Tag: Vagina

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Gwyneth Paltrow on the Story Behind That Goop Vagina Candle


Gwyneth Paltrow has finally let the world in on how, exactly, Goop came to sell a candle that launched a thousand headlines thanks to its very unique name: This Smells Like My Vagina.

The actor turned wellness guru explained the whole story to Jimmy Kimmel—and no, she doesn’t actually think it smells like her vagina. “It started as a funny joke,” she said of the $75 candle.

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“So Douglas Little, who is the owner of Heretic Perfume, we’re very close friends and we’ve worked together a lot. He does all of our fragrances for us, and one day we were smelling different fragrances and I was joking around and I smelled something and I said…,” she said, as she gestured to the name of the candle. “As a joke. But then I was like, wouldn’t that be cool if somebody actually had the guts to do that?”

She continued, “What a punk rock feminist statement to have that on your table. And then he made it. I thought he just made me one, as a joke, but then the next thing I knew, it was on my website.”

“So they didn’t do any testing or anything like that?” Kimmel joked. “Because it smells nice. It smells a little bit masculine actually. Kinda woody, I don’t know.”

“Well, it’s not really supposed to smell like a vagina,” she explained. “You know, I think a lot of women have grown up with a certain degree of shame or embarrassment around this part. So we’re kind of like, yo!”

When asked whether there would be a candle for men, Paltrow told the story of a Canadian candle company that made one called This Smells Like My Balls and said, “It was 25% more expensive than this because of the wage gap.”

Apparently, Elton John bought up a bunch of the Goop version, but they’re back in stock after selling out, if you’d like one of your own.

Watch the full interview with Paltrow below.

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The Vagina Episode of Goop’s New Show Isn’t Terrible


Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop “docu-series” The Goop Lab, a quasi-documentary reality show on Netflix from the actress-influencer’s lifestyle brand, is almost exactly what you’d expect. There are magic mushrooms and powdered diet food and plasma facials and “energy healing.” The activities shown run from charmingly expensive nonsense (like the medium who argues that the refusal to accept mediums is like the historical refusal to accept that the earth is round) to underresearched and irrational (“The prevailing belief that we cannot control our autonomic nervous system is a fallacy,” says one expert, who argues you can keep your body temperature up using just your brain before jumping into a freezing body of water).

So it’s odd that in the middle of all of this, there is a truly ground-breaking episode about female pleasure.

“The Pleasure Is Ours,” the third episode in the series, clocks in at under 40 minutes. In that brief window, it manages to interrogate society’s bludgeoning impact on female pleasure, deliver full-frontal shots of a dozen vulvas, debunk myths about basic biology, summarize rigorous studies about female orgasm, teach a clinically tested orgasm technique, share tips for communicating and receiving pleasure, and show an actual woman having an actual orgasm on your actual screen.

It’s educational, anti-shaming, and entertaining. There’s certainly never been anything like it on mainstream TV. The weird truth is that Gwyneth Paltrow and her preternaturally glowy-looking Santa Monica mafia made something that could make the world a better place. This episode of television will actually help people. Viva la vulva.

But it wouldn’t be Goop if it wasn’t also a bit problematic. In between all the empowering talk about female pleasure, Paltrow also revealed that she doesn’t know the difference between the vagina (the birth canal) and the vulva (the outer area of your anatomy including the labia and pubic mound)—two completely different body parts.

Plenty of grown women don’t know that they’re probably saying vagina when they mean vulva—vagina has been used as a blanket term for years. But it’s disturbing considering Paltrow’s company has been selling women products for their vaginas or vulvas for years—some that have been actively harmful and others that have promoted the myth that vaginas are dirty and smelly and need to be cleaned. And she’s just learning how to correctly label them?

Goop’s relationship with female biology is well documented. In 2015 the company published an article that (inaccurately) linked wearing underwire bras to breast cancer. The same year the site was rightly criticized for promoting vaginal steaming, which, as Dr. Ann Robinson wrote, can cause itching and the risk of vaginal thrush, plus spreads misinformation—the vagina is self-cleaning. In 2018 the company paid a settlement of $145,000 in the state of California over unsubstantiated claims about jade and rose quartz eggs, which the company falsely claimed “balance hormones, regulate menstrual cycles, prevent uterine prolapse, and increase bladder control” if used in the vagina. (The suit also included an essential-oil blend that Goop claimed could prevent depression.) They inaccurately claimed that tampons contain toxins, tried to turn people off mainstream lubes, and marketed a $15,000 dildo.

