National Post (National Edition)
I love dressing up and I love going on dates and having different looks and being able to do a smoky eye. But I don't love my eye being swollen shut the next day. I don't love having rashes.
BEAUTY LINE FOUNDER JESSICA ALBA DISCUSSES EVOLUTION OF HER NATURAL PRODUCTS AND EXPANSION INTO CANADA
Jessica Alba laughs off the idea that she's creating an empire with her Honest Company. “I mean, I wouldn't really call it an empire,” Alba says, drawing out the word in a way that makes it sound almost silly. “But we do a lot of things.”
Speaking from her Los Angeles studio space — Alba's first home that she “couldn't part with” — the Hollywood actress explained what took her down the path of creating a clean-thinking company in the first place.
The idea, she says, came from a desire to have products in her home that were healthy. Ones that she “wouldn't have to compromise” her and her family's health by using. But, when she went looking for products that suited these safe parameters among those already on offer on store shelves, she remembers feeling like she was consistently coming up short.
“I just wanted to eliminate any hidden, potentially harmful chemicals,” Alba says. “And I found it was really hard to shop that way. When I looked around at my options, it was so expensive to get better, natural alternatives — often four, five, six times the price. And, on top of that, I felt like I needed to be somebody that I wasn't. Not that there's anything wrong with being a vegan yogi. I definitely like vegan food and I have definitely done yoga many times, but that's just not my entire life. And I just felt like I needed to be somebody that I wasn't.”
The product packaging was also boring, she says.
“There was no colour, there was no fun. Everything was so drab and itchy and raw,” Alba recalls. “I was like, gosh, I really wish I could get the sophistication and the beauty and the esthetic of modern products, but made with more natural alternatives, more natural ingredients.”
The Honest Company was her attempt to fill that product void, launching in 2011 with 17 products in the personal care category such as body wash, shampoo and conditioner, as well as a few products for home cleaning.
Operating with what Alba calls “full transparency” and “a higher standard,” the company uses its Honest Standard, which includes a “No list” of more than 2,500 chemicals and materials it avoids using in its products, according to the company's website.
Prompted by customer requests for the direct-to-consumer company to release products in the beauty space as well, Honest Beauty was created in 2015.
The move into beauty, Alba says, was an obvious one given her own experience with sensitive skin and the havoc that some products could wreak.
“I've always been a beauty enthusiast. Growing up as an actress, the products I used really affected my health,” Alba explains.
“I had so many issues with my skin and allergic reactions, even having cystic acne because I have very sensitive skin and I'm sensitive to chemicals.”
At the time, she recalls thinking her skin concerns were a normal consequence of wearing makeup.
“I didn't really know that there was an alternative,” she explains. “And, then I stopped acting and became a mom, started my company, and really eliminated so many different chemicals from my everyday life.”
The changes she saw in her home and health further prompted her to wonder if there was a way to create a beauty product that would have the “performance at the professional level” while using clean ingredients.
“I do like to wear a little bit of concealer, and a little blush. I love a lip. And give me an eyeliner. I love dressing up and I love going on dates and having different looks and being able to do a smoky eye,” Alba says.
“But I don't love my eye being swollen shut the next day. I don't love having rashes.”
Honest Beauty's offering includes a variety of makeup products — mascara, blush, cc cream and more — as well as skin care selections including face cleanser, eye cream and serum.
The products are billed as using “natural, organic, nontoxic ingredients that are ethically sourced,” according to the company's website. They carry the Global Beauty Without Bunnies Logo from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which means it's certified crueltyfree.
“There was such a huge opportunity to do clean ingredients that were actually performing at the highest level. And at a price point that wasn't going to break the bank,” Alba says of the makeup and skin-care categories.
Five years after launching the line, Honest Beauty has expanded into Canada, available exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart and beauty.shoppersdrugmart.ca.
Alba says the country's “progressive” attitude toward “more natural alternatives and cleaner ingredients” will make it a welcome addition to the clean-beauty ranks.
“I lived in Canada when I was in my late teens and early 20s and I definitely learned a lot about products and things,” Alba says of the five years she spent living in Vancouver while working in film, and time spent in Toronto.
“You guys just have a different level of desire for transparency. So, I think Honest is a perfect fit.”