enough to take off even waterproof makeup.
Review
These were ok. They used to have a face wipe and then they came out with a new one. The new one is not as good. It feels drying and doesn’t remove quite like the old ones. It also isn’t as gentle overall. Not a re-purchase from me.
Creme Cheek and Lip Color
This 2-in-1 buildable cream blush and lip color provides a dewy flush.
Review
Loved this creme blush! It goes on so smooth and had great longevity throughout the day. It gave my skin a dewy look with color. Like a fresh face but not over done.
Eyeshadow Palette
This palette contains 10 versatile talc-free shades for endless possibilities.
Review
The eyeshadow palette is really a steal! For $19.99 you can get a whole eyeshadow palette. The colors are so wearable for everyday. I would make sure and prime my lid with some translucent powder first and then apply a little concealer to help the shadows adhere to something and help them pop.
Everyday Radiance Vitamin C Moisturizer
This moisturizer is made with Vitamin C, Niacinamide and Pearl, and has been clinically tested to improve skin tone, elasticity, and hydration after 2 and 4 weeks.
Review
This was also an item I was impressed with. It gave my skin some serious glow and helped to make it look brighter and less ruddy overall. My skin also felt nourished with the niacinamide. I definitely would recommend it to anyone who wants a brighter complexion but without a hefty price tag.
Everything Glow Primer
This primer is infused with Hyaluronic Acid to brighten and smooth skin. It can be worn with or without makeup.
Review
This primer is really good! I love how it fills in fine lines and helps to plump the skin with hyaluronic acid before makeup application. I love priming my skin especially as I’ve gotten older. It just gives my makeup such a smooth application.
Hydrating Face and Body Lotion
This gentle enough for baby lotion hydrates and nourishes thirsty skin without being greasy or heavy.
Review
This is a great everyday face and body moisturizer. If you’re a minimalist and don’t like a lot of fluff to your beauty routine but want a moisturizer that is clean, this is your moisturizer! While you can totally use it for your face, I preferred using it on my body. I like it, because it’s a moisturizer I could bring for all my kids to use.
Hydrogel Cream
This thirst quenching cream can provide moisture barrier support for up to 24 hours. This cool drink of water as it’s referred to is infused with hyaluronic acid, squalane, and jojoba esters.
Review
I was really impressed with this Hydrogel Cream. It really moisturized my skin so well and didn’t feel too light. I felt like my skin still felt hydrated even hours later which is always a true test of a good moisturizer. I applied before my makeup and it wasn’t too greasy or oily either.
Is Honest Beauty Truly A Clean Brand?
I do think that Honest Beauty is a clean brand. They aren’t perfect, but for the price tag and what you get, they really up hold to clean ingredients overall. I appreciate how they don’t include so many of the heavy hitting harmful ingredients in their products.
What’s your favorite Honest Beauty product? Share below!
If you liked this post check out these past posts:
- 16 Affordable Clean Beauty Brands
- Cocokind Review: Affordable Natural Skincare
- Best Talc Free Makeup Brands
Ah! This was great, lady! I can’t wait to try out these products myself. Especially the foundation/luminizer! Thanks for the awesome review! <3
Aww, thanks Sammie! Yes, they’re great! 🙂
Yes to the mascara. I wore it and accidentally got teary and my eyes stung like crazy!!! I just e-mailed honest to see what is up! I thought it looked great but the pain was impossible!
Lauren! Right?! Haha, I’m not crazy! Yeah, I called them too and asked if anyone else had mentioned that and they said a couple other people had. I’m surprised it made it past so many testers! Thanks for sharing in my pain too 🙂
Hey Lauren – by any chance does it have phenoxyethanol in it? That always gets my eyes.. and a lot of natural brands use it. It is an eye irritant. Check it out.
Hi Margot! Yeah, it doesn’t have phenoxyethanol-I wouldn’t have bought it if it did! I don’t know, I need take a closer look. There isn’t anything that stood out to me as an irritant.
