Feature: Kristen Bell for Today’s Parents Magazine

You have two young kids and tons of acting projects on the go. Why did you start Hello Bello?

Because my brain never stops. And when I have an idea—whether it’s organizing my junk drawer or carving out a niche with a new company—it’s like an itch that I have to scratch.

Hello Bello’s focus is on good-quality, Earth-friendly ingredients at accessible prices. Why did you choose this angle?

My husband and I both grew up in Michigan, and we were both on a pretty major budget growing up, like 99.9 percent of people who live on this globe. And when we moved to California, we never stopped being grateful that we could go to a fancy baby boutique and buy something with the best ingredients and not even look at the price. And it occurred to us that, with the platform we’ve been given, we could take an idea like this to someone who could execute it and do it right, and we’d speak on behalf of it. So the goal was to create a premium baby-care product that had efficacy, that was healthy for the planet, but did not make parents choose between their baby and their budget. We like to say, “It’s your mom’s ingredients at your dad’s prices”—because Dax is cheap and I’m always the one reading labels. I mean, we’re both cheap, but Dax is so cheap.

Which Hello Bello products do you use at home?

We all use the wipes everywhere and anywhere, and the kids use just about everything except the diaper rash cream, but I use it as a lip balm.

Wait, you put a product made for bums on your mouth?

There’s just great stuff in it! It’s moisturizing; it’s a balm. You can also use it as a foot moisturizer under your socks. Everyone should learn to read labels.

The Hello Bello diapers are getting tons of attention for their adorable prints. But I guess your kids are out of diapers at this point.

There’s a nighttime diaper situation. There’s a four-year-old late bloomer who likes a nighttime diaper for comfort.

Hey, no shame in that. My feeling about overnight potty training is that most of the time you can wait for it to solve itself.

Right? And also, no sixth grader is wearing diapers. This is going to rectify itself—I don’t need to worry too much about it. But what’s funny is, my first child potty trained herself at the mere suggestion of using the toilet, before she was even two years old. She was also the best baby, and my husband and I were like, “Why is everyone complaining so much about parenting? This is, like, so easy. Either that or…maybe we’re just really good at this!” Then we had the second one and we were like, “Oh no. It’s a mess. It’s a mess.” [More at Source]

02 / 22 / 2020

Feature: Kristen Bell for Women’s Health Magazine

If you want to get Kristen Bell’s attention, might I suggest you transform into a fitness ball or a nutritional supplement, a back stretcher or a muscle roller on social media. “If I see it, I’m getting it,” the 39-year-old says of what could generally be referred to as wellness Instagram. “I can’t tell you how susceptible I am to it—I just want to try everything.”

It’s how she wound up with, to date, Yamuna Balls, resistance bands, gliding discs, foam rollers, KeVita drinks, Moon Juice Dust, powdered camel milk, Sun Potion adaptogens, and something called the Chirp Wheel+. “That algorithm works,” Kristen says, biting into a spinach salad at a café in Los Angeles.

We’ve just come from a grueling Pilates class at Studio Metamorphosis next door, where the star of this month’s Frozen II alternated between singing and grunting through planks, pikes, and lunges, and in one instance, gripped the high bars of the reformer and suspended her frame above the machine in a V shape.

Kristen is a muscular 5’1½”, but until this past year, she had never done one workout consistently. About a year ago, however, she found what she likes to call “Studio Morph,” and for the first time in her life, she fell in love with exercise.

“I’ve always felt mentally strong because I’m adept and can banter and hold my own in a good conversation,” says Kristen. “But I’ve never felt physically strong. I felt waifish…or pregnant. And I’m loving the fact that if we ever get attacked by ninjas, I would be a valuable asset.”

Ideally, she makes it to a class three times a week, usually with a friend. (After she brought writers from The Good Place, one texted her: “Kristen, what hospital do you typically go to after this class?”) It’s a challenging workout that incorporates cardio, circuit training, and CrossFit elements, and its benefits for Kristen are numerous.

“It’s about the muscle in my body. Having children obliterated my abdominal wall,” she says of giving birth to daughters Lincoln, 6, and Delta, 4. “Good night. That’s a wrap. And I thought, Well, it’s never going to come back. What do I need it for? I’m married. Spanx exist. You don’t get everything all the time.” [More at Source]

10 / 10 / 2019

Feature: Kristen Bell for Refinery29

Say you’re Kristen Bell. Say you’re on a daylong photo shoot, in the middle of capturing the fifth look — a sleek Versace number that’s emerald and gold; your hair perfectly poufed; your makeup flawless. You’re cheerfully giving everything you’ve got, even though it’s been several hours of this already, because that’s what you do. Then, suddenly, someone accidentally knocks over one of the plants near you on set. Do you: a) ignore it and keep posing; b) start screaming at the crew, how dare they, do they even know who you are?; c) squat in your stilettos and start cleaning up the mess as the crew rushes to help you, and then grab a broom and take it upon yourself to tidy up the floor, laughing and making jokes and even dancing around for a second, as people crowd around to snap photos of you being so absolutely Kristen Bell? 

WWKBD? The answer, of course, is C. And here, you might say, is the crux of Bell — a woman whose natural effervescence is such that despite being the cherished hero of a beloved cult television show, it was a video of herself melting down over a sloth on Ellen that really, truly, endeared her to the larger world. Kristen Bell is the hardest working woman in the room, but you wouldn’t even guess she’s not here just to have a good time. And that may be one of her greatest powers. 

She’s a woman of contradictions: Bell breathlessly pivots between froth and seriousness, jokes and sincerity, cleaning up a fallen plant while wearing 3-inch heels. It’s a quality that extends to her on-screen roles. In her existentialist NBC sitcom The Good Place, which is heading into its fourth and final season, Bell’s character is a bad person learning to be good. In Veronica Mars, which returned for a fourth season on Hulu 12 years after it was canceled, she’s a hard-nosed detective on the outside and a marshmallow on the inside. In Frozen 2, the sequel to the 2013 blockbuster Disney hit, out in November, she’s happy-go-lucky Princess Anna, a girl who copes with the pain and alienation of her life with a song. (Yes, she can sing, too.) Her career is full of performances that blend the sad and happy, highs and lows. As a person, she embodies the same. “It is a paradox because I was given this package, this is the bottle of molecules I was given, and it looks to be something that it’s not,” she says. “It’s why it’s funny when I swear. You just don’t think a little girl like this is going to swear at you that much.” [More at Source]

09 / 19 / 2019
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