Book Report: The Honest Life

I picked up Jessica Alba’s book, The Honest Life, on a whim at Chapters in Fredericton. Her name has been in my consciousness lately because of the brands she’s involved with, namely The Honest Company and Honest Beauty – the latter having gained a lot of traction in the world of green beauty. I was interested to learn more about her perspective on green living in areas with which I’m less familiar, for example home furnishing.

The book itself is beautiful, and contains tons of colour pictures of Alba and her family in addition to easy-to-read graphs and charts. Her writing style is very casual and accessible. The Honest Life is divided into sections with different themes – food, cleaning, baby, home, style, etc. and in that way it is easy to navigate.

There were some sections that I, personally, enjoyed reading more than others. I thought the home and cleaning sections were great. She offered some really good advice about low-impact building materials, how to buy second-hand furniture, and how to maintain a clean and green space. I skipped the baby section entirely. As a young person with no children and no intention to have any of my own (at least in the next hundred years), it just didn’t resonate with me. Mommy-ness definitely permeated into all of the other chapters as well. You can tell that Alba is very family-oriented and the overall vibe of the book definitely reflects this.

The Honest Life, despite my initial worries, didn’t read like an advertisement for either of Alba’s ventures. She only occasionally mentions her own products when relevant. Clearly Alba did a little research to support her ideas in this book – but overall it strikes me as more of her own philosophy than expert advice. Although I admire an approach that involves balance, her green beauty recommendations were really disappointing. On page 78, she recommends a glitter by MAC – prompting me to ask, really? Not that many green brands offer glitter, but I’d at LEAST recommend something cruelty free like NYX’s.

The fashion section was another pass for me as a fashion student. In my opinion, it was nothing innovative – “buy basics in more than one colour!” “vintage is cool!”. Overall, I would say that I’m simply not the demographic for this book. If you’re looking for a general, surface-level introduction on how to green up, especially if you’re a parent, this may be helpful. The book is a New York Times Bestseller, so clearly it works for some.

The Honest Life Snapshot

Rating: 2.5/5 stars.

Pros: A pretty, positive book with a green message.

Cons: Jack of all trades, master of none.

Recommend to: Moms and Jessica Alba fans