Jessica Alba Believes Honesty is the Best Policy
If we’ve learned anything about motherhood in our two years on the job, it’s that whether you’re an old school, new school, or somewhere-in-between type of parent we all want to raise happy, healthy children in a safe environment. We spend countless hours consulting parenting books, reading advice blogs, scouring the Internet, and turning to sage mommy friends (or strangers in the grocery aisle!) for help. But even when we do our research, we’re constantly let down by brands that we’re told are safe for our kids then aren’t.
What are moms to do if the natural disposables are no better than less expensive commercial brands, if the leading brand of sustainable healthy dishwasher detergent is like using bleach, and the only thing truly “green” about these products is their packaging?
Enter The Honest Company.
Founded by Jessica Alba, The Honest Company was born out of her frustration with the lack of affordable eco-friendly baby and household products that actually lived up to their promises. When she was first pregnant with her daughter Honor, now 3, Jessica remembers discovering that the everyday baby basics were loaded with a toxic soup of chemicals like BPA, PVC, VOCs, perfluorooctanoic acid, phthalates, arsenic, and lead (yikes!). The more she read, the more she learned that the cumulative effect of exposure to these questionable chemicals could be linked back to common childhood illnesses.
She was equally disappointed to find that natural alternatives to these nursery essentials were often priced at a premium and not easy to come by. “I had to shop on the Internet to buy products from Europe or small stores that I had never heard of before. Then I’d have to head to expensive specialty grocery stores in town,” she says. She knew there had to be a realistic way to make safe and affordable everyday basics available to the average family—no matter where they lived.
It may be surprising to most that Jessica created an eco-friendly e-commerce brand instead of a fashion house or accessories line, but once you sit down with her you know that The Honest Company is really an extension of what she’s committed to and practices in her personal life. “While non-toxic diapers and household products aren’t glamorous, creating safe and healthy households for children is what I’m passionate about,” she happily shares. And it shows!
At home, Jessica is devoted to green living whether it’s furnishing her house with vintage furniture that she’s refurbished herself, painting her daughters’ bedrooms in non-VOC paint, or preparing homemade organic meals for the family. At work, this same passion and hands-on approach to mothering can definitely be seen everywhere from The Honest Company’s overall vision to the smallest product detail. When given a sneak peek of the awesome product line and the chance to better understand Jessica's inspiration and ideas, The Other Sarah couldn’t help but nod her head in agreement and excitement over how she conceived of everything with parents in mind. (The only thing bigger than Jessica’s passion and The Other Sarah’s excitement is Sarah Stewart Holland’s jealousy over being stuck in Kentucky and missing out on all the fun during the interview and tour of the company!)
After an afternoon spent chatting about babies, blogs, and BPA with Jessica, one thing became abundantly clear to The Other Sarah. The most important aspect of The Honest Company isn’t that it’s founded by a celebrity but rather that it’s founded by a mom—just like any other. Jessica wanted the convenience of front-door delivery to save on multiple trips to the store. All the bath products are designed spout down so she wouldn’t have to furiously shake and spin to get out the last drop. She wanted the eco-friendly cleaning products to actually clean. She wanted an honest brand where moms could have faith that all the products were truly safe. And the mommy choir says, “Amen!”
Salt & Nectar thanks Jessica Alba for inviting The Other Sarah to tour The Honest Company headquarters, learn about the company and its products (we can’t wait to try the dishwasher detergent and the skull and crossbones boy diapers), and pick her brain about why she became a "momtrepreneur." We look forward to our upcoming blog series with Jessica about motherhood and the alternative choices families can explore that are healthy for their kids and good for the environment.
For more details about The Honest Company and its product subscription service, which launches today, visit www.HONEST.com, call 1.888.862.8818, or follow on Facebook and Twitter at @Honest.
~ The Sarahs
Images courtesy of The Honest Company.
15 Comments
Reader Comments (15)
I am so excited to read more in the blog series! Wish you could be here with me tonight for the launch party of The Honest Company. Good job Sarah!!
Great celebrity mom interview...I respect her for creating eco-friendly baby products. Looking forward to the series!
The only thing that upsets me that she didn't go the cloth diaper route. If The Honest Company really wants to make a big impact they could make affordable cloth diapering products. Now, not every parent can use cloth 24/7 but they sure can at home! :)
Mandy, maybe when the company grows it will add cloth diapers to the product line? You could suggest it on its Facebook page. Because I'm not a cloth diaper user and currently use brands like Earth's Best, I'm happy to have another eco-friendly disposable option (I know my weaknesses and I couldn't deal with washing the diapers at home, not to mention I have outdated memories of my sisters' diapers always leaking). But I understand why the option is appealing for those committed to green living. Sarah Stewart Holland may feel differently because she's a cloth diaper user, too. For our readers who would like to know more about cloth diapering options do you have any suggestions or recs?
