If you’ve ever wondered how Jessica Alba gets her dewy glow, the actress and Honest Company founder is down to spill some Hollywood beauty secrets.
The answer? Honest Beauty's
new Calm and Healing Melting Balm, a hydrating moisturizer directly inspired by a celeb-favorite face cream. "There's this face cream, the fanciest I've ever used, that's popular in Hollywood, but it's so expensive," Alba tells ELLE.com. "Anytime I got the opportunity to use the cream, I loved the immediate effects of it, but then I would break out because it would clog my pores."
Honest Beauty worked on its version of the face cream for years before launching the fragrance-free, vegan, and dermatologist-approved melting balm."I asked my chemist in-house, 'Can we make something that has similar skincare benefits and texture, but without the 2,500 ingredients that we're not using in our products?'"
Ahead, Alba shares more beauty secrets, plus her advice for working moms and the trick to viral TikTok videos.
Sensitive skin? Check the ingredients.
I thought I had chronic cystic acne when I was in my twenties, but what I realized is I'm just allergic to a lot of petroleum-based ingredients, and I'm also allergic to synthetic fragrances. I can't use anything that has petro as a critical ingredient. It just gives me a rash.
Prioritize self-care.
Self-care has been much more of a priority and trying to figure out how to incorporate self-care into my day-to-day and weekly routine versus it being a random, special occasion. I do a face mask every morning, and it just wakes my skin up and forces me to do my multi-step skincare routine. Even though it's only four steps, it allows me to stop, breathe, and take time for myself, to not have to be a mom or the boss or a wife or friend.
Set a routine.
I put on my face mask, and then I'll get my coffee, brush my teeth, get the kids up, make breakfast. And then I do try to do some movement, whether it's yoga or spinning. We converted our garage to a gym, and there's a bunch of workout apps. I have these Ariana Ost crystals in different places. And again, it's a reminder that I need to breathe and do a little meditation.
Check in with others.
The Honest team is incredible because when we went into lockdown in March, we had already put together a process for everyone to go virtual. As a business owner, the thing that has made the most impact is taking care of our employees' mental health and being there for them. We have a lot of resources for folks. To give them that support and helping them through this difficult time. Then it allows everyone to show up and be happy and be productive.
Be kind to yourself.
My kids are running in the middle of meetings and asking me to help them work or argue about something. There is no separation of work life, home life anymore. Just be kind to yourself and know that nobody's figured it out. Don't be afraid to ask for help. I'm such a perfectionist, and I just had to let go of that. Some days I'm just not going to be able to be Zoom ready, you know?
When it comes to TikTok, your kids know best.
I ask my kids, "Am I allowed to post this?" And they edit a lot. They don't let me post probably 80% of the time. They're like, no, mom, you didn't do that trend right. Or you're too late, or that's super cringy, or you have to do it like this. My kids are the gates on whether I should post something or not. [The 'Savage' challenge] was probably the one that got the most attention, and that was super, super flattering for sure.