I found your review because I literally started tearing up a few minutes ago and my eyes started burning like crazy! It had to be my new mascara from Honest because my eyes have never done that before…so I googled it to see if others were having this issue!
Mia! I feel ya girl! The same thing happened to me! I literally couldn’t open my eyes…so annoying. I sent mine back. They were really great about it thankfully!
Thank you so much for the review! I enjoyed reading it. I tried the foundation in snow in my first bundle. I wasn’t loving it but purchased the primer before making a decision on it. The primer makes an unbelievable difference. I recommend the primer as your next purchase. Glad to know I wasn’t the only one about the mascara! 🙂
Totally! Yeah, the primer I didn’t get because it has dimethicone and phenoxyethanol in it. 🙁 I wish it was cleaner!
Thanks for the review! I’d been curious on the new line. I too have oily eyelids and am searching for a good primer. What do you use or recommend? Thanks!
Hi Jessica! Of course! I feel ya girl! I have oily lids too. I always prep mine with a mineral powder then I’ll use The All Natural Face Magic Eyeshadow Primer and then apply the shadow. http://www.theallnaturalface.com/magic-vegan-eye-shadow-primer/ The primer is the best I’ve found! Hope that helps! 🙂
Yes! I have cried with the mascara on and it stings SO BADLY! Don’t ever get teary eyed with it on! That is my only complaint with the Honest Beauty line so far. The makeup is literally the best I have ever used! And I have used only conventional makeup in the past.
Hi Stephanie! Haha, yes it definitely stings! I’m surprised Honest didn’t catch that with it’s testing. I actually just got another product-they were really good about taking stuff back!
Thank you so much for this review! I’m completely new to chemical free makeup so Im not 100% sure what Im doing. I saw you posted that you didnt get the primer because of some of the ingredients. Do you happen to have a list of the ingredients in makeup that should be avoided? I have no idea what those names even mean!
Hi Hannah! Thanks so much for reading. I’m so excited for you to be transitioning-so cool! I don’t have a list at the moment, will definitely work on that. The best thing to do is get the Think Dirty app. You just scan your products and it will tell you if it’s bad and why. It goes by a number system…1 being the best and 10 being the worst. I would recommend getting the book No More Dirty Looks too. You can get it off Amazon. They list all the dangerous products, as well as what they do. That was the book that really helped me transition. I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. Follow me on Instagram or Facebook for the latest on blog happenings. 🙂
Oh my gosh the mascara burned my eyes really badly too! I thought I was the only one! It stung so bad any time moisture from my eyes would come in contact with the mascara, and especially when I took it off at night. I called and told them about it and they actually posted a credit to my account to get something else which was really nice. My eyes have never been sensitive to mascara before so I don’t know what the deal was.
Yes, same here Meagan! I’ve never had a problem before. You should try out Hynt Beauty’s mascara…seriously the best non-toxic mascara I’ve come across and no stinging 😉
Hi Suzi! Just found you post because I’m thinking about going natural with my makeup. Which foundation brand would you recommend – Honest, RMS, Kjaer Weis, Vapour? Thanks!
Hi Christina! That’s awesome! It really depends on your skin type. I recommend each one for different reasons. In the post it says if it’s for oily, combo or dry skin. Let me know what your skin is like and what you like for coverage. Also, some people prefer lighter coverage and others prefer heavier. If you can give me more details, I can help you out better. 🙂
Hi Suzi, thanks so much for your fast reply!!
I have combo->oily skin. I used to have breakouts but started using a more gentle skincare routine from Algotherm (a French algae based brand) and it seems to have curbed my breakouts (that, or the hormones from pregnancy and then BFing). So, I’m not opposed to non-oil free formulas, just not super heavy formulas. I tried the whole Tarte line at one point in my effort to be more natural and it failed. I have a constant guilt about the products I use and wanted to give this a try again now that there seem to be so many more products out there. I saw your blog and got inspired! 😉
I am currently using Laura Mercier Flawless Fluide (which is oil free) and love the coverage and thin, weightless texture. It’s definitely not full coverage, but not as light as a sheer tinted moisturizer. I would love to find a comparable product!
I’ve been looking at RMS, Honest (not sure which to go with TM or foundation), Jane Iredale, W3ll people, or Kaijer Weis…
Thank you!
Hi Christina! Perfect, this helps so much. I think you would really like Fitglow Beauty’s Liquid Foundation. It’s a true liquid foundation but it isn’t super heavy. It gives my skin an overall pulled together look but doesn’t look cakey. It’s more of a medium coverage foundation. RMS Uncover up I love. But it is a little heavier. Not heavy as in feeling heavy on my skin but heavier coverage. I’ll add this after the Fitglow Beauty liquid if I want to cover some redness. I also will brush a little mineral powder on top of it after putting it on so it stays put. It has a more moisturizing feel than the Fitglow Beauty liquid. Honest, is definitely heavier, full coverage foundation-very similar to Kjaer Weis foundation. I don’t think you would like it as much if you like a more weightless texture. Jane IRedale’s BB cream is awesome, like a tinted moisturizer but with more coverage. I really like it a lot. It feels weightless but covers all my redness. Also, W3ll people is great. It’s just a totally different concept with it’s stick feel. It feels weightless and goes on smooth. It’s more of a medium coverage foundation as well. I like it but the only thing I didn’t love was how it kind of faded by the end of the day. It didn’t have as much staying power on me. However, If I dusted with a mineral powder that always helped! Did I help you at all? 🙂 I hope I did. Let me know if you have any other questions!
This was such a great post. I loved your honesty about speaking to the reality of accessibility and price points of green beauty products. For the green enthusiast, we will search the depths of the Internet for that one shade of organic, vegan foundation that the whole green community is blogging/ig about. For the regular person thinking about some sager products, they want it to be easy, affordable, and the product needs to be THAT GOOD. Otherwise, they easily switch back to their tried and true cover girl or maybelline. And the return policy at honest is bonkers, 365 days, paid postage, no questions asked. This is what billion dollar companies can do! Convincing friends to buy kjaer weis makes me feel like a car salesman, only they don’t get to test drive but will be spending waaayyy more than $25! It’s crucial that the first step into green beauty is successful to cultivate curiosity and commitment towards the luxe brands. I think honest beauty is the gateway for such a thing. I’m totally going to grab some of these items you’ve raved about! Thank you!
Hi Suzi!
Thank you so much for your suggestion, it sounds perfect and I’m going to check it out! Do you use the RMS Powder as setting powder?
Thanks,
Christina
Christina, yes RMS is a great setting powder. I also like Zui Organic pressed powder too!
Thank you so much Kate! Yes, I totally agree. Making green beauty accessible is key. Honest even makes their packaging look similar to mainstream, which I think is a draw for a lot of people. Hope you love your new loot!
Stumbled upon this post while investigating Honest Beauty mascara. I ordered it as soon as it came out, along with a lot of other products and had the same problem many here have commented on – it stings if my eyes water and when I remove it. I noticed it’s sold out on their website & decided to do some Googling… maybe they are reformulating? I really hope so! Loved the way it looked, just not the way it felt! Other than that, I’m really impressed with Honest Beauty! I love my cream foundation and blush, and the lip gloss is wonderful! I’ve also been using the skin care. I haven’t tried many other green beauty brands except for what I’ve received in my Petit Vour boxes!
Hi Courtney! Thanks for reading. Yeah, I really hope they are, since so many people have mentioned the same thing. Glad you are loving the other picks from them! 🙂
How do the lip and cheek colors pass the green test when they all have artificial color dyes?