I really like that Alba decided to make them affordable. I can't wait to see the ending result on shelves, and to use the products on my children. I also hope she makes many hypoallergenic items, my children are highly allergic to Aloe, and it seems now days aloe is in all the diaper wipes on the shelves. Thanks Alba for thinking of others as much as you think of your family!
Dirty Diaper Laundry is a blog made by Kim Rosas: http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/ It is the perfect blog for anyone that would love to start cloth diapering. I was also turned off by the idea of cloth at first but it really is easy and I am about to cloth diaper my third child. Cloth diapering has changed drasticly in the last few years and my diapers hardly ever leak. We love it and it actually gets addictive because all the diapers are too cute. Cottonbabies.com is a great place to shop for diapers with free shipping and there are also suggestions on dirty diaper laundry's blog about using things around the house to do cloth for free! :)
Sarah, my son is allergic too so I'm excited to try the products on his skin because Jessica told me she made the products with allergic kids in mind, as she grew up with skin senitivities and her girls also are prone to the same thing.
Mandy, thanks for sharing the cloth diapering resources.
I love what you are doing with your product line.
It is amazing that something like this has taken so long to get establish.
I prey for your great success in reaching out to the many moms that need these products.
Now that you have taken a step in ridden the environment that you can control from the many bad elements that can cause harm to the children, lets talk about the wellness from the inside.
What safe products do you use for a upset tummy?
What safe product do you use for colic?
What safe product do you use for the many issues that a child will encounter?
Will you use that chemically created OTC items that you find in the Pharmacy?
The Good Lord created the neccesary tools so that all children and adults can take care of many ailments that pop up.
How would you like to take care of a childs fever with out Children tylenol?
Would this information be of hel?,let me know.
Chris
Great, well-written post about a great company!!!
I am a mommy of 2 lil ones and couldn't have been more excited about the honest companies products, especially the diapers so of course I signed up for a trial pack for the diapers & wipes for my son. I recieved them and the diapers Passed the test~ no leaks, fit well and super cute!!! The wipes on the other hand were too thin and I had a hard time getting them out of their package ( opening is a little too small). I actually was so pleased with diapers that I went ahead and subscribed to the diaper bundle for my daughter! Well, today I ended up canceling my subscription with them because After doing the math... These diapers ARE at a Premium price and I honestly don't know any " average " family that can afford $ 80 box of diapers... I was paying half of that for almost the same amount of diapers granted they weren't non toxic and Eco friendly but still it's a big difference in cost. Sadly it goes the same for their other bundle package they Offer in household products for $35 which I have no doubt are probably awesome but who really buys shampoo, lotion, sunscreen, & dishsoap every 4 wks?? And you don't get the option to skip a month with your subscription so again it's just not realistically affordable for everyone. I am Not trying to tell people to not to use their products because I think it's great and I love what their company stands for but it just didn't fit into our budget. Its a bummer I cant give my kids a healthier alternative... Back to the toxic cr-p that is so easily accessible and affordable. :(
The Honest Company size 4 diaper is $80 a month and you get 186 diapers making it .43 cents a diaper.
Huggies Pure & Natural are .51 cents a diaper which would be $95 a month (wipes not included).
Seventh Generation are .41 cents a diaper which would be $76 a month.
Huggies Little Movers are .36 cents a diaper which would be $67 a month.
BRU Brand is by far the cheapest at .21 cents a diaper which would be $40 a month
So the only brands that are significantly cheaper either are full of chemicals and or does not include the wipes in the overall cost so I think the Honest diapers are reasonably priced plus you get the wipes! The savings will also be seen in the longterm effects on your child and the environment.
I just received the Honest Box trial pack this week and have to say that I am very impressed with the quality, particularly of the diapers. They are soft to the touch and have nice stretchy wrap around tabs, similar to Nature Care Baby diapers. Unlike Nature Care Baby though, these diapers feel soft to the touch like a Pampers Swaddler. And unlike Seventh Gen and Earth's Best they have no gel, but are still very absorbent. The wipes seem to work well too, although they are not as thick as Earth's Best. The thickness is more similar to Nature Care Baby wipes but the are moister and clean much better. I have two children under the age of 3 and have tried every Eco friendly disposable and hybrid diaper out there (unfortunately cloth is out for us because we do not have laundry in our apartment).
My only conviction is the cost, mainly because I don't think we will actually use the volume they will send every month. The previous post was very helpful with the per diaper cost breakdown and I think I am going to give them a try for a couple of months. If you're thinking about using Honest Box I would recommend doing the trial so you can see the quality for yourself.
Thanks, Pooka's Mama, for sharing your review of the product!
are these products available in the Philippines also?
Dea, you can order the products online at Honest.com. However, you'll have to check with customer service to determine if they ship internationally.