How Gwyneth Paltrow's Latest Goop Candle Benefits An Important Cause

Although she has a string of successful movie and TV projects to her name, including her Oscar for her role as Viola de Lesseps in "Shakespeare in Love" (via IMDb), Gwyneth Paltrow wants to be known for more than just acting. The "Iron Man 3" actress quietly stopped taking on new performing projects in 2020 so that she could focus on her home life, children, and of course, her Goop brand (via USA Today). Paltrow founded the health and wellness brand in 2008 as a simple newsletter, and since then, it has blossomed into a thriving lifestyle website and multimillion-dollar company offering a wide line of health, fashion, and home products.

That's not to say that the going has been smooth all the way. Goop has been smacked for its dubious claims about some of its products; in 2018, a court ordered the company to pay a $145,000 settlement to 10 California counties as compensation for its misleading claims about their vaginal egg products (via PEOPLE). Then there was the man who sued the company for millions in 2021, claiming that the popular "Smells Like My Vagina" candle exploded after being lit for an extended period of time (per The Guardian). But even harsh critics of Paltrow and Goop might grudgingly admit that the company's latest product release has a worthy cause behind it. 

Gwyneth Paltrow announced the release of Goop's latest candle on Instagram on January 20, 2022, just as it dropped on the company's website. The new long-burning candle, called Hands Off My Vagina, was created as a "sister" to their famous This Smells Like My Vagina candle. It has an identical price tag; both candles each cost $75. However, the Hands Off candle has a larger purpose: "Lighting a candle has long been associated with prayer, intention-setting, hope, and, in more recent decades, the feminism movement as it developed," the Goop website explains. "Which is in part why we chose to create this particular candle as a small sign of support for reproductive freedom — and against subjugation."

To honor the anniversary of the historic Roe v. Wade decision on January 22, Goop will be donating $25 of every sale to the American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Freedom Project until July 1 or until supplies run out. The ACLU project aims to increase women's access to health care and abortions, maintain government benefits for teen mothers, and raise the number of qualified abortion providers nationwide. It's an issue at the forefront of many minds, particularly since Texas recently enacted a law restricting access to abortion for women who are more than six weeks pregnant (via The Washington Post).