Hi Marisela, thanks for the feedback. While they aren’t 100% natural, they are better than some. It says may/or may not contain on the label. I don’t mention it in the post but I have mentioned it on my periscopes and instagram about the artificial dyes. I think if it gets someone to stop using a completely toxic product, I’m all for it. I should mention this in my post though, especially for those who don’t always read the label. Thanks for mentioning it! 🙂
Hi Suzi,
Awesome article! Thank you SO much for the honest review (no pun intended!) I was looking into Honest Beauty as I’m trying to go green with my cosmetics and it is very hard to find something green and performs. I was hoping you can give me some suggestions for some light coverage during the day. After reading through some of the comments, I don’t think the honest foundation/tinted moisturizer would work for me? My favorite, which I have stopped using since I started reading about ingredients, is the NARS Tinted moisturizer in Alaska. I have not been able to find anything green in similar light texture, sheer to barely medium coverage, and perfect match of color. I would really appreciate some suggestions. I’m happy to use whatever you suggest over my day moisturizer. I’m currently using a hourglass veil primer over my day moisturizer and top with either Honest Protect Fluid (with SPF) or the Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation Serum. Not the cleanest but the color is so sheer and gives me some SPF.
I also need suggestion on something to set the above with something, so I’ve been told, so that I wouldn’t lose color at the end of the day? I used to use BareMineral Matte Foundation only to find all the yucky stuff in it. Sigh. I know some of their stuff is cleaner but I have no idea where to start. If it helps with color, aside from the NARS alaska, the BM Matte Foundation in Light and Golden Medium are also perfect matches depending on the season for me.
Thank you again for bringing awareness to green products. I’m very glad to see Honest Beauty come on the market to make it more accessible for people to try! Oh and I’m going to give Hynt mascara a try too (based on one of your replies above). Do you have any other recommendations aside from that one? My current favorite is the They’re Real from Benefit. Would like to have something that gives similar performance but with clean ingredients. Thank you!
Oh, one more thing, what do you think of BeautyCounter? I have a few friends talking to me about it but I’m curious what you think. Sorry this is so long! Thank you in advance for your help and keep up the awesome job!
Annie
Hi Annie! Thanks for reading! I really like fit glow beauty foundation. It offers medium coverage. I still use a concealer to spot areas. It feels really light on the skin which I like. You may like the Tinted Moisturizer by 100% Pure. It provides medium coverage too and goes on weightless. My favorite powder is Zuii Organic Pressed Powdered Foundation Powder. I love that it’s pressed-not as messy. It also goes on so smooth, doesn’t look cakey and keep my face the whole day. I love it! I would just get Hynt mascara…haha it’s the best! It gives me length and volume. I’ve tried a ton of the others and they’re ok but not as amazing in my opinion. Yes, Beauty Counter is everywhere huh?! They are trying to be better and that’s commendable but they still have ingredients I consider toxic and wouldn’t use on myself, and therefore wouldn’t recommend to my audience. Hope that helps! 🙂
Thank you Suzi! That’s SO helpful! I’ll definitely give those a try. Any sheer coverage stuff you can recommend? While the medium coverage will be good for days/nights when I need to be put together, I like the sheer stuff for everyday simply because I don’t wear really much make up and worry that the medium would be too much for day to day? Unless I’m wrong of course. LOL! Thank you again! You’re awesome! 🙂
Sorry, one more question, can the Zuii Organic Pressed Powdered Foundation Powder be used as finishing powder? I mean used over the liquid stuff to gently set without creasing and cakey? Thanks!! I will now need to figure out coloring 🙂
Yes! That’s exactly what I use it for. It’s perfect for setting foundation. It’s not heavy at all! 🙂
Awesome! Thank you! I’m going to have to go thru the rest of your articles to find a good easy to use concealer for a non make up wearer 🙂
It looks like FitGlow doesn’t have a beauty foundation? It only has a Vita Active Foundation, is that the same?
yep, thats the one!