The “Pleasure Is Ours” docu-series episode, however, is so opposite to all of these claims and myth mongering that it seems almost as if it was made by another company. The women share deep insecurities about their bodies and talk about “genital shame.” They talk about the trouble with “performative receiving” with sex educator and “pleasure anarchist” Isabella Frappier, and it’s strangely emotional to watch them, for the first time, practice telling imaginary sex partners what feels good. “Shame is a killer of pleasure,” famed 90-year-old sexologist and orgasm expert Betty Dodson says in episode. (In a 2008 study of 500 women with anorgasmia, the inability to orgasm, she coached 456 straight to the Big O). The women look at labias and learn about the makeup of the clitoris (which, the show points out, was only fully mapped in 2005) and practice obtaining consent.

In spite of the weird revelation that the woman peddling vagina candles does not know what a vagina is, the whole thing feels strangely miraculous.

The episode, in all of its unlikely beauty, is missing only one thing: male viewers. “The Pleasure Is Ours,” which should be required viewing for women and anyone who has sex with them, will probably be watched almost exclusively by women. No wonder we reach for absurdly expensive sex products or believe faulty information about our bodies sometimes—we have been both punished by society’s indifference to our pleasure and fully tasked with rectifying the problem.

Jenny Singer is a staff writer for Glamour.



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The Vagina Bible: All Vaginas Are Normal Vaginas


My delight in the particular brazenness of Dr. Jen Gunter began in 2017, with her first essay, My Vagina is Terrific, Your Opinion About It Is Not. “It started with a post on my blog about why you shouldn’t put Vicks VapoRub in your vagina,” Gunter says. “I wrote about how I once was with someone who liked to shame my body. You know how it goes: If only my hair was straight, if only my legs were thinner, if only I dressed differently, I would be the perfect person for him.”

She felt like “a walking uterus.” So, she changed. Straightened her hair. Lost some weight. “Obviously it was emotionally abusive,” she says. “Then he made a comment about the smell of my vagina, and I was like, wait a minute, I’m the actual expert here. He could shame me about my body, but he couldn’t shame me about my professional knowledge.” She broke up with him, ultimately writing about her experience in the hopes of helping other women.

That’s when the trolls came for her. “Literally the dudes came out of the woodwork. The comments were like, ‘all the men had a meeting, and we all said you have a stinky vagina.’ Honest to god. Then I got mad,” she says.

Just like that, a revolution was born: a column in the New York Times, a Twitter following over 200,000 strong, a new show called Jensplaining out later this month, and her first book The Vagina Bible, which debuts today.

In a moment when American states are passing new laws to remove a woman’s right to have a say about her own body, thank goodness for Gunter, the ob-gyn who has emerged to lead a rational counter argument for women’s health. Her argument is simple (and apparently radical): A woman is the rightful master of her own domain. “Since the beginning of time, women’s bodies have been weaponized against us. Almost every culture, every society has this history—and some still do—of saying women’s bodies are dirty and toxic, and that menstrual blood is filthy. It’s an effective weapon,” she says. “There’s something really visceral about it—it makes you feel like there’s something wrong with you. This messaging has been around for so long and the fact is we’ve had, until very recently, few women in science pushing back.”

Gunter is pushing back—hard. The Vagina Bible is part vagina myth buster, part feminist rallying cry, and all Gunter. “My mission is informed choice. I truly want every woman to be empowered about her body and the decisions she makes about her body—you can’t be empowered with inaccurate information,” she says. Recently, someone sent her a link to an Instagram post on why you should steam your vagina, claiming the GOOP-approved trend could “tighten” it. “If you decide to steam your vagina based on that, then you’ve made an uninformed choice,” she says. “If however, you understand that its harmful, there is zero health benefit, that it’s actually a derivative of a patriarchal idea—people used to believe the uterus wandered the body, I’m not kidding you, and that if you put fragrant herbs between your legs, the stupid uterus would come down to the nice smell like a sheep—if you understand all of that and decide you still want to steam your body, well, then that’s your choice.”

We talked about why knowing your body leads to better sex, how normal is different for every woman, and why women are suddenly so obsessed with discharge.





