Gwyneth Paltrow Doubles Down on the Goop Vagina Candle Being a ‘Feminist Statement’
Paltrow also revealed that her company Goop no longer makes the viral candle
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images
Gwyneth Paltrow is doubling down on the message behind her popular vagina-scented candle.
During a now-expired Q&A on her Instagram Stories on Wednesday, the Goop founder reiterated that she created the infamous This Smells Like My Vagina scented candle, which quickly sold out on the Goop website, to send out “a really strong feminist statement.”
“So many women have been raised, at least in my generation, to think there’s something wrong with themselves or that the vagina is weird or gross or something to be ashamed of and so the candle is supposed to be a very strong punk-rock kind of f--- you to anyone who ever made us feel like that,” Paltrow, 50, said in the video reshared on TikTok by Access Hollywood.
She explained that the viral candle — which is made with geranium, citrusy bergamot and "cedar absolutes juxtaposed with Damask rose and ambrette seed"— was not meant to “actually smell like anyone’s vagina” and “that was the point.”
“... People tried to make it about something else, which is kind of a shame because it was really meant to be this strong feminist statement,” she continued. “But we no longer make the candle.”
This echoed a previous statement The Politician star made last year on an appearance on TODAY, maintaining that the buzzy "vagina" candle line was meant to spark conversation.
"This candle is really like that provocation to say, like, 'It's amazing to be a woman in every way. It's amazing to have that kind of power and you deserve to have that agency,'" Paltrow told TODAY's Willie Geist about the product.
She previously revealed the origin story of the candle during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, saying that it had initially just started out as a joke.
Related: Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop Introduces 'Hands Off My Vagina' Candle for an Important Cause
"I was with the [perfumer] Douglas Little for his brand Heretic and we were kind of messing around and I smelled this beautiful thing and was like, 'This smells like my vagina!,'" Paltrow told host Seth Meyers.
She jokingly added, "And I was kidding obviously. And we were on mushrooms — no, no we weren't on mushrooms."
Paltrow followed up the popular product with more buzzworthy candles called “This Smells Like My Orgasm” and “Hands Off My Vagina,” which she released last year in honor of the 49-year anniversary of the groundbreaking Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.
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The entrepreneur has almost entirely stepped away from acting after growing more heavily involved with Goop and taking on the company's CEO role in 2016. She told TODAY that she has immersed herself into her new role at the company.
"I really don't miss it all. I think I'm so lucky that I got to do it, and I'm sure I still will at some point," Paltrow said of her acting career in the interview. "The team is always trying to get me to do a movie, but I really love what I do and I love how immediate it is and how … we're able to create product out of thin air that we believe in so much."
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