Brand Breakdown
Is Fenty Beauty a Clean Beauty Brand?
Fenty Beauty has become one of the most recognizable names in the beauty industry, celebrated for its inclusive shade range, innovative formulas, and products that consistently deliver on performance. But when it comes to ingredient quality, does the brand live up to clean beauty standards?
The Fenty Beauty Brand Story
Founded by Rihanna in 2017, Fenty Beauty changed the beauty industry by creating products for a wider range of skin tones than most brands offered at the time. Its commitment to inclusivity quickly set a new standard across the industry.
Today, Fenty offers makeup, skincare, and body care products that combine skincare-inspired ingredients with high-performance formulas. Rather than positioning itself as a clean beauty brand, Fenty focuses on innovation, accessibility, and results.
What Fenty Beauty Claims About their Ingredients
Fenty highlights ingredients that help hydrate, brighten, and support the skin while delivering long-lasting performance. Ingredients like niacinamide, glycerin, hyaluronic acid, and antioxidant-rich plant extracts appear throughout many of the collection’s formulas.
The brand also formulates without parabens and phthalates, and some newer skincare products are fragrance-free. While these are positive steps, ingredient quality still varies from product to product.
The brand does not market itself as a clean beauty brand and currently does not publicly maintain a comprehensive “no-no” ingredient list for its makeup line (unlike some skincare lines).
Inside Fenty's Ingredients
Fenty Beauty has become one of the most influential beauty brands in the world, known for its inclusive shade range and high-performing formulas. While many products contain beneficial skincare ingredients, the brand still uses several ingredients that don’t fully align with OhDaisey’s Clean Beauty Standards.
You’ll find ingredients like phenoxyethanol, fragrance (parfum), PEG compounds, and talc in select products. These ingredients aren’t necessarily deal-breakers for everyone, but they do prevent Fenty from earning our full clean beauty approval.
Anything We'd Change?
Fenty has already proven that innovative beauty products can also be inclusive. We’d simply love to see the brand apply that same innovation to its ingredient choices.
Replacing phenoxyethanol with a cleaner preservative system, reducing unnecessary fragrance, and moving away from PEG-derived ingredients would strengthen many of the formulas while keeping the performance people already love.
Our Verdict
Fenty Beauty excels in performance, inclusivity, and innovation. From an ingredient perspective, however, it doesn’t quite meet the standards we use at OhDaisey.
If you’re looking for high-performing makeup with thoughtful skincare ingredients, Fenty is worth exploring.
If your priority is avoiding ingredients like phenoxyethanol, fragrance, PEGs, or talc, there are cleaner alternatives that may better fit your goals.
At a Glance
Founded: 2017
Cruelty Free/ Vegan: Considered cruelty free but not vegan.
Certified Organic: No
Sustainability: Fenty has introduced refillable packaging for select products and is working to reduce packaging waste, but sustainability is not a primary focus of the brand compared to many clean beauty companies.
Parent Company: Kendo Brands (a division of LVMH) in partnership with Rihanna.
Manufactured: Made in multiple countries, including Italy, Canada, the United States, and South Korea, depending on the product.
Giving Back: The Clara Lionel Foundation. Founded by Rihanna in 2012, the foundation supports climate resilience, education, emergency response, and global health initiatives.
Oh Daisey Rating
Not OhDaisey Approved, but Some Products May Be Better Than Others.