Gwyneth Paltrow revealed that her controversial and viral “This Smells Like My Vagina” candle started as a joke before becoming an overnight success.
The wellness guru recalled on Tuesday’s episode of the “Friends Keep Secrets” podcast that she was working with creative director Douglas Little on an “earthy” fragrance for her lifestyle brand, Goop.
“I like things that smell kind of unusual,” Paltrow said. “I like woodsy, leathery. Our first perfume is called Church; it’s incensy.”
Paltrow explained that she and 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.
“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.
“It became such a big thing that we actually stopped selling it because it was distracting people from what we were doing,” she explained.
Podcast co-host Benny Blanco shared that the candles are still in demand, explaining how he spent $600 to buy the candle from a reseller.
“We should make it again,” Paltrow quipped.
Goop first released the candle in 2020 for $75 before it was discontinued three years later.
Paltrow defended her decision to sell the candle during an interview at the 2025 Mindvalley Manifesting Summit, saying, “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 and go f–k yourself,’” she continued.
The “Iron Man” star later launched several other quirky scents, including “This Smells Like My Orgasm” and “This Smells Like My Prenup.”
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