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Jessica Alba is one of our city's most well-known multi-hyphenates. While the flawless starlet is best known for stealing the screen in films like Fantastic Four and Sin City, she's also a mother of two (her daughters Honor and Haven are too cute to handle) and an eco-entrepreneur.
Her company, The Honest Company, has teamed up with Gilt Kids to exclusively launch a range of non-toxic and environmentally friendly family essentials at an affordable price. The sale, which launches on Gilt.com/Honest tomorrow at 9am, features a range of awesome products, including adorable diaper packs, must-have laundry supplies and, our favorite, the debut of Honest women's pampering kits that include lip balm, body lotion, body oil, shampoo and conditioning mist. We checked in with Alba to hear more about her company and how she juggles it all.
Was becoming a mom a natural transition for you?
"Surprisingly, yes! I felt like I finally came into my own as a person. Everything kind of fell into place for me, spiritually. The biggest thing I learned is that there's no such thing as perfect and sometimes it's okay to compromise. I used to want to be everything to everyone all the time—the best mom, the best wife, the best daughter, the best sister, the best friend, the best actress—but I quickly realized that you can't possibly be pulled into all of those directions at once. I love being a mom. Moms are sexy, awesome and intelligent."
What inspired you to create The Honest Company?
"When Honor was about six months old, her diaper exploded, so she began eating the diaper's filling. I couldn't find out what the filling was made out of because companies don't tell you—and aren't required to. The more research that I did, I learned that the majority of diaper fillings (and other baby products, such as 'tearless' shampoo) contain toxic chemicals. I wanted to do something about it."
What are your daughters' favorite Honest products?
"Honor is very vocal about what she likes and doesn't like. [Laughs] She likes all of the scented items because she picked the scents. Haven likes the healing balm and the wipes. She loves to pull all the wipes out, and open and close the healing balm cap over and over again."
So cute. How did you decide on The Honest Company's fun package design?
"I did tons of research and noticed that packaging for eco-friendly products is almost always beige and features an image of a twig or a leaf. All of that is fine, but it's just not me. I grew up with MTV, tattoos, rock 'n' roll and hip-hop, so I want to cater to a new generation of moms. The companies that we grew up with are so out of touch, so me and my team wanted to come up with a design that's both cool and modern."
In addition to child and baby products, your Gilt sale features a range of women's essentials. What inspired you to venture into that arena?
"We've received tons of requests from moms to create products for them, and I love it because I'm a bit of a witch doctor when it comes to potions! [Honest co-founder/chief product officer] Christopher Gavigan makes fun of me because I always say something like 'you need to add a little eucalyptus in there, and maybe some tea tree, and a little bit of ginger...' [Laughs] I have a remedy for everything. We want to start creating products that cater to the entire family, including moms and dads."
As seen on Twitter and Viddy, you're at The Honest Company HQ often. Do you visit your factories as well?
"Absolutely. Chris and I visit our factories as often as we can to make sure that the quality control is there and to be a part of the process. You'd be surprised, but at one of our factories they said that over 50% of vendors that make products at their facility have never visited. It's crazy."
How do you manage your involvement when you're off shooting a film?
"Since I can't physically be here when I'm filming, I write tons of emails. The good thing about doing a movie is that its really just a finite period of time. For example, I did an independent film a couple of months ago, and it was just one week in Atlanta. For the next Sin City, I'll probably work altogether maybe three weeks."
Do you ever gift Honest products to your acting colleagues?
"I love to send products and care packages to new mommies in the industry who are my friends or friends of friends, which also helps us get the word out."
You're a supermom, an in-demand actress and a pro businesswoman. How do you maintain balance?
"I'm a mom, first and foremost. I'm just really proud of where I get to spend my time. I wear many hats, just like tons of mothers out there. After bath time with the kids and dinner, I'm back on the computer working on Honest. And acting is my lifelong passion, which I'll always be involved in. It's just about choosing the right jobs and the right collaborations."
· Gilt [Official Site]
· The Honest Company [Official Site]
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