Gwyneth Paltrow’s famous vagina candle nearly burned down Jody Thompson’s home in England. Thompson says she won the uniquely scented Goop candle from an online quiz. The candle was unveiled back in January 2020 and quickly sold out, prompting Goop to make more. Even at $75, Paltrow’s candle became a hot commodity, though this is the first time that we’ve heard of it nearly burning down a house. Usually people just comment on its interesting scent.
According to Jody Thompson, she lit Gwyneth Paltrow’s This Smells Like My Vagina candle and didn’t think about it until a 20″ flame leapt from the glass jar on to her carpet. Thompson claims that the candle “exploded and emitted huge flames, with bits flying everywhere.” She described the scene as an “inferno.” She and her partner were able to take control of the situation by throwing the vagina candle out the front door.
While the event sounds traumatizing, the humor isn’t lost on Jody Thompson, who says, “It could have burned the place down. It was scary at the time, but funny looking back that Gwyneth’s vagina candle exploded in my living room.” As of this writing, neither Gwyneth Paltrow nor Goop have addressed their “This Smells Like My Vagina” candle nearly burning a house in England down to the ground. With that being said, the Goop site does state that one should always keep the candle within sight and to keep it away from anything that can catch fire. They also recommend not letting the candle burn for longer than two hours at a time.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s “This Smells Like My Vagina” candle is crafted from geranium, citrusy bergamot, and cedar absolutes. It is then “juxtaposed with Damask rose and ambrette seed that puts us in mind of fantasy.” Upon smelling the candle for the first time, Paltrow remarked, “‘Uhhh … this smells like a vagina.'” From there, it became one of Goop’s biggest selling items. Paltrow also insinuated that she may or may not have been on magic mushrooms when they came up with the idea. Regardless, it took off and sparked a ton of jokes on social media before literally sparking in Jody Thompson’s home.
Gwyneth Paltrow has gone on to say that her “This Smells Like My Vagina” candle was “really funny to us, but also a little bit punk rock.” While there was a lot of laughter, there were some who did not see Paltrow’s candle as subversive or punk rock. Martha Stewart said, “I’m sure it sold out. She does that kind of irritating… she’s trying to zhuzh up the public to listen to her and that’s great…” Stewart then stated, “let her do her thing and I wouldn’t buy that candle.” For anyone that didn’t follow Stewart’s advice and has Paltrow’s vagina candle, you might want to keep an eye on it to avoid a really weird smelling fire. The Sun U.K. was the first to report on the candle incident.