Jessica Alba’s The Honest Company brand has launched in China and opened a flagship store on Tmall Global, Alibaba Group’s cross-border e-commerce platform.

Based in Los Angeles, Honest will sell skin care and colour cosmetics products from its Honest Beauty line to Chinese consumers.

The Honest Company has been expanding overseas since 2019. It already has third-party manufacturers located in the world’s second largest economy.

Name a cuter duo! 😍

"Had every intention of mopping this afternoon until I found this little duo having their own moment together on the floor!"🐶

IG: josilynthompson pic.twitter.com/UZSOzRVDXg
— HONEST (@Honest) April 23, 2022

“Launching in China is a key component of our international strategy,” says Nick Vlahos, Honest’s Chief Executive Officer.

The company went public last year on Nasdaq and the first few months of this year were tough as shoppers returned to in-store shopping in its product categories. The brand also had to grapple with inflation and supply chain disruption.

It is now introducing new products, expanding with new retail partners and improving the digital experience on Honest.com.

At the time of its IPO, Honest flagged that it had an opportunity to leverage Alba’s large following in Asia to tap into one of the largest addressable markets in the world.

“Chinese consumers are eager to discover and integrate new clean beauty formulations into their daily routines,” says Tony Shan, Alibaba’s Head of Tmall Global in the Americas.

“As one of the fastest growing beauty markets in the world, there is an incredibly high demand for clean and highly effective skincare and colour innovation,” comments Vlahos.

Many international brands have struggled to enter the clean beauty market in China for reasons such as the required animal testing and growing local competition.

The Honest Company is working with distributor SuperOrdinary on areas such as marketing and commercialisation, influencer engagement and, most importantly, navigating the highly regulated Chinese market, including restrictions and ingredient registrations.

Shoppers on Tmall Global will be able to choose between a range of stock keeping units, from its Hydrogel Cream, a hyaluronic acid infused face cream, to its Extreme Length Mascara + Lash Primer.

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