Thank you so much! I don’t do much under eye concealer (I probably should but hate the way they always crease or make me look old no matter how hard I try to put only the tiniest bit) would I be able to get away with only the uncover from rms or do I need both? I don’t wear a lot of make up but I want to look pulled together so need to have as few items to use as possible or I’ll end up not using them from feeling overwhelmed. Lol. So far, I have the following on my list to get
Fit glow liquid foundation (apply with finger?)
Uncover concealer
Zuii organic pressed powder
Hynt mascara
Honest eyeliner (do you have a liquid one you can recommend? Oily lids here and pencil on the top doesn’t stay too well)
Honest brow pencil
Honest shadow trio (occasional use)
Rms cheek
I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed with the list but I think I can try to use those daily with practice. Do you think that’s a good place to start? Thanks again for all of your help!
Yes, I think thats a great list and it won’t seem like a lot once you actually use them. For liquid liner I really like ZuZu Luxe. they have a felt tip applicator which I’ve found is easier for me to use and they stay on all day! The honest pencil is the best I’ve found so far as a pencil that stays for the most part. I still prime my eyes with powder and then set the eyeliner with the same shade of eyeshadow, that helps a ton. I don’t think you need the under eye concealer, I would just put the foundation under for added coverage. 🙂
Awesome! Thank you so much! Now I simply practice with some YouTube videos. Lol! Thank you again!!
Suzi, I’m back again. Having a hard time figuring out the color for the Zuii pressed powder and the company has not been getting back to me 🙁 I’ve sent another message so hopefully I’ll hear back soon. Same with FitGlow too. Following up again and fingers crossed I’ll hear back soon. In the mean time, since you’ve used their products, what color would you recommend for light to medium skin with yellow undertone?
Als, I saw that you’ve recommended the Vapor skin perfector primer, but it seems hard to find. Where do you buy yours? And what color would you recommend for that?
Thanks again!!
Annie
Hi Annie! I have the pressed Zuii Powder in Creme. I have light to medium skin. Darker in the summer, lighter in the winter. Hopefully that helps! Glad you heard back from FitGlow Beauty. Yeah, the Vapor Skin Perfector is actually discontinued last I heard. I haven’t tried their new ones, so I couldn’t give feedback on those. I would say just to skip the primer though. Especially since you already feel that this is a lot more than normal for you. I don’t ever where a primer. Only special occasions. As far as serums I would recommend May Lindstrom Youth Dew if you can spend the money…it’s awesome! But if you want something a little more budget friendly I would go with the Wonderland Organics Balance serum from what you described of your skin. 😉
Thank you so much, Suzi! I’m going to give Creme color a try and skip the primer 🙂 I’m also thinking of ordering the un powder from RMS along with the un-cover up as an alternative. What do you think of their powder?
I got the renewing cream and serum from fitglow along with the foundation per Anna’s recommendation as I need a new moisturizer. She mentioned that the renewing cream will help even my skin out to prep it for the foundation, acting like a primer. Fingers crossed that it will be a good match since I have very sensitive skin 🙂
Thanks for the serum suggestion. I think I may have to go with budget friendly this time as I transition 🙂 But I’m going to save the best one for the next time.
By the way, Hyant mascara is AWESOME! Thank you for the recommendation! 🙂
Hi Annie! I would just stick with one powder or the other for now, since they both would do the same. I like RMS Unpowder too, they’re both great powders. Thats awesome about the fitlgow products, they have great stuff! I’m so glad you are loving the mascara-it’s the best! 🙂
OK, thank you again for ALL of your help! I’m very excited with the new routine along this new journey 🙂
At least we know they aren’t testing on animals. If they were, this wouldn’t have made it out to us. But, I’d rather we find out and maybe they pull it, then those poor helpless little creatures.
I heard back from fitGlow and has placed my order 🙂 now onto my search for the primer. Thanks for your help, Suzi!
I really love RMA Un-Coverup. It goes on so smooth and looks completely natural. For under the eyes I really like Studio 78 Paris concealer. Doesn’t look cakey but stays put.