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Your Vagina After Birth: 10 Things to Expect


Having a baby is no joke—it usually involves hours of labor and then suddenly you’re responsible for a little human being. And then there’s the fact that, in many cases, this baby actually came out of your vagina. The reality: It doesn’t snap back into place immediately after delivery.

So what actually happens to a vagina after birth? Will it bleed? Will it hurt? When can you have sex? Here, 10 things to expect from your vagina after birth.

1. You’ll experience postpartum bleeding.

After delivering your baby, expect to experience postpartum bleeding for up to six weeks. During the first ten days, expect heavy bleeding and bright red blood. You can also expect to see small clots (no bigger than a quarter) during the first three days. This is all normal, as your body sheds the extra tissue and blood from your uterus (this discharge is called lochia). After the first ten days, the bleeding slows down. You will continue to bleed lightly or spot, however, for up to six weeks after you give birth vaginally or by Caesarean section.

2. You’ll have uterine contractions (a.k.a. cramps).

You’ll experience cramps as your uterus shrinks to its pre-baby size. This process is called involution. For many first-time mothers, the pain is negligible. After subsequent births, the pain can be more intense since the uterine muscles have been compromised. Either way, this is a positive sign that your body is doing what it should be doing, and can be addressed with a warm compress and/or ibuprofen. It will subside in about three days.

3. Your vagina will be sore.

It’s not a question of whether you’ll be sore, but of how much you’ll be sore. More than 53 percent of births cause tearing around the vaginal opening, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Depending on the severity of the tearing, your vagina and perineum could be sore for four to 12 weeks. Significant tears can necessitate stitches after birth or, in some cases, surgery to repair the damage. Even without tearing, you will be left with a bruised perineum.

4. Your period will seem off when it returns.

When your body begins ovulating again, your period could be different than how it was before getting pregnant. Thanks to all the hormonal changes going on, you could end up with a lighter or heaver period.

5. You’ll have a (slightly) wider vagina.

Things can also feel looser down there post-childbirth, but it tends to gradually go back to normal. If, however, you have a very large baby (or have had many babies), it might not go back to exactly the way it was before. The telltale indicator is tampons: If you insert a regular tampon and it ends up sliding out over time, that can be a sign that your vagina is ever so slightly wider than it was prebirth. Luckily, Kegel exercises can help tighten things up again quickly. Practicing Kegel exercises five minutes a day, three times a day, can work wonders. Doctors advise keeping up with this regimen during pregnancy as well, to condition the pelvic floor muscles ahead of the birth.

6. You might pee yourself a little.

Childbirth can weaken the pelvic floor, and the pelvic floor muscles help you control your bladder. Translation: It’s not uncommon to experience urinary incontinence post-birth, especially when engaging in activities like jumping, running, or even sneezing and laughing. Again, though, it’s Kegel exercises to the rescue.

7. You’ll have to wait about six weeks to have sex.

Doctors usually advise women wait to have sex. “After a woman has a baby, it takes about six weeks for a woman’s vagina to heal from a delivery,” says board-certified ob-gyn Pari Ghodsi, M.D.. During that time, sex is off-limits. It’s important give yourself—and your vagina—a break after giving birth. “It is important for a woman to realize that things take time,” says Dr. Ghodsi. “It won’t feel the same at first, but with time, things typically go back to normal.”

8. Your orgasms could feel weaker.

When you do go back to having sex, you may think your orgasms feel less powerful post-birth. You’re not imagining it. That same weakened pelvic floor that’s causing leakage is also responsible for weaker orgasms—which is also more incentive to keep practicing those Kegels. In time, your orgasm should go back to being its original earth-shattering self.

9. Your vagina will feel dry if you’re breastfeeding.

Nursing can cause estrogen deficiency, which in turn causes vaginal dryness, explains Christine Greves, M.D., a board-certified ob-gyn at the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies.

It’s not a permanent problem by any means—the dryness will only last as long as you’re nursing—but in the meantime, introducing water-based lube into your sex life can make all the difference. You can also get a prescription topical estrogen cream that will help combat the dryness.

