Jessica Alba: I want to give mums "peace of mind" By covermg.com | Cover Media A former Air Force brat, teen TV star, and Hollywood sex symbol, Jessica Alba has embarked on a major new career as head of The Honest Way, a natural product line geared to mothers ho want to find healthy, environmentally-friendly consumer products for their children. Alba suffered many allergies as a child, almost all of which were caused by a reaction to various chemicals contained in processed foods, soaps, and other products found on store shelves. Now the mother of two children, Honor Marie, 4, and Haven Garner, 10 months, Alba is hoping that her product line will help mothers make healthy choices when it comes to taking care of their children."When I had my first child, I was determined to be the best mother possible," Alba recalls. "Then I discovered that most of the baby products on the market are loaded with toxic chemicals. And if you wanted to buy eco-friendly substitutes, you had to go to ten different places either online or in different stores. That was my inspiration for creating a company which would provide mothers with a one-stop shop where you can buy safe, ecological, and attractive baby and child care products. It took me three and a half years to launch the company, but it's the best thing I've ever done." "I also have different priorities as a mother. I'm not afraid to turn down film roles now if I feel I need to spend more time with my children. I was raised with a very strong sense of family and I live by that." In the meantime, the 31-year-old Alba has recently lent her voice to a new animated film, "Escape From Planet Earth," and is preparing to shoot a Sin City sequel, reprising the role of Nancy which is arguably one of the sexiest film characters of the past decade. Alba gave birth to her second child, Haven Garner, last August, after appearing in Spy Kids 4, the highly successful kiddie action franchise, and Michael Winterbottom‘s The Killer Inside Me. She lives in Los Angeles with her producer husband, Cash Warren, and expects to be putting as much energy into her baby bio company as her film career over the coming years. THE INTERVIEW Q: Jessica, launching your own company is quite a challenge. But this is almost a personal mission for you? ALBA: It really is. I was so frustrated by how difficult it was to find eco products for my baby and how often the packaging labelling was misleading and things like that. I really had to do months and months of research and consult with doctors and toxicologists to understand what products are really eco or bio and what products aren't. So I could imagine how millions of other new mothers out there might be going through the same experience and wondering how they can take raise their children in the healthiest possible way when there's lots of conflicting information out there and you have to really look hard for truly safe, non-toxic products. I suffered from terrible allergies and skin reactions when I was a kid, and eventually the doctors discovered that it was due to various chemicals in different household products and in certain processed foods. So ever since I've had heightened awareness about eating and living healthily and exposing myself to as few toxic products as possible. Q: Were you worried about your own children inheriting your sensitivity to chemicals? ALBA: Yes. When I gave birth to my first child, my mother had told me about how you have to use special baby bath soaps and other things which were baby-safe. I remember washing my daughter's clothes with this special baby detergent which made me break out into this rash. It had such a strong perfume. So if my skin was being irritated by this baby detergent and I told myself there was no way I would use that for my baby. I discovered that most baby soaps, disposable diapers, counter cleaners, dish soaps, dishwasher fluid, washing detergent - all those products are contaminating your home environment and exposing your child to potentially harmful chemicals. I thought to myself, "This is unbelievable. There has to be a safer way to raise your child in a healthy and non-toxic way." The whole world is becoming much more conscious of living in a healthy and environmentally safe way and this was a case of my wanting to play a part in that process. Q: Have you always been very health-conscious? ALBA: Because I was often getting sick as a child, I became very concerned with eating well and taking care of my body. I became a vegetarian when I was 12 although I stopped when I was 16. But even when I was living at home, I was always cooking my own food and making my own meals. My family accepted that because I was working as an actress and they knew it was important to me to stay very fit. Q: What made you want to become an actress? ALBA: I spent a lot of time alone living in my imagination. When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time in the hospital. I had pneumonia, I had kidney surgery, I had an appendectomy and even my tonsils taken out. So a lot of that time in hospital or being by myself because I didn't have many friends meant that I was creating this phantasy world of my own. I would imagine myself as a superhero or some character in another time or place. Those experiences were part of my play-acting universe and that's what led to my wanting to become an actress. Acting was a natural evolution. Q: You've been acting since you were a pre-teen. Did this help give you a very independent streak? ALBA: My mother always reminded me that if I worked very hard, and became successful as an actress, that the money I would earn would enable me to be independent and create my own destiny in life. I've always followed her advice. I always believed in my dream and having worked hard from a young age I've been able to feel very free and never worry about money. My family always had to be careful about meeting monthly expenses, and I wanted to have the kind of career which meant that I could feel financially secure for the rest of my life. Q: Let's talk more about your business venture, The Honest Company. How is it working out? ALBA: We're doing very well. We raised nearly $30 million within a few months after we launched the company. So it's really turned out to be worth all the time I put into the business. At the beginning, when I was looking for investors, lots of doors were closed in my face. Most people were very skeptical, "I don't know if consumers are going to really care about this, or I don't know if you can do all these products, or I don't know if people will really buy stuff online." But all my friends buy stuff online; certainly things like this. And even my friends that aren't moms buy a lot of stuff online. And so I think that is the new way with young people, that's where we are. Q: What is your product line like? ALBA: We felt strongly about quality control, sourcing raw materials and creating relationships with trusted manufacturers. There is so much thought that goes into creating a great product. The result of that work is that 95% of all our products except the diapers have plant-based ingredients. We have 14 products in our essential line including diapers and wipes, but also a full household product line ranging from a multi-purpose cleaner to a non-synthetic sunscreen. We've also developed important and close relationships with manufacturers so we are fully aware of where they are sourcing their materials and ensuring that all the ingredients are as safe and non-toxic as we are telling the consumer. Q: What do you hope to offer to consumers? ALBA: Peace of mind. Parents have enough on their plates- they don't need to also be a toxicologist. We want to bring trust and affordability right to their door. We wanted to create an attractive line of products for the modern family, who are focusing not only on affordability but also on effectiveness. One of the important points was that all of the products had to be affordable for the average family. We have created products that are just as effective as any other similar products on store shelves but which are non-toxic, biodegradable, and colorant free. Q: Now that you're running your own company, will acting take a back seat in your life? ALBA: Before I started my family, acting was my total focus in life. I was very determined to build a good career and eventually reach the point where I could work in films and find roles that weren't about my looks. Q: Did you find it difficult to accept your image as the pin-up girl for a time? ALBA: Yes. I felt I was being objectified in ways that I didn't like because I was raised in a fairly strict family and it was definitely not cool for me to go out in tight-fitting tops and short skirts. In my private life, I don't usually wear revealing outfits either. It's just my nature. But when it comes to my film career, if there's this image of you out there it's hard to change those perceptions even though I know that I owe a lot of my success to my appearance. That's the nature of the film business. I've had the chance though to do the Spy Kids films and work in some interesting movies like this comedy I just did (A.O.D.C. - scheduled for release at the end of the year - ED) I'm also glad to be working on the Sin City sequel. I loved that film and my character so that's something I'm looking forward to even though I'm not anxious to work as much as I used to because my family is really my priority. Q: How is your husband Cash Warren enjoying having two daughters in the family now? ALBA: Cash is great. He's the best father ever. He loves preparing meals for Honor and taking her out to play if I'm with the baby or just feeling a bit tired at the end of the day. He'll sit and watch children's movies with Honor and teach her diffrerent things - it's really beautiful to watch them together. We're a happy family. …When I first met him, I felt like I'd known him my whole life. He felt like family. And my parents are a pretty good example of showing me it could work. They got together when they were 16 and 17 years old and are still happily married. Q: You have mentioned in the past that it was difficult for you to lose your baby weight after your first child was born. How has it been after the second baby? ALBA: It's been much easier to get back in shape. With Honor, I gained 50 lbs and it was a nightmare to lose all that weight. So I was more careful about what I ate during my second pregnancy. There was no eating two or three desserts at midnight or anything like that this time around! (Laughs) Also because of my involvement with The Honest Company, I was incredibly caught up in eating healthily and that enabled me to feed my food cravings except without the excess calories and fat. I also spent a lot of time doing prenatal yoga which helped me stay in better shape. Q: Who's the disciplinerian in the family when it comes to Honor? ALBA: I am. I was kind of a wild girl when I was younger and always disobeying my parents and testing the limits to see how much I could get away with at home. Cash grew up as the All-American boy with straight A's in school and was always very well-behaved, at least so he tells me. But from my own experience, I know it's important for me to make sure that Honor grows up knowing what is proper behaviour and good manners. I don't want to see her growing up into a younger version of myself (Laughs). Q: Is the success of your company going down the road something you feel will occupy more of your attention and time? ALBA: We'll have to see. I have very good partners and I try to be as involved as I need to be and where I can help make sure we stick to your goals. My plan for the company and which sets us apart is that The Honest Company is focussed on health and not on cheapness and high volume and all our capital is spent on performance which is the case with the big manufacturers. Q: Do you think this is an idea that will catch on? ALBA: It already has. I'm from a generation that grew up on the internet and I've always ordered things online which is what we're allowing mothers to do and delivering to their doorstep and saving them a lot of time shopping. Because we're smaller, we're able to pay more attention to specialised products which have been born out of research and the fundamental principle of being non-toxic . We want to help moms be as healthy and green as possible. I've also had a hand in designing some of the baby products so that they're cute and healthy. Q: How fulfilling is it to be part of this kind of green venture? ALBA: What I'm most proud of is that our company basically took out those chemicals which for reasons of marketing and convenience have steadily filtered into the composition of most baby products. It's incredible when you do some digging and discover all the chemicals which go into those products today which didn't even exist thirty or forty years ago. I've spoken to researchers at Mount Sinai hospital (in Los Angeles) where the top researchers have told me about the evidence that many of the cancers children develop are environmentally related. We're very transparent about what goes into our products and I just want to avoid any chance that children will get sick. /Viva Press http://ph.omg.yahoo....-003000172.html
