The Honest Standard

​Performance and Peace of Mind.

Meaningful transparency and thoughtful design. We’re on a mission to change the world, one product at a time.

The Honest Company was born of a simple purpose: to create safe, effective products for our families and yours. And the Honest Standard is how we make that intention a reality. It’s our set of guiding principles, and it’s the way in which we apply our values to innovation and development

This Standard defines the way we move forward with all new products we introduce from here on out. And it will continue to evolve — because our job of making better products is never done.

OUR HONEST PHILOSOPHY

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Protecting human health is our top priority.

We love our babies. We love your babies. That’s why we err on the side of caution when it comes to ingredient selection. While no system is perfect, we do our best to be thoughtful and diligent in avoiding chemicals of concern, because we think you would do the same.

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We won’t compromise performance.

We believe you shouldn’t have to choose between what works and what’s good for you. That’s why we make breakthrough formulas designed and tested to perform.

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We’re thinking in the present and future tense.

And for us, this means ever exploring and evolving to improve our use of renewable resources — from plant-derived ingredients to the newest innovations in green chemistry to the amount of recycled and/or recyclable material in our packaging.

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Knowledge is power.

We believe you have a right to know what’s in your products and why, regardless of what regulations require. We’re committed to providing access to information and education that allows you to make the best choices for you and your family.

How We Fulfill Our Vision:

THE HONEST STANDARD IN ACTION

Ingredient & material assessment
STEP
1

Ingredient & material assessment

Your health, safety and well-being are our top priorities. And we’re committed to providing you with high-performance products that you can feel great about using. That’s why we place such an emphasis on ingredient assessment, carefully choosing the ones we put into our products and the ones we leave out — in essence, everything you need and nothing you don’t.

We pride ourselves on coming from a place of yes, but when it comes to human health, there are instances in which we must say no. That’s why we created our NO List™ — a list of over 3,500 chemicals/materials we choose not to use in our products. Our NO List™ is made up of category-specific lists, because what causes a chemical/material to pose a risk is dependent on how and where it’s used. This list will continue to evolve, and we’ll dig deeper as new studies emerge.

We work hard to make our products without materials/ingredients from our NO List; however, manufacturing products is complicated, and we cannot always eliminate background or cross-contamination. We work hard with our manufacturers to control this.

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STEP
2

Testing & validation

We go above and beyond to ensure that every product we develop lives up to our rigorous standards of safety, efficacy and integrity. We utilize trusted ingredients that work, then test each product to ensure that it lives up to its promise. If it doesn’t, we’ll go back to the drawing board. Because you deserve nothing less.

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Testing and Validation
production
STEP
3

Production

Just as we take great care in the ingredient assessment, formulation and validation process, we look to manufacturing partners who share our commitment to quality. We require that our partners follow the gold standard for manufacturing (Good Manufacturing Practices) for the product being made.

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STEP
4

Packaging

Making every day beautiful is natural to us; we design to inspire and delight. But our packaging development doesn’t stop at aesthetics. We strive to be mindful of composition as well, focusing on environmental responsibility and eliminating materials of concern.

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Packaging
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STEP
5

Label transparency

We believe you have a right to know what goes into your products. To this end, we list our ingredients clearly and consistently according to established standards, not using the word “fragrance” — a term often used in the US as a label under which ingredients are hidden.

While many conventional brands have made great strides in terms of transparency, very few are doing so directly on the label. We’re proud to be leading this charge.

As part of our Standard, we have established ingredient definitions that you can look to in order to understand exactly what we mean when we use these terms that are often left open to interpretation.

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STEP
6

Ongoing evaluation

The Honest Standard isn’t merely a set of practices that fulfills our aspirational principles — it’s a reflection of how we’re doing business today and our vision for the future. We’re big dreamers and passionate doers, on a mission to bring health and happiness to families everywhere. And with you, we’ll continue learning, innovating and evolving to do just that.

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Ongoing evaluation
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