Tuesday
Jan242012
The Goods: An Honest Review of The Honest Company Products
Last week, I was invited by MomTrends to the launch party for The Honest Company. Jessica Alba and Christopher Gavigan joined us in New York City to talk about their newest eco-friendly, e-commerce venture and gave us samples to take home and try out on our own kids.
The Honest Company was founded by Jessica Alba and her business partner Christopher Gavigan, the author of Healthy Child Healthy World, because they wanted to create a safer, better world for their children and they realized they would have to do it themselves if they wanted to get it done and not take “no” for an answer. Based on this personal mission, all of The Honest Company’s products are free of harsh and synthetic chemicals and they are offered via an affordable-priced home delivery service so all moms across the U.S. can have convenient access without having to leave their home.
The Honest Company was founded by Jessica Alba and her business partner Christopher Gavigan, the author of Healthy Child Healthy World, because they wanted to create a safer, better world for their children and they realized they would have to do it themselves if they wanted to get it done and not take “no” for an answer. Based on this personal mission, all of The Honest Company’s products are free of harsh and synthetic chemicals and they are offered via an affordable-priced home delivery service so all moms across the U.S. can have convenient access without having to leave their home. 
The first two products I tried out were The Honest Company diapers and wipes, which are 100% non-toxic, chlorine-free, sustainable, and made with plant-based materials. This is to make sure the baby is safe and not exposed to harsh or synthetic chemicals.
Diapers = 5 out of 5
The first thing I thought about the diapers was, “They are really, really cute but do they work?”
I have used:
Diapers = 5 out of 5
The first thing I thought about the diapers was, “They are really, really cute but do they work?”
I have used:
- Pampers Swaddlers - They worked great but are only sold up to size 2/3, so I had to experiment with new diapers once my son was size 3. I am now scared to find out about all the chemicals in those that I was putting them on my newborn baby!
- Pampers Cruisers - I did not like these at all! They leaked and gave my son a rash.
- Huggies Little Movers, Huggies Snug and Dry - More diapers that I did not like. These did not leak as much but they still gave my son a rash!
- Huggies Pure and Natural - These are my go-to diapers right now but are hard to find in the stores and are not sold by the case, so I am paying a premium for these.
I have used The Honest Company diapers on my son for almost a week and they hold up just as well as the Huggies Pure and Natural over night (a few leaks at the top but my son sleeps 12+ hours); however, they are so much softer, cuter, cheaper, and easier to get because of the home delivery service (I don’t have to balance huge packages of diapers on my stroller anymore). My son has not acquired a rash and is totally intrigued by the playful designs saying “ooh” and “ah” when I put a new diaper on him.
Wipes = 3 out of 5
The wipes get the job done, but they are a bit too thin and have small hand coverage for those big messes. The scent is okay (it’s not the best scent of The Honest Company products), but it is better than the smell of the chemical-filled wipes I am currently using that I hate.
Despite the wipes having some room for improvement, I think the diapers are great (they're also offered in white) so I plan to subscribe to the service and try them out for an extended period of time.
The Honest Company currently carries nine bath and body products: shampoo & body wash, healing balm, conditioner, sunscreen, face & body lotion, hand sanitizer, bubble bath, body oil and hand soap. I was given a sample of four of these bath and body products and my review of each is below.
Shampoo & Body Wash = 5 out of 5
The shampoo & body wash combo is a tear-free, plant-based cleanser that safely and gently washes head-to-toe using organic and natural ingredients. I first tried the shampoo & body wash on my own hair and thought this shampoo does not lather. But after drying my hair and going through a normal day of being a mom chasing around a 1 year old and doing Pilates, my hair still looked good and the greasy build-up did not form around my crown like when I use other shampoos.
So then I thought, “Does shampoo need to lather to work when washing hair?” I did a Google search and learned that lather is created from adding sodium lauryl sulfate to the product and it is a common component of many domestic cleaning products (yuck!). It has been shown to irritate the skin on the face after prolonged and constant exposure. After learning this, I decided that I will never put a lathering shampoo with that chemical ingredient on my son again.
I also tried the shampoo on my son and two days later his hair still had the sweet scent of vanilla, looked clean, and was easy to brush through. His music teacher even commented on the nice smell of his hair.
Healing Balm = 4 out of 5
Made with organic plant extracts, the balm gently protects, reduces redness, and soothes even the most sensitive, dry, and allergy prone skin. I have mostly used the healing balm on my son’s cheeks. NYC has been lucky enough to have a snow-free season, but these last few days were blistering cold and windy. His whole body is nicely bundled up when walking around with the stroller but his face is still exposed, making his cheeks very red and chapped. The healing balm has worked nicely to lessen the redness and veiny look while moisturizing his skin. The only down side is the balm is a bit greasy and I needed to wipe my fingers after each use. But then if it was not greasy would it really work to soothe his cheeks?
Face & Body Lotion = 4 out of 5
The lotion is made of a rich blend of organic olive oil, shea butter, and organic aloe designed to naturally hydrate, nurture, and moisturize dry and sensitive skin. I really like this lotion and will probably use it everyday on myself. It is not greasy, rubs in well, and has a delicate rose scent. However, because of this rose scent, I will probably not be using it on my son (for myself and little girls the lotion is wonderful).
Hand Soap = 4 out of 5
The liquid soap is made with plant-based ingredients that are effective, soothing, and non-drying. My hands feel so clean after I use this soap. It washes off easily not leaving a film on my hands and has a great grapefruit lemongrass scent. My hands did feel a bit dry after each use, so I had to follow up my hand washing with The Honest Company face & body lotion.
The Honest Company also has four household cleaning products: multi-surface cleaner, dish soap, auto dishwasher gel, and laundry detergent. I was given a sample of the laundry detergent.
Laundry Detergent = 5 out of 5
The laundry detergent is formulated to be the purest and most effective laundry detergent without using chemicals that can harm fabrics, irritate your skin, and the ecosystems. The detergent has no scent that I could detect when I used it on a mixed load of baby clothes, bed sheets, gym clothes, and “Raffi” my son’s beloved lovey. All dirty laundry smells and food crusties were removed. The fabrics felt soft even though I didn’t use any fabric softener or dryer sheets. I am very impressed with this formula and will be ordering more especially because my son has inherited his father’s sensitive skin.
What other eco-friendly, non-toxic products would you like to see The Honest Company create?
I would love to see a solid bar soap, a fabric softener that smells like the shampoo or hand soap, and some gender neutral diaper designs.
To learn more about The Honest Company and their home delivery service click here.
~ Kristin Strange of My Strange Family
I was not paid for this review. As mentioned above, I was given these free samples along with other mom bloggers by The Honest Company at the MomTrends launch party hosted at ABC Kitchen on January 17, 2012.
Wipes = 3 out of 5
The wipes get the job done, but they are a bit too thin and have small hand coverage for those big messes. The scent is okay (it’s not the best scent of The Honest Company products), but it is better than the smell of the chemical-filled wipes I am currently using that I hate.
Despite the wipes having some room for improvement, I think the diapers are great (they're also offered in white) so I plan to subscribe to the service and try them out for an extended period of time.
The Honest Company currently carries nine bath and body products: shampoo & body wash, healing balm, conditioner, sunscreen, face & body lotion, hand sanitizer, bubble bath, body oil and hand soap. I was given a sample of four of these bath and body products and my review of each is below.Shampoo & Body Wash = 5 out of 5
The shampoo & body wash combo is a tear-free, plant-based cleanser that safely and gently washes head-to-toe using organic and natural ingredients. I first tried the shampoo & body wash on my own hair and thought this shampoo does not lather. But after drying my hair and going through a normal day of being a mom chasing around a 1 year old and doing Pilates, my hair still looked good and the greasy build-up did not form around my crown like when I use other shampoos.
So then I thought, “Does shampoo need to lather to work when washing hair?” I did a Google search and learned that lather is created from adding sodium lauryl sulfate to the product and it is a common component of many domestic cleaning products (yuck!). It has been shown to irritate the skin on the face after prolonged and constant exposure. After learning this, I decided that I will never put a lathering shampoo with that chemical ingredient on my son again.
I also tried the shampoo on my son and two days later his hair still had the sweet scent of vanilla, looked clean, and was easy to brush through. His music teacher even commented on the nice smell of his hair.
Healing Balm = 4 out of 5
Made with organic plant extracts, the balm gently protects, reduces redness, and soothes even the most sensitive, dry, and allergy prone skin. I have mostly used the healing balm on my son’s cheeks. NYC has been lucky enough to have a snow-free season, but these last few days were blistering cold and windy. His whole body is nicely bundled up when walking around with the stroller but his face is still exposed, making his cheeks very red and chapped. The healing balm has worked nicely to lessen the redness and veiny look while moisturizing his skin. The only down side is the balm is a bit greasy and I needed to wipe my fingers after each use. But then if it was not greasy would it really work to soothe his cheeks?
Face & Body Lotion = 4 out of 5
The lotion is made of a rich blend of organic olive oil, shea butter, and organic aloe designed to naturally hydrate, nurture, and moisturize dry and sensitive skin. I really like this lotion and will probably use it everyday on myself. It is not greasy, rubs in well, and has a delicate rose scent. However, because of this rose scent, I will probably not be using it on my son (for myself and little girls the lotion is wonderful).
Hand Soap = 4 out of 5
The liquid soap is made with plant-based ingredients that are effective, soothing, and non-drying. My hands feel so clean after I use this soap. It washes off easily not leaving a film on my hands and has a great grapefruit lemongrass scent. My hands did feel a bit dry after each use, so I had to follow up my hand washing with The Honest Company face & body lotion.
The Honest Company also has four household cleaning products: multi-surface cleaner, dish soap, auto dishwasher gel, and laundry detergent. I was given a sample of the laundry detergent.
Laundry Detergent = 5 out of 5
The laundry detergent is formulated to be the purest and most effective laundry detergent without using chemicals that can harm fabrics, irritate your skin, and the ecosystems. The detergent has no scent that I could detect when I used it on a mixed load of baby clothes, bed sheets, gym clothes, and “Raffi” my son’s beloved lovey. All dirty laundry smells and food crusties were removed. The fabrics felt soft even though I didn’t use any fabric softener or dryer sheets. I am very impressed with this formula and will be ordering more especially because my son has inherited his father’s sensitive skin.
What other eco-friendly, non-toxic products would you like to see The Honest Company create?
I would love to see a solid bar soap, a fabric softener that smells like the shampoo or hand soap, and some gender neutral diaper designs.
To learn more about The Honest Company and their home delivery service click here.
~ Kristin Strange of My Strange Family
I was not paid for this review. As mentioned above, I was given these free samples along with other mom bloggers by The Honest Company at the MomTrends launch party hosted at ABC Kitchen on January 17, 2012.
16 Comments
Reader Comments (16)
Hey Kris/Sarah- what's the cost like for the subscription? I haven't been able to find that on their site. We're planning on cloth diapering at this point, but if that doesn't work for whatever reasons, I'd be open to trying Honest diapers. And I'd like to try the laundry detergent, too!
Thanks for the review and the thoughtful feedback, Kris! We're tracking feedback to help us improve our products and develop new ones over time and I think your critique is a fair assessment of some changes we should make.
I love that your son oohs and aahs over the diapers. Too cute!!
Janelle Sorensen
Communications Manager
The Honest Company
There are two options for orders: The Diaper Bundle, customized to your preferences for $79.95 a month (the number of diapers sent monthly depends on the size of the diaper). The Family Essentials Bundle is $35.95 and is also tailored to your needs. It first comes with the Shampoo & Body Wash, Face & Body Lotion, Healing Balm, Laundry Detergent and Hand Soap. After the first month, subscribers can personalize and choose from the nine other Honest products in the suite.
Pam, you can order a Discovery Kit for free (plus nominal shipping costs) to try out the family essentials and laundry detergent.
Just got my Discovery Kit trail size package. Wanted to provide my own feedback on The Honest Company line of products. First of all I ordered the trial kit Sunday night and it arrived at my door Tuesday afternoon for only a $4.95 shipping fee. Very pleased with the amount of time it shipped. So far I am liking the products, however their is some constructive criticism.
1) Honest Laundry Detergent: I am so amazed and excited to find a fragrance free laundry detergent that truly is fragrance free. Love this stuff already. Fair warning to those who are expecting a larger sample size, the trail kit only provides enough for one load. But hey for about $5 what do you expect. Just wished I could order more of the detergent individually. Hopefully THC comes out with options to order individual items and not a whole package.
2)Honest Shampoo & Body Wash: This is my favorite product of the line so far. It smells soooo good!!! I wish I had a giant bottle for myself! The scent is Sweet Orange Vanilla. So good! I howp THC comes out with a line of ONLY this fragrance. Tested onmyself since LO still hasnt arrived. Hair felt soft afterwards without even using conditioner. I am very impressed with this product.
3)Honest Healing Balm: Havent had a chance to use however love that is has NO SCENT and is not overpowering like Desitin or other leading brands diaper cream.
4)Honest Lotion: Very soft, not oily or greasy which is great. However packaging says fragrance free and this is very misleading. Smells like roses or fresh flowers to me. Luckily I am having a girl so I dont mind but I would NOT use on a boy and I gurantee DH will not like this once he smells it.
5)Honest Hand Soap: I wanted to love this product but sadly I dont. Although I dont necessarily hate it I gurantee I wont be using this naytime soon. probably just throw in my diaper bag for emergencies if somewhere doesnt have handsoap. The smell is just too unpleasant for me personally. The scent is Organic Lemongrass. Its not the worst scent ever but it is too much of a fresh herb garden or reminds me of cheap hand soap or popouri from the 99 cent store. I really really wanted to like this but left my hands smelling weird and slightly dry. I hope THC works on providing a fragrance free or Orange Vanilla scent.
Overall I love Honest Companies line of products minus the hand soap. I hope to see more changes as far as the scents are concerned and I hope to see options to purchase individual items. Along with option to buy as a gift for other expectant moms such as a babyshower package would be such a great idea. And as well as a travel kit with reuseable packaging that I can throw in my diaper bag. Hoepfully with my feedback and if others feel the same we will see these type of changes in the near future. But to all those curious parents out there please give THC a try you wont be dissapointed.
The products sound great. I do have to mention that you can get the Huggies Pure & Natural diapers delivered straight to your door as well, via Amazon. We've done this for a full year after being Cloth Diaper Failures... we joined Amazon Mom, and we do Subscribe & Save, and the shipping is free, and the cost is down to $15 and change per 60-count pack. Just in the interest of full disclosure.
Hi Kim,
Thanks for reminding readers about Amazon Mom. I too use the service; however, in order to get the deep discounts provided by the Subscribe & Save option people have to join Amazon Prime for $79/year. Sadly, Amazon changed the program...at least to my chagrin.
- TOS
Am I the only one confused when she says that the diapers are cheaper? It's $80 a month for 160 diapers and only 4 packages of wipes. That's more than double what I pay for any other brand through Amazon or Babies R Us. Maybe she got a special deal??
Right now my months worth of diapers (6 packages) is lasting me about 1.5 months and Honest has worked with me on adjusting my delivery schedual to match my needs and usage. I am three months into my subscription and I am very happy and contine to subscribe! For sure the price is higher then the generic BRU brand but these diapers are great for my sons sensative skin.
I have been using the line for a few months now and am happy with most of the products.
Hand Sanitizer- Feels like snot when putting it on but I love the scent and my hands are incredibly soft after using it.
Face and Body Lotion/ Healing Balm- Love them both and am phasing out all other lotions as they fit every need I have for face, body, and my dermatitis issues that the balm helps with immensely.
Hair and Body Wash- Its taking a serious commitment for me to give this a try. I use triple the shampoo I normally do so that I can get my hair clean but I'm noticing after about a month that my frizz has calmed down, my days I let my hair go wavy they are soft and tame and the crown of my head that never felt clean after using this shampoo is now feeling clean and soft. Seems my scalp was adjusting and now has settled in nicely to this wash.
Detergent- Fabulous
Auto Dish Detergent- Horrible, doesn't desolve in my energy efficient dishwasher and I am done with re-washing dishes.
Dish Soap/ Surface Cleaner- They're okay, does the job and I find compromise is needed when switching from chemical laden products to natural. Upside my asthmatic husband and my own lungs are grateful to be rid of the chemicals from the old products.
I'll continue to be loyal to this brand for most of my products.
Would love to see more beauty options for the face, meaning cleansing and cosmetic, in the future.
To the company: Thank you for making a hygiene products without all these horrible chemicals easily accessible!!!
I just got the body oil- can't wait to try it- I'll be back from Aruba in a week and hope to use it as an after sun/bedtime soothing treatment from the elements. I'll keep you posted on how I like it if you are interested? I feel like I see a lot of interest in the body oil for personal use! Love love the diapers!
Can anyone tell me how long it took for your order to process & get shipped to your house? Called the number posted on their site but it went to some sort of automate machine having nothing to do with diapers...
Have you tried contacting them on FB or Twitter (@Honest)? We know they respond to customer service issues via Twitter.
Compare to Seventh Generation products, I thought the Essentials package was cheaper. I thought the diapers were expensive. I buy Nurtured by Nature from Amazon Student (cheaper than Amazon mom). It is $27.00 for 127 diapers so it saves a lot of money! I used to buy Seventh Generation diapers but they leaked at night, and they are usually $33 for 140 diapers (about one cents per diaper difference).
Okay, I got a deal on plum district and decided to give these products a try. Um...No Thank! Is what I can say. I feel like Nurture by Nature and Seventh Generation are cheaper, and I thought the shipping charges from the Honest Company were rediculous! I can get Seventh Generation diapers with free shipping on diapers.com. There are also fewer diapers in a package along with the higher expense. Did I also mention that my daughter has now come home from school 3 different days in her change of clothes because the diapers have leaked? Never have I had that problem with Seventh Generation or Nurtured by Nature. Also, why do they need cute prints on them? They are diapers coved by clothes, that a kid is going to poop in. Sorry, SO not impressed!
I have been a hard core seventh generation diapers mom with occasional use of the huggies pure and naturals in early months. Both my kids have allergies and sensitive skin but those have been fine with both brands. I got the sample pack of honest company diapers last week since I've heard a lot about them, and after two uses my son developed a terrible diaper rash. I was really surprised by the reaction, give their philosophy. We won't be switching brands.