Gwyneth Paltrow didn’t really plan on selling a vagina-scented candle, but it ended up on her lifestyle brand’s website anyway. Goop’s “This Smells Like My Vagina” candle started out as a joke, Gwyneth recently explained. But now the actress and businesswoman seems fully committed to the bit — so much so that it’s not even a bit anymore.
It all started when a scent reminded her of something specific.
Goop’s controversial vagina candle came to be because the team was “messing around with different scents one day,” Gwyneth explained at the Mindvalley Manifesting Summit in Los Angeles. When she smelled one of the potential candle scents, she noticed that it reminded her of something. “I smelled something and I was like, ‘Oh, that smells like … you know,'” she said.
She was merely joking.
Because her vagina comment was just a joke, she thought Heretic perfumer Douglas Little was kidding when he said they should put the vagina-inspired candle on the Goop website. Turns out, he was not kidding. “All of a sudden, it was literally on the website,” Gwyneth said.
Though it started out as a joke, it turned into a powerful statement.
While selling the $75 “This Smells Like My Vagina” candle wasn’t the Goop CEO’s idea, she is now a staunch defender of the product. It began to represent something much more significant to her as time went on, and she doesn’t care how naysayers feel about it.
“I kept it on the site because there is an aspect to women’s sexuality that I think we’re socialized to feel a lot of shame,” Gwyneth said. She realized she “loved” the idea, which she described as a “kind of punk rock idea.”
To her, the candle sends a more significant message about women: “We are beautiful and awesome.”
She also shared a message with those who don’t like the idea: “Go f‑‑‑ yourself.”
Reactions were very mixed.
People reacted to a clip of Gwyneth’s explanation that was shared on Instagram, and not everyone was impressed. One person said they found the candle “super insulting.”
“A women’s ultimate beauty and femininity is also with respecting her body and femininity,” they stated, adding that there’s “a big difference between confidence and shamelessness.”
Another person questioned, “I am wondering how the internet would react if a man did a candle saying smells like my D.”
At the same time, a fan of Gwyneth’s brand called the candle “iconic.”
On Reddit, several others defended the product. “I love Gwyneth,” one fan wrote. “She’s just so freaking silly and unserious while sometimes making valid points.”
Others said they’re not huge fans of Gwyneth — but they actually appreciated her vagina-scented candle.
One person admitted that they “thought the name was funny,” and another described it as “marketing genius.”