10. Your labia could be a different color.

Your vulva and vagina before and after birth can look totally different. Pregnancy causes a rise in estrogen and progesterone, which in turn causes an increased blood flow. That increased blood flow can cause the labia to darken and even cause a slight change in shape. The change in shape is also due to the surge in blood — the labia majora may retract, and their retraction can cause the labia minora to appear larger or even show for the first time. In any event, the coloring and shape usually return to their original appearance when your hormones and blood flow level out after birth.



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4 Weird Ways Your Vagina Health Changes When You're Sick


When you’re sick, you’re probably not thinking about your vagina. Chances are, trying to squeeze in a doctor visit and figuring out which show to binge while you’re laying low in bed are higher on your list of priorities. But a surprising number of seemingly unrelated health issues can show up in your vagina—from stress to dehydration to the common cold, the flu, or a fever.

How your vagina is affected when you’re sick depends on a few key things: your body, what you’ve come down with, and what meds you’re taking to treat it. Here are the most common ways your vagina can change when you get sick, according to experts.

Dehydration

Any sickness that dehydrates you will also dehydrate your vagina, explains Peter Rizk, M.D. an ob-gyn specializing in fertility at Fairhaven Health. That means you may not get as wet as usual during sex (if you feel up to having it), so lube could be extra important. It also means you might see less of the vaginal discharge that normally shows up on your underwear throughout the day. When you’re sick, it’s even more important to hydrate—especially if you want to keep things slick down there.

Extra discharge

On the flip side, if you have a viral infection, things could go the other way down south. Part of the immune system’s response to any viral infection, such as a flu or cold, is to make the blood vessels more permeable, leading to an increase in all secretions containing white blood cells. And that doesn’t just mean blood: Your vaginal discharge actually contains a bunch of white blood cells, which help keep the vagina’s bacteria and yeast levels balanced, says Candace Howe, M.D., a board-certified ob-gyn in California.

If you take medicine, however, it could cancel out that effect, Dr. Howe says. Decongestants, antihistamines such as Benadryl, and mucus-reducing meds like guaifenesin can dry up your body’s mucus membranes—including those in your vagina.

Yeast infections

If you’re taking antibiotics, they can have their own effects on your lady bits. In the process of killing the bacteria that’s causing your infection, they can also kill healthy vaginal bacteria, which can increase your risk for bacterial infections like yeast infections and vaginitis, says Yvonne Bohn, M.D., an ob-gyn in California.

This bacterial issue can last long after your original infection is over, says Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., a clinical professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at Yale School of Medicine. “Even if you took antibiotics a few weeks [ago], you could still show up with a yeast infection related to the antibiotics,” she says. Dr. Bohn’s recommendation: Take a probiotic to keep vaginal infections at bay, especially if you’re on antibiotics.

Irregular bleeding

Another issue Dr. Minkin points to is vaginal bleeding. Some women who get medically-prescribed steroid injections for joint problems will experience “funky irregular bleeding related to the steroid injection,” she says. If this happens to you, check in with your gyno and make sure to bring up any recent steroid treatments in the process.

The good news is, any changes that happen to your vagina while you’re sick will likely pass along with the illness. If they don’t, there may be a separate issue causing trouble. If anything seems off or different from your norm, it’s worth a chat with your doctor.



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I Tried an 8-Step $400 Luxury Skin Care Routine for My Vagina


Not long ago, most people’s skin care routine consisted of a quick wash, maybe a weekly exfoliant, and some moisturizer. To 2018 eyes, this routine seems minimalist, even monklike in its simplicity. At worst, it seems downright deprived—wherefore art thou, serums, oils, masks, and muds?

It’s no news that these days, skin care is kind of a big deal. The category is outpacing sales more than any other in the beauty space. But now that even your most low-maintenance girlfriend is posting sheet-mask selfies, we’ve obviously reached a tipping point, right?

Not even close. The newest frontier in skin care is all about your vagina. Okay, more accurately, it’s about your vulva. But either way, there are a surprisingly large number of brands springing up to offer your ladyparts a luxury, multi-step skin care experience with products that promise to cleanse, nourish, and exfoliate your skin, soften your pubes, make your shave or wax easier and less painful, and even highlight your vulva to catch that good light. (Why should your cheekbones have all the fun?)

In the name of science, I tried the buzziest products for a week. I figured it’d be fun and funny. I didn’t expect to become a true believer in some of this stuff. Read on for the true story of how I got the bougiest vadge in Brooklyn.



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