- Well most people in here, I know very well,
and I've known for many years.
You on the other hand, I don't know that well.
Hi Vanity Fair, this is Jessica Alba.
You're in my house while I'm getting ready.
You knew who I was, because you're in my house.
So there is that, I obviously didn't wake up like this,
and there was a team that has been working tirelessly
to put it together, Monika Blunder
say hello.
- Hello. - Davy Newkirk,
say hello. - Hello.
- And there are more people who help turn me into the thing
that you will see later, because I'm not gonna go like this.
I'm getting ready for the Vanity Fair Oscar Dinner.
All right, this is Kim, she's very shy.
- Hi. - She's really good at nails.
- We cut off parts of the dress, the crystals on the dress.
- Have you ever done this before?
- No. - Oh what--
- First time. - Oh really?
You're experimenting on me?
How dare you, no I'm just kidding [laughs]--
- You're so brave, you're so brave.
[upbeat music]
- So I've been working with Jessica almost for 20 years.
I met Jessica when she was super young.
I think she was around 19 at the time.
She's really one of my longest clients I've had,
and she's really my friend.
We did so many covers-- - We did so many.
- We did so many amazing covers.
- Your first cover was-- - W?
- No, wasn't it Cosmo?
- Maybe Cosmo, but then we also did GQ,
which was one of my favorite covers ever--
- That was later. - That was later, I know.
That was later.
Doing makeup for the Oscars, to me it's always
a very classic look, I feel like you wanna
look the best version of yourself.
You wanna look back at your photos--
- And it be-- - 10, 15 years from now,
and it be like-- - Yeah I'm proud of it.
- I didn't do some fashion like, pink eyeliner. [laughs]
It's nice to do something classic.
- So I've been doing her hair, I started working with her,
I did a TV Guide with Dark Angel
when she was 18 or something.
- TV Guide, I remember that cover.
And it was outside, it was so cold.
- And you had the lab coat with all the straps.
- [giggling] And they were trying to make me look
really tough. - You looked tough.
- I did look tough.
I remember my first job, I got a couple of lines,
and I got to get my SAG card, and that felt so official,
and I was so grateful, and so appreciative.
So that was definitely a big pinch me moment.
James Cameron hired me at 17 to be the star
of basically his first big thing after "Titanic."
That was another big pinch me moment.
And then when I got to be in "Fantastic Four,"
that was really, really cool, and I also met my husband
on the movie, so.
- It was really a team collaboration.
First I got a photo sent via text
from her stylist Ariella-- - We started with the dress.
From the dress, then we send each other pictures,
Pinterest, different hair and makeup looks
and inspirations-- - Runway shows.
- Yeah, runway, and then once they get here,
then we decide together.
- It's a little bit more thought out for the Oscars.
I pull up a bunch of reference looks,
we talk about it back and forth.
Jessica always has an opinion, I always have an opinion.
Monika has some opinions too, she does thumbs up
or thumbs down. - Yep, thumbs up, thumbs down.
- I have like, it might be an addiction.
- [Davy] Yeah, she's the queen of pinning.
- I always like to look at old Hollywood,
femme fatales, and then yeah, you wanna make it current
and relevant, so it's not a total copying that era,
that time, it's sort of like the modern twist.
- She gave me a bunch of pictures of Rita Hayworth,
Hollywood sirens, I took a look at it,
I showed her some more modern fashion pictures,
and we got to a happy medium with everything.
- If you want you can do-- - This a little--
- A wave that's more like ch-ch-ch-ch.
Versus all going in, if it's more like a [mumbling].
- The dress definitely has all these beautiful rose gold,
almost nude sparkles in it, so I really wanted
the eye makeup to reflect that color range from the dress,
and bring some really beautiful sheen and shimmer
into the eye makeup.
So I really wanted to do a very diffused cat eye,
meaning I didn't wanna do a harsh line,
I wanted it to be very soft, I wanted it to have nice lift,
and just really chic and effortless.
She usually gives me pretty much free roam,
and sort of lets me do what I think is best on her.
[upbeat music]
- I presented twice at the Oscars.
I was so nervous, the first one, then I was like,
"Everyone's gonna know that I'm a fraud
"and I shouldn't be here.
"These are all really amazing actors, what am I doing here?"
I was worried about if I was gonna even get
my lines out right, I remember just being so relieved
when it was over, just because I got through it.
It definitely trips you out when you see someone
that you grew up watching, or that you really respect
their work, I'm still taken aback
and very appreciative when they're kind.
I don't know why you would expect they wouldn't be kind,
but I think people are busy, and they don't need
to go out of their way, but when people are kind to me,
because I'm like, "No one cares about me in those settings,"
I really appreciated all the moments
where people were just nice. [laughs]
I had the idea to come and really create a business
around a need that I had personally.
I grew up with terrible allergies and asthma,
and when I was pregnant with my first child,
I had an allergic reaction to something.
I learned about all the untested, potentially harmful
chemicals that are in everyday products.
It's really cool to come back into this business
with a different sort of swag, because my whole identity
isn't wrapped up in whether the business
believes me to be successful or not.
And so it's nice that I have a distance from it,
but then also a real love and appreciation for the art,
and the creative process.
I got that appreciation from starting the Honest company,
and knowing what goes into every little thing
that's in, on, and around you in your life.
And that process made me really appreciate Hollywood
in a different way.
Okay in my bag, can you do this one,
and a magic balm, and a Q-tip?
I think my biggest hurdle was probably me
getting over my own insecurity that I wasn't
smart enough to create a business,
and I didn't belong there.
And I guess it's sort of the thing that I've had
to overcome over time, and then obviously,
once you realize that you are smart enough,
and you have a good idea, then you have to convince
other people [laughs], so that was another hurdle.
People certainly had their preconceptions
that I was an actress, and they have their ideas
of what an actress is, and they don't really know
what goes into it completely, and didn't think
that I was capable of creating a business
or being intelligent, and so that was another fun hurdle
to overcome, and here we are today, so yeah.
I have very sensitive eyes,
mascara is always a tough one for me,
so being able to have a mascara that I can wear
and that actually works and performs
like any mascara out there, that was another
game changing product that we got to make as a team.
- I can't wait to see the end result.
We're almost done, and I can't wait for her
to get into the dress and just
see everything pulled together.
- The hair, makeup, dress, all on point.
The Versace dress, amazing, so it's gonna be a good one.
- I am really excited about tonight.
I've never worn anything like this before,
and I feel like I've worn so many dresses over the years.
- [Davy] When you wear a Versace dress,
does it come with a robe? - [laughs] No, but Donatella
was very kind in gifting me this beautiful robe
to get ready in. - I mean Jessica's beautiful,
so essentially, she'll look beautiful in anything.
But that dress really helped put it all together.
- This is Ariella, guys, she helped me put
this look together. - I've been working
with Jessica for a little over seven years.
She's so easy, she trusts me.
She's always willing to take a little bit of a risk.
The Versace team was incredible.
They helped fit the dress to Jessica perfectly.
When we saw it we knew it was it.
There was no question, just the sparkle and the silhouette,
it was beautiful, all our hard work finally came together,
and she looked fantastic.
And Monika and Davy kicked ass.
- All right, bye y'all.
[upbeat music]