She might be humble about her striking looks, red-carpet chops, and to-die-for body, but when it comes to her career skills, Jessica Alba is willing to brag. As founder of The Honest Company, a brand of nontoxic household, health care, and beauty products, Alba has built an exhaustive resource that educates consumers, especially young moms, on their natural-product choices. Launched just two years ago, the company has already created more than 85 products sold in 2,500-plus stores and online, with sales of over $60 million. In other words, this isn’t some Hollywood A-list vanity project; the Honest Company, says Alba, is a “legacy” that she hopes to leave her daughters, Honor, six, and Haven, three. Meanwhile, her movie career is also in high gear, with this past summer’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For the most recent on her long list of big-screen moments. She opens up to Glam Belleza Latina about her Mexican American roots, her beauty philosophies, and her love of mariachi music.

PC: Sebastian Kim

Jessica on the differences between her business and her movie career…

“Having a company that’s making the world a better place is a life calling. Performing has also been a life calling, but they’re so different. It takes a completely different side of my brain to do one versus the other. But I’m truly very proud of The Honest Company.”

Jessica on her process for getting red-carpet ready…

“[W]e start with what I’m wearing, and we go from there. I don’t like my skin to look overly done. But I still love to play with makeup. I love a smoky eye or a cool colored eyeliner. I just don’t do all of it at once!”

Jessica on the beauty lessons she learned from the women in her life…

“My grandma, whom I grew up with and who helped raise me with my mom, loved aloe vera. If anything was wrong, she’d break her aloe vera plant and rub it all over.”

Jessica on the importance of race to her identity…

“It’s always been the same. I’ve always felt closer to being a Latina than anything else, because I grew up with my dad’s family, who are Mexican American. I never really identified any other way. But I think that today it’s less and less about having to identify with one race and holding on to that completely. I mean, my kids are African-American and Caucasian on their dad’s side, and Latino and Caucasian on my side.”

Jessica on the Latinas she admired when she was growing up…

“I grew up in Southern California, where Latin culture is just everywhere. I mean, I still love mariachi music! I looked up to Jennifer Lopez. She is someone who broke through barriers, a powerhouse. You know: I could be a dancer, singer, actress, entrepreneur—I can do all of it. And Daisy Fuentes too. What she did with her platform was incredible. It took the rest of the country a second to catch up to Latinas in the United States being mainstream.”