While Lo Bosworth is most widely known for her stints on reality TV shows “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” and “The Hills,” she is one of the early entrepreneurs in the women’s wellness space and nowadays she’s focused on her new baby and her company, Love Wellness.
Bosworth, founder and chief executive officer of Love Wellness, sat down with Emily Burns, wellness market reporter at WWD and Beauty Inc, on the latest episode of the Beauty of Tomorrow podcast, presented by Listrak, to discuss what led to building her brand, her pregnancy journey and trying the wildest wellness trends.
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Several of Bosworth’s products have become viral bestsellers, including its Bye-Bye Bloat capsules, Good Girl Probiotics and pH balance cleanser — available in major retailers such as Walmart, Target and Ulta.
Before launching Love Wellness, Bosworth dealt with health issues for two years — she was depressed, anxious and had recurring infections and gut-health issues. During that time, Bosworth experienced firsthand doctors not listening to her concerns.
“It was not cool in 2016 [to have your own wellness brand],” Bosworth said. “When I went on Instagram to talk about my health, people were like ‘this is so embarrassing and cringe.’ But a decade later, the status quo has changed pretty quickly.”
After 18 months and finally receiving a blood test, which revealed vitamin deficiencies, the entire experience made her acutely aware of the problems women face with advocating for themselves and their well-being. She often found herself in the drugstore looking for products that would answer her problems, but couldn’t find solutions from legacy brands that addressed her needs.
“Many [of the products] were making my issues worse, whether it was skin irritation or an infection. I realized that a lot of these old school products contain ingredients that don’t actually support women’s health from a skin microbiome perspective or from an endocrine disruption perspective.”
She saw the opportunity to establish a brand in the women’s consumer health space that was “modern and free of judgment.” She looked to the E.U. standards for cosmetics and body care as a benchmark for her products.
“The result was our products overwhelmingly were efficacious and really got to the heart of the matter in that women’s needs were truly not being met in this country — even 10 years ago. It’s due to a lack research and lack of funding.” Bosworth pointed out that 10 years later, the work continues to fall on consumer brands rather than the U.S. government or big pharma companies to move the needle.
Bosworth often takes to social media to debunk many wellness habits. She went on to discuss why gummy vitamins, a leading format in the industry, are not the most efficacious format because of their ingredients, which are used to maintain their texture and taste.
“Certain formats in the wellness industry are prolific because they make your wellness routine easier. Humans by nature are always looking for the shortcut. We’re always looking for the silver bullet and the easy way out. And the idea of gummy vitamins is great in theory, but in reality, it’s a very different story.”
Bosworth shared that next year, the brand is working on launching a new format to create an experience that tastes good and delivers benefits.
“I’m a centrist when it comes to the wellness debate. I love science. I love facts. I love double-blind placebo studies, but I also choose to be open to observational studies and anecdotal evidence. The wellness category is tricky because there’s a lot of weird woo-woo out there — but there’s a lot that people are doing that does not necessarily have the research or funding behind it. I come into the category with an open heart and mind. Everyone’s body is different. Happiness is an important part of wellness,” Bosworth said.
To listen to the conversation, CLICK HERE.