Wholearth’s room/body mist includes founder Danny Seo’s credo “Do just one thing” on the bottle’s overcap.

More Than Skin Deep

The green message is clear inside and out for Wholearth Beauty + Bath, whose founder aims to set an industry norm.

By Jamie Matusow, Editor

Danny Seo was born on Earth Day, and on his 12th birthday, he asked for just one present: funds to start an environmental group. So in 1989, he used $23 to launch Earth 2000, with the lofty ambition of saving the planet by the year 2000. A decade later, while the planet still has a way to go, Seo has succeeded in growing the nonprofit he founded into a leading environmental group, and is known as “a green lifestyle expert,” speaking for sustainability around the world, with books, television appearances, blogs and magazine articles to his credit.

Seo’s guiding principle of“Do just one thing” features on the packaging of all the products, and encourages everyone to do his or her part to make a difference and help save the environment. As part of his conviction, he has created Wholearth Beauty + Bath, an organic, eco-friendly line of 12 bath and body products designed to inspire consumers to live a life of organic well-being.

Inside and out—from formulations to packaging—the entire line uses only natural and certified organic ingredients, which are USDA certified organic, and packaged with sustainable or renewable resources, for minimal environmental impact.

Products include body lotion, hand cream, body spray and room mist, body scrub, wash and cream souffle, ranging in price from $22-$45, and bearing names such as Eco-Chic and Grateful Planet. There’s even a USDA certified organic fragrance ($65, 1.7 fl. oz.), which contains no synthetic ingredients or dyes and is made with organic alcohol, fragrance and water.


What drove Seo to create the line? “Sustainability has always been key to everything I’ve done,” he says. “It was during my work as an editor that I grew increasingly frustrated at the number of ‘eco’ or ‘natural’ beauty and bath products that came across my desk that were anything but eco-friendly. The myriad of certification logos, the confusion in ingredient lists, and the endless layers of unnecessary packaging just got me more and more aggravated. And I realized if I was frustrated, there were certainly women out there who were also confused as to what to buy.”

Seo says the idea took form once he met the folks at Boom! Creative Development who shared his interest in creating a luxurious, eco-friendly beauty line with “breakthrough formulations that challenge the industry as a whole.”Together, they lau-nched what Seo says is the first USDA certified organic body wash and the first USDA certified organic fine fragrance collection. Accomplishing their goals with the fragrance meant they couldn’t use any artificial fragrances or harmful chemicals traditionally found in perfumes. “It really meant one thing,” says Seo: “Not only would we have to create a delicious scent that got people excited, we’d have to reinvent the wheel.So, three years later, we came up with three incredible scents. The feedback from our Wholearth fans is all I need to know it was completely worth it.”

From the Outside In

Recycled paper and board are used for cartons and containers. Eco-friendly plastic bottle and jar materials include PLA, HDPE, PET and PP. Plastic bottles and jars use 100% post consumer recycled (PCR) materials, while tubes use 70%. PLA (polylactide polymer) corn-based polymer film is harnessed for labels, which are applied with EBA (environmentally benign adhesive), a pressure sensitive label adhesive. Packaging can be recycled after use.

Transparent bottles and neutral packaging colors, in natural, black and white, provide a simple, straightforward message. A sprawling vine evokes nature and ties the various components of the line together.

According to Boom! Creative Development, “there was a collaboration of many suppliers to satisfy our goal to use PCR and other package materials that met our mission for stylish sustainability.” The bath and body bottles were supplied by M&H; jars and caps were by Alpha Packaging through Berlin. As far as the fragrance, the custom glass bottle was supplied by Pochet; the pump by Rexam; and the custom overcap by Jackel Hong Kong. The carton for the perfumes was printed and supplied by TPC on FSC-certified board.

Wholearth products are sold online at www.wholearthbeauty.com. Seo also appears regularly on ShopNBC, and says, “It’s an incredible opportunity to have a few hours of airtime to talk live with customers, explain the features and benefits of each product and re-educate them on why some of their conventional products may be what I call ‘junk food beauty products’.” Seo has big plans for the brand in 2011, saying, “We have an aggressive strategy to bring the line to some of my favorite beauty stores and, of course, international distribution has always been part of the planning, too.”

While Seo has accomplished his goals in personal care, the niche line stands out as an exception. How does Seo view the future of the beauty industry in terms of sustainable packaging? “They don’t have a choice but to go green,” he says. “With the accessibility of recycled packaging in all sorts of shapes and sizes and textures, it really is the industry’s responsibility to invest in green packaging to both do the right thing and to meet consumer demand. I’m proud of the fact that Wholearth Beauty started as green as possible not only with our formulations, but with our gorgeous packaging, too.”