Jeanette Thottrup is the founder of Seed to Skin Tuscany, a luxurious botanical skincare line found in 70 spas around the globe. She is also the owner of Borgo Santo Pietro, a Relais & Chateaux estate in Tuscany, where Seed to Skin Tuscany is made. A former high-powered fashion designer from Denmark, Thottrup embraced a holistic lifestyle and found her true calling after struggling for years with infertility. She eventually embraced natural medicine and a pH alkaline diet, supplemented by organic herbs. After two years, Thottrup gave birth to a healthy baby boy and dedicated her life to natural healing.
She incorporated herbal science and holistic healing in the creation of Seed to Skin Tuscany, which is based in the historic spa town outside of Florence, Italy, where Borgo is located. Working with a scientist at the University of Rome, she spent five years developing Green Molecular Science, a new way to harness the power of nature with science and created a skincare line with products that deeply penetrate the skin. Seed to Skin Tuscany products are hand-crafted and expertly formulated in a small, state-of-the-art, onsite lab at the 300-acre estate and organic farm at Borgo, where ingredients are grown to align with impeccable standards of sustainability, traceability, purity, and efficacy. Here, she shares how wellness plays out in her own life.
What does wellness mean to you?
Wellness for me really means wellbeing in every sense. Taking time out to exercise, meditate, listening to what stories I tell myself. It’s doing things that make me happy. It’s a balancing act to work on every day.
What are your favorite things to do to maintain your personal wellbeing?
I do yoga and meditate every day, and once a year, I go to a retreat (mostly to India) for a total reset of body and mind. It’s such a privilege, and it makes all the difference when you live a really packed day-to-day life.
Is there a specific fitness activity that you love and why?
I’m an all-yoga person, and it’s my go-to for exercise, but it also improves my mental health and helps me to relax and stay strong at the same time. Swimming and walking are my other two passions.
What is your favorite healthy food, and do you have a favorite way of preparing it?
I’m mostly vegetarian, and getting fresh vegetables from our market gardens always makes me want to cook up a storm. I love cooking and experimenting in my kitchen. For the time being, I love making dosas, Indian fermented rice pancakes, and filling them with all kinds of vegetables and salsas. I love blending different food cultures. It feels like I’m traveling while cooking and eating.
What is your favorite healthy beverage (alcoholic or non-alcoholic), and do you have any insider tips for preparing it?
We prepare big pots of spiced tea, also known as masala chai, in my house and drink it either as is or as a dessert with a bit of milk and honey. I use a pot with two liters of water and add a big thumb of ginger, a few black peppercorns, five smashed cardamom pods, a few star anise, and three to four cinnamon sticks. I then let it simmer for at least an hour.
Another love is an amasake and mint smoothie, which we make at Borgo Santo Pietro in our fermentation lab. It’s the loveliest way to start the day, and it tastes so amazing.
What is your greatest wellness achievement?
Me and my husband, Claus, tried for five years to get pregnant. We decided after several failed IVF attempts to change our life completely. I went on a PH alkaline diet, took a ton of herbs, and more. After two years, I was pregnant. It was not only my biggest achievement health-wise but also a complete life change for me. It is really what got me on the herb journey I have been on ever since. Today our son is turning 17.
What person in wellness do you most admire and why?
It’s not one person, but I admire real yogis (not the wannabe yogis). They radiate health and balance and are such an aspiration to me.
What is the best piece of wellness advice you have ever received and from whom?
Everything starts with the food you eat and the thoughts you think.
What do you think is the most exciting wellness innovation you have recently discovered?
Ayurvedic medicine. I did a three-week panchakarma, an Ayurvedic cleanse, and it totally changed my body and energy level.
What is your idea of balanced healthy happiness?
We live in a society where we have learned to go get it if we want to get somewhere in life. That might be partly right, but we have forgotten to trust and raise our energy level. I feel we need to trust and love ourselves much more. I know there’s a lot of “love me more” promotion out there right now, and it all sounds a bit sloppy, but many people really have achievements and make looking good in others’ eyes higher on the list than being kind to themselves.
What do you think is the most overused word or words in wellness?
We live in a marketing world, and any new discovery often gets misused by the marketers, but green needs more depth.
Do you have a secret health or wellness tip you would like to share?
Treat yourself as your very best friend. Listen, allow, and understand.
What is your favorite place for a healthy vacation or escape?
I love going off the grid with my family. In the summer, we often take simple sailing holidays, where it’s about being together. We all love swimming, so most days we go with that, snorkeling and water activities and long lazy conversations. Time is really the biggest value.
Is there a particular wellness company or brand that truly impresses you with their efforts and why?
I have been a fan of Six Senses for many years.
What is your favorite self-care routine?
Skincare is obviously a great part of my self-care routine. A must of my evening routine is that I wash my face with Seed to Skin’s Divine Cleanse followed by the Fermen’tonic and Alchemist, then Biom’sphere and the Midnight Miracle. I also love a long bath in the wintertime—it feels like meditation.
What is your go-to for de-stressing?
I enjoy long walks in nature, and at times, a really good glass of red wine.
What aspect of your wellbeing do you struggle with the most, or would most like to improve?
My biggest struggle is my work-life balance. I can get so caught up in work that I forget there’s another life, too. I love what I do, so it is easy to lose track of time. I’m trying to create a better balance. I think this is a problem many entrepreneurs have.
What brings you joy?
I love spending time with my family and friends, especially traveling to inspirational places together or being creative with my colleagues and seeing them passionate about what they do. It makes me feel we are a team and belong together.
