Unlike most celebrity lifestyle how-to tomes, Alba’s is surprisingly helpful, well-written, resourceful, and realistic. The 31-year-old mom of two offers tips and insight into creating an eco-friendly and healthy lifestyle for herself and her family—and does it in a way that doesn’t make us roll our eyes at the sheer impossibility of it all (ahem, Gwyneth Paltrow). We meant to talk clothes and trends with Alba, since she’ll be in Bethesda on Friday signing copies of her book at the Front Row fashion extravaganza, but she was so fun to talk to about her writing process and her future in acting that we didn’t get a chance. Plus we already know the girl can dress.

Your new book seems really well-researched and thoughtful—how did you become an expert in this sort of eco-friendly lifestyle realm?

Well, I wouldn’t call myself an expert, necessarily. I gathered the information over five years, and then it took about one year to format it and turn it into a book. And it was so difficult to gather [the information], which I did along the way as things affected me throughout my own life and personal experiences.

But you were able to dissect it and filter it into a book that is really easy to read, even for those of us who aren’t familiar with these sorts of toxic versus non-toxic issues.

The information is pretty dense, and unless you’re a scientist, you’re going to be like, “What the heck are you talking about?” But I knew there were things that weren’t good and that I wanted to avoid that touched parts of my life, from beauty to food to materials for my home. So it was such a daunting process to decipher it all, but I felt it was super-necessary. I mean, I wish I had this handbook and guidebook when I was learning and a new mom.

We also like that we could find what we needed quickly—moms often have limited time and patience for a book loaded with data.

It’s meant to be very useful and user-friendly—you can pick up a chapter that you care about and that’s relevant to you. I wanted all the charts to be color-coded, and all the chapters with an icon to identify them; it’s easier for me, so I figure it’s easier for everyone else. The enhanced e-book is even more user-friendly—all the charts pop up as you click on them, and I created little videos for each chapter; the still photos come to life, and that’s kind of fun. I asked the publisher if we could do more than the normal digital version of a book. I wanted a more robust experience.

You’ve been building this lifestyle brand, the Honest Company, for a few years now. Does that mean you’re transitioning away from being an actress?

It’s funny, because it wasn’t a conscious decision, it sort of just happened this way. I’m still so passionate about acting and having that as a creative outlet, and it’s a big part of who I am; I’ll never stop acting. But it’s my time, and where I was in my life, this business was a priority and a passion of mine over going to auditions and trying to get roles. I’m still doing movies; I’m about to start another at the end of this month, a period piece set in the ’60s. [Having my kids] was the best time of my life. I love it—I feel more fearless as an actress after becoming a mother, which is quite liberating. I’m ready to take on heavier roles, where before I was nitpicky and afraid of so many things. I don’t have that filter anymore. I think as you go into a new, different phase, things do change, and that’s influenced who I am and my choices. It happened organically.

So are you plotting to be the Martha Stewart of your generation? Any more books in the works?

I think if I was going to do any more in a series, naturally it would be something I can do easily, that I’m passionate about. A cookbook would be good, and probably not as time consuming. That would be a process where I just say, “I’m going to spend three months, rent a house somewhere, and just bang it out.” Something that would encompass baby to toddler to family, make a more robust book—that’s something I could totally do, about healthier food choices and recipes that aren’t so scary and daunting.

Jessica Alba will be signing copies of The Honest Life in front of Redwood restaurant on Bethesda Lane from 5 to 6:30 on Friday. For more information, visit the Front Row website.

Pierce Brosnan, Jessica Alba and Kristin Scott Thomas will star in the Tom Vaughan-helmed sexually charged romantic comedy How To Make Love Like An Englishman, the Matthew Newman-scripted film that is backed by Southpaw Entertainment’s Richard B. Lewis, Irish Dreamtime’s Beau St. Clair and Envision Entertainment’s Grant Cramer.

Solution Entertainment will sell the film in Cannes. Brosnan plays a Cambridge University professor who is forced to reexamine his hedonistic lifestyle after meeting a great gal (Thomas).

Things get complicated when he impregnates her grad student stepsister (Alba). Pic will shoot in September, financed by Envision and Merced Media Partners, and will be Executive Produced by Stepan Martirosyan and Remington Chase of Envision, Raj Brinder Singh and Kevin Scott Frakes of Merced Media Partners, Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel of The Solution, and Jon Amiel. CAA represents the U.S. distribution rights.

Jessica is wearing a Tory Burch dress, Jack Vartanian jewels, Christian Louboutin shoes and bag, and a Fallon hair accessory.

Make sure to send your birthday wishes via Facebook and Twitter.

his is probably my favorite interview ever with Jessica because she was refreshingly honest about her life as an actress, mother of two young girls, wife, and entrepreneur. For example, she recently started the Honest Company, which sells natural and eco-friendly products, and talks about how it was harder to get off the ground than she expected. “I had lots of doors shut in my face, which forced me to get behind the idea in a genuine way,” she says. “I would cry, tell Cash it wasn’t possible; I was crazy. And he would say, ‘Well, approach it differently. What can’t people wrap their heads around?’”

Also, she admits that she’s not good at balancing “it all.” I can totally relate to this idea—I admire women who can do three things at once, but I’ll never be one of them. “I don’t balance. I’m so embarrassed I was late [Alba was still on her way home when I arrived], but I was cleaning up and trying to be a good auntie to the birthday girl and a good friend to my girlfriend. I don’t balance well. I just try to do the best I can.”

Photoshoot by David Bellemere

Magazine scans

The pics are giving me Into The Blue

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Jessica Alba is the May cover girl of Glamour Magazine, to coincide with the Honest Life release in the UK. Inside the magazine, Jess explains how you could get rich by setting up your own business and much more.

On motherhood:“Having kids, having a strong with relationship with my husband, my friends, that is my priority… that’s what really defines me, not a tabloid or a movie opening or a poster or an endorsement.”

On her successful company:“I am both [an actress and an entrepreneur]… As you are building your career you make certain and I didn’t know how to not work, and I didn’t know how to discern what I wanted to do or not to do. I was just like, bring it.”

Gallery Link - Photoshoot by Simon Emmett