Gwyneth Paltrow's Candle (Yes, That One) Was Only Meant To Be a Joke

At the start of 2020, which feels like both yesterday and a billion years ago, Gwyneth Paltrow launched her infamous candle that boasted the scent of her… well, you know.

Considering her Goop store was already dipping its toes in the bedroom toys market, the move was seen as Paltrow being her cheeky provocateur self, promoting body positivity, etc. etc. In reality, the whole thing started as a workplace joke that wasn’t supposed to turn into a $75 product that people inexplicably bought in droves.

In a new interview with the Friends Keep Secrets podcast, Gwyneth opened up about how the candle became a reality. You’ll be surprised to learn the answer is because she’s surrounded by yes men. Props to rising to the challenge, I guess? If someone asked me to make a vagina-scented candle, I’d stand there like a deer in the headlights because, clearly, this is a trap. I’ve been married for 20 years, I know one when I see one.

Via Page Six:

Paltrow explained that she and [Douglas] Little were sorting through tomato leaves and seaweed when she came across a scent she liked.

“So I have a very bodily sense of humor, and nobody really knows that side of me,” she said. “And I said to him, ‘Well, this one smells like my vagina.’ As a joke.”

Little, however, also thought the “Shakespeare in Love” actress’s idea was “brilliant.”

“So he thought I was serious, and made a candle called ‘This Smells Like My Vagina,’ and my team bought the candle,” she explained.

“I thought I was joking and, anyway, the rest is history,” she continued.

So, not to be a square, but how is this not sexual harassment? Do they not have training videos at Goop dot com? Because I’m pretty sure you can’t go around telling people that things smell like your special place. Seems like that’d be on the “Don’t” list.

Anyway, here comes the real kicker. Get ready to sue for false advertisement:

“It definitely did not smell like my vagina,” Paltrow said of the candle, which contained scents of citrusy bergamot, geranium, Damask rose, cedar absolutes and ambrette seed.

This is exactly why we’re a White Barn Candle family.