Happy Birthday Gwyneth Paltrow! The 90s icon is 49 today and boasts a sprawling career as an actress and entrepreneur. Having said that, Paltrow is quite the polarising figure in the skincare world. Her brands’ antics are often pulled up by skin scientists for lacking proper research. She breaks the internet by selling “This Smells Like My Vagina” candles, and has collaborated s with the best dermatologists for her popular wellness brand, Goop.
Known for her OTT beauty adventures, and on her birthday, we take a look back at some of the wildest ones she’s had, yet!
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1. Apitherapy
Don’t be fooled by the innocent name; apitherapy involves getting stung by bees to counter inflammation. That’s scary, and we can’t even imagine the discomfort one would feel while being stung by bees. Also, it’s pretty indulgent to use bees, a species facing extinction, to be used so mindlessly in beauty treatments. We are sure a tube of cica cream will help with inflammation well enough.
2. Treating sunscreen as a “highlighter”
Gwyneth recently shared her absurd perspective on wearing sunscreen – she applies it only to the high points of her face, pretty much like a highlighter. She believes it is only the nose, cheekbones, and hairline that can get damaged by the sun, and the rest of the face can be saved from the horror of “chemicals” in SPFs. Uhm, no bestie. Skincare experts across the board are busy educating people on the importance of sunscreen and debunking myths around it; we hope Gwyneth also takes note of that.
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3. Facial Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a popular wellness ritual that has been around for a while. It can help with reducing signs of ageing and de-stress your skin. But any regular skincare enthusiast will tell you that even a single needle near your face can make you riddled with anxiety. Plus, what if a technician hits the wrong nerve? If you must try this, make sure you go to a reputed professional. We prefer sticking to our trusty old retinol instead.
4. Steam-Cleaning Vaