Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Employee Compensation Plans - Additional Information (Detail)

v2.4.1.9
Employee Compensation Plans - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Dec. 31, 2013
Dec. 31, 2012
Compensation Related Costs [Abstract]      
Percentage of employee may elect to contribute limited to maximum annual amount 75.00%hlf_PercentageOfEmployeesMayElectToContributeLimitedToMaximumAnnualAmount    
Percentage of deferred earnings for which the company matches contribution one dollar for each dollar 1.00%hlf_PercentageOfMatchingContributionMadeByCompanyEqualToOneDollarForEachDollarOfDeferredEarnings    
Percentage of matching contribution for each dollar of deferred earnings above 1% for additional subsequent earnings of 5% 50.00%hlf_PercentageOfMatchingContributionIncludedInOneDollarForEachDollarOfSubsequentDeferredEarnings    
Percentage of subsequent deferred earnings 5.00%hlf_PercentageOfSubsequentDeferredEarning    
Fully vested contribution period 2 years    
Contribution made by company to its profit sharing plan $ 3.5hlf_ContributionMadeByCompanyToItsProfitSharingPlan $ 4.0hlf_ContributionMadeByCompanyToItsProfitSharingPlan $ 2.7hlf_ContributionMadeByCompanyToItsProfitSharingPlan
Percentage of base annual salary deferred by employees 75.00%hlf_PercentageOfBaseAnnualSalaryDeferredByEmployees    
Percentage of annual bonus deferred by employees 100.00%hlf_PercentageOfAnnualBonusDeferredByEmployees    
Percentage of matching contribution related to the Management Deferred Compensation Plan and the Senior Executive Deferred Compensation Plan 3.50%hlf_PercentageOfMatchingContributionRelatedToTheManagementDeferredCompensationPlanAndTheSeniorExecutiveDeferredCompensationPlan    
Deferred compensation plans expense excluding participant contributions 1.7hlf_DeferredCompensationPlanExcludingContributionExpenses 4.0hlf_DeferredCompensationPlanExcludingContributionExpenses 2.9hlf_DeferredCompensationPlanExcludingContributionExpenses
Total long-term deferred compensation liability 42.9us-gaap_DeferredCompensationLiabilityClassifiedNoncurrent 37.2us-gaap_DeferredCompensationLiabilityClassifiedNoncurrent  
Value of the assets in the rabbi trust 27.4us-gaap_DeferredCompensationPlanAssets 26.8us-gaap_DeferredCompensationPlanAssets  
Expenses relating to international deferred compensation plans $ 7.5hlf_EmployeeRetirementSavingsPlanExpenses $ 8.4hlf_EmployeeRetirementSavingsPlanExpenses $ 7.2hlf_EmployeeRetirementSavingsPlanExpenses