Gwyneth Paltrow has responded to the controversy surrounding her ‘vagina candle’ with a sharp three-word retort. The 52-year-old actress has no regrets about offering this headline-grabbing product, which was introduced on her Goop website for $75 each.
If you missed the buzz surrounding the 2020 product, the understated candle featured a label with a simple white background, displaying the words: “This Smells Like my Vagina” in black lettering.
Recently, Paltrow addressed the situation during an interview at the 2025 Mindvalley Manifesting Summit in Los Angeles, on Saturday (May 17). She offered a candid, expletive-laden comeback to critics.
Laughing, Paltrow explained: “You know that product is so fascinating because we were messing around with different scents one day, and I smelled something and I was like, ‘Oh, that smells like… You know.'” The idea originated as a joke with Heretic perfumer Douglas Little, who decided to take it further.
“I was joking,” Paltrow elaborated. “And then he [Douglas] was like, ‘Oh we should make that a candle and put it on the site.’ And I thought he was kidding and I was like, ‘yeah, definitely. That sounds like a winner right there,'” she continued with sarcasm. Before long, the product was unexpectedly available for purchase online, much to her amusement.
“And then we broke the internet, again. And then it took us a long time to live that one down,” she added.
Despite the backlash, Paltrow chose to maintain its availability on the site and even expanded the collection.
“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 and I sort of loved this kind of punk rock idea.”
“We are beautiful and we are awesome”, she declared. In response to critics, she concluded: “Go f*** yourself.”
Though the candle is no longer in production, it once contained fragrances such as geranium, citrus bergamot, cedar, Damask rose, and ambrette seed. In the resale market, it reportedly fetches hundreds of dollars, as noted by Page Six. Following its popularity, Paltrow introduced more playful products with similar themes, including ‘This Smells Like my Orgasm’ and ‘This Smells Like My Prenup’.
In 2022, she launched ‘Hands Off My Vagina’ after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which limited women’s reproductive rights. Her company donated $25 from each candle sale to the ACLU Foundation’s Reproductive Freedom Project.