In The Goop Lab with Gwyneth Paltrow. Adam Rose/Netflix.
The ones that took off… and the ones that didn’t.
The wellness industry is worth a staggering $4.5 trillion—and growing by the day. We’ve never been more obsessed with supplements, exercise, and clean, green everything. Blame it on Gwyneth Paltrow, an early proponent of many a kooky wellness trend. In fact, rewind 15 years, and it was Paltrow who brought a still-mystifying-to-many practice called yoga into the mainstream—or so she claims.
So which other weird and wonderful wellness trends did Gwyneth have a hand in popularizing? As she turns 50, we revisit five below.
The Jade Egg
Ah, the hallowed jade egg: one of Paltrow’s wackier recommendations. The Goop website suggested women could increase muscle tone and feminine energy, balance out hormones, and improve their orgasms by inserting one into their vagina. Paltrow came under fire for recommending it—and Goop ultimately paid a financial settlement over unproven claims about its health benefits. Still, they do say all publicity is good publicity—and we all remember it.
Facial Acupuncture
Weird to some, essential to others, face (and body) acupuncture is one of Paltrow’s go-to treatments. Derived from ancient Chinese medicine, acupuncture is nothing new, but Paltrow shone a spotlight on it, specifically its cosmetic benefits. As well as alleviating stress and freeing blocked energy (the kind that contributes to physical and mental illnesses), acupuncture can help to stimulate cells to repair the skin and boost collagen, lifting and firming as it goes. Paltrow praises it for its ability to “help the body heal itself”.
Orgasms As Stress-Relief
Gwyneth devoted an entire episode of In Goop Health (on Netflix) to the not-very-frequently discussed female orgasm, which, ahem, climaxed with an actual, IRL orgasm on our TV screens. By addressing the importance of the orgasm to our overall sexual health and wellbeing so openly in the episode, called “The Pleasure Is Ours”, Paltrow went where no A-list wellness guru had gone before.
Ice Plunges
Taken an icy plunge recently? In another episode of In Goop Health, Paltrow explores cold therapy with the assistance of the “Ice Man,” Wim Hof. Harnessing the power of the cold to build our resilience to stress, many top athletes utilize the technique to help reduce inflammation, stress, and anxiety, while boosting concentration and metabolism speed. For all of that, enduring a 30-second icy blast at the end of a warm shower can’t be that hard, can it?
Ear Seeds
While they might look like a constellation of golden earrings studded about the ear, ear seeds actually offer similar effects to those of an acupuncture needle. By applying pressure to certain “auricular points” (areas of the ear), they’re said to alleviate energy blockages, calm the mind and ease stress. At the Goop summit in 2019, they were one of the most popular treatments with attendees.
This article originally appeared on British Vogue
