Jessica Alba is InStyle’s February cover girl! In this issue, the 31-year-old actress talks about the many new skills she’s added to her resume over the years: mother, wife, organic baby food expert, and author among them. A year ago, she launched Honest Company with environmental specialist Christopher Gavigan, in the hopes of educating people on the benefits of healthy, organic products for children. “Creating this company was something I had to do,” Alba tells InStyle of the venture, which has already attracted $27 million from investors. “We’re completely transparent. All the goods we make are high-performance—and safe—but they’re also beautifully designed, so people will be drawn to them, too.” In March, Alba puts pen to paper in her first book, The Honest Life, a how-to handbook she co-wrote with Gavigan on filling your home with eco-friendly and safe products. Her role as activist started as her family grew: She has two children—Honor, 4, and Haven, 1—with producer husband Cash Warren, the love of her life. “I just knew when I met him that I was going to know him forever,” says Alba. “It was weird; he instantly felt like family. It was so easy. I’d never felt like that with anyone. I was usually pretty self-conscious, minding my p’s and q’s, very aware of every time my fork hit the plate when I was having dinner on a date. With him, there was none of that. We got each other. We’re kindred spirits.” For more of our exclusive interview, flip to page 194 of the February issue—or download it on your iPad, Nook, or Droid tablet—on newsstands Friday, January 11.

This Marks Alba’s third cover for the magazine (previously July, 2005 & February, 2010). Check out the interview and outtakes below, and scans to follow ones it becomes available in the UK.

On Landing the cover: “It’s an honor to be asked to be a part of SELF magazine. I really love what SELF stands for and what it does for women and women’s confidence. I loved the clothes at the shoot—I thought they were really fun and colorful.”

Her Cause: Alba’s company, Honest, makes and sells eco-friendy baby, bath, body and household products. A portion of proceeds goes to children and families in need via Baby2Baby.

How you can help: Call your senator to support the Safe Chemicals Act, which would require testing of chemicals in household products. Or visit Honest.com for info on Baby2Baby, her company’s nonprofit partner.

The Spark: “I found my daughter Honor sitting in her crib, eating these tiny beads from the inside of her diaper. They were all over her face. It was a moment of terror.”

The Harsh Reality: “Thankfully, Honor was OK, but it was so crazy, and I felt guilty afterward. I worried that I’d poisoned my daughter—and these were eco-diapers! I found ones that seemed safer, but they leaked, so I had to use two at once, and they were already so expensive. The more research I did, the more irritated I got. Most parents don’t have time to do all this research—they need a company with products they can trust. I wanted to create that.”

The Hope: “If you have toxic chemicals in your dish soap, laundry detergent, lotion, mattress and food, they get into your system and add up. It’s cumulative. My philosophy is that if we can try to eliminate all those little bits along the way, everyone will have a better shot. I want people to know that they have the power to make different choices for themselves and for their family. That could save lives.”

The Advantage: “I can’t think of a better way to spend my work life than on a movie set. But with people following me when I go out and everyone wanting me to endorse things, I thought, I can either go into a cave and hide or use my access to influence something I’m passionate about. So I turned the attention into a positive by offering safe, nontoxic, affordable but high-quality products for families, all from one place.”

The Passion: “It took me 3 1/2 years to launch The Honest Company. When things didn’t go smoothly, I’d get really upset. I worried that I was wasting so much time and money! But my husband, Cash, would tell me, ‘You didn’t waste anything. Look how much you’ve learned.’ His perspective kept me going.”

June 12 – Out for lunch at Deli in LA
June 13 – Leaving the Son of a Gun restaurant in LA
June 14 – Out in Brentwood
June 15 – Shopping at Cost Plus World Market in Westwood
June 15 – At a photoshoot for Self Magazine in the Hollywood Hills

Jessica is on the cover of the Febuary 2009 issue of the Australian addition of Cosmopolitain. Inside the mag, she talks about her body, and mentions that she’s “a total nerd at heart“. If any of you can scan the magazine for the site, it would be greatly appreciated.