Gwyneth Paltrow reveals real reason behind selling shock 'vagina' candle

Gwyneth Paltrow opened up about the creation of her controversial 'This Smells Like My Vagina' candle, which went viral when it was first released. On the Goop website, fans were able to purchase the now-discontinued candle for $75, but it was actually scented with geranium, citrusy bergamot, cedar absolutes, Damask rose and ambrette seed.

While attending the Mindvalley Manifesting Summit 2025 in Los Angeles this weekend, she was asked about the candle - which saw the teaming up with Heretic Parfum founder Douglas Little to create the candle. "That product is so fascinating because we were messing around with different scents one day," she said during a Q&A session.

"And I smelled something and I was like, 'Oh, that smells like... You know. I was joking. And then [Douglas] was like, 'Oh we should make that a candle and put it on the site'."

READ MORE:

At the time, the Marvel actress assumed Douglas was joking and went along with the assumed gag by telling him it "sounded like a winner"

She said: "All of a sudden, it was literally on the website. And then we broke the Internet again. And then it took us a long time to live that one down.

"But, I kept it on the site because there is an aspect to women's sexuality that I think we're socialised to feel a lot of shame. And I sort of loved this kind of punk rock idea. 'We are beautiful and we are awesome and go f*** yourself'."

Meanwhile, she turned to alcohol during the but quickly realised it made her menopause symptoms worse.

52, admitted she was drinking "every night" after the devastating fires spread through LA earlier this year. The blaze burned through everything in its wake, including the homes of Leighton Meester, Anna Faris and many more high-profile names.

"I'm really in the thick of it right now, so I'm all over the place," she revealed on her Goop podcast. "But I noticed my symptoms are, like, pretty well under control unless, you know, in January when the fires were happening in LA I've, like, used alcohol for its purpose."

When the fires broke out, the Iron Man actress was drinking "every night". She recalled: "I think I drank every night. I was medicating. Normally, now at this point, I don't drink a lot at all.

"Maybe I'll have one drink a week... [My symptoms] were completely out of control. It was the first time I really noticed, like, causation in that way."

The star went on to discuss her insomnia struggles, which were not an issue before she hit menopause. The star added: "I've always been a real sleeper... [But after menopause], I went through a particularly bad time with it."

Follow Mirror Celebs on , , , , , and .

READ MORE: