Marie Claire's September cover star, Jessica Alba, opens up about her insecurities and finally finding her voice.
Jessica Alba is a mum, an actress, a style icon and a successful entrepreneur, but that doesn't mean she found turning 30 a walk in the park. Hell no. In fact, she says the milestone birthday 'pissed her off.'
Behind the scenes of Marie Claire's September issue cover shoot, the star opened up to us about getting older, overcoming insecurities and finally finding her voice.
Now 33, the actress remembers turning 30 with less than fond memories. 'I don't know why it was so hard, it just was. I was pregnant [with Haven, now three] first of all, and I really wanted to party like a rockstar,' she told us.
'I didn't even know I cared about my twenties until I turned 30. But then 33 was like, my favourite birthday. I just got my groove; everything came together. And I felt good about what had brought me here; all the struggle and the what ifs, the stress and the burden of it... I feel like I'm moving forward.'
But what of her much-talked about body (that skin, those abs...), how does she feel about that now she's older?
'I feel like I look better now,' she said. 'I think I came into my own physically in my thirties, even when I'd had kids. I'm actually smaller now, with not such a girl face - I had such chubby cheeks. And I know how to do my make-up now. Back then it was just powder, lots of powder.'
Read the full interview with Jessica Alba in Marie Claire's big fashion issue, out now. We're also giving away free Ghost Eclipse handbag-sized fragrance with each issue.
Got a tablet? Take the new look Marie Claire on your travels this summer, download straight to your iPad & iPhone, Kindle (just search the store for 'marie claire magazine'), Nook or Google Nexus for only £2.99.