Jessica Alba was inspired to launch The Honest Company after giving birth to her first daughter Honor, and her family continues to be her biggest motivator.
“When we’re washing dishes at home after dinner, when I throw my kids in the bath every night, they’re using the products. It’s touching my everyday life,” Alba recently told PEOPLE at an event celebrating the brand’s all-new plant-derived cleaning collection. “ really are the ultimate inspiration.”
Currently expecting her third child with husband Cash Warren, the actress and entrepreneur has a “peace of mind” about expanding her family because of her company.
“I launched the company when Haven was four months old. I had 17 products, but what we have now is so different. It frees me up to do the things I really want to do, like spend quality time with my family and friends,” says Alba, posing above at the Honest Company’s headquarters with fine art photographer Jin-Woo Prensena, whose imagery is featured on the new cleaning collection products.
Now that her daughters Honor Marie, 9, and Haven Garner, 6, are older, they also give mom plenty of input when it comes to new products.
“They have all the opinions,” says Alba, laughing. “They’ll be like, ‘Ew!’ or Honor will be like, ‘Oh my god, I love this. Can I eat it?’ I’m like, ‘No, can’t go that far!’ But their reactions are so cute.”
When it came to revamping the cleaning collection, Alba’s focus was on efficacy and wanting to create a pampering experience for the brand’s customers.
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Says the star: “I was like, ‘I want things to actually smell like something.’ I don’t want it to dissipate right when you rinse your hands, especially the hand soap. That experience is so important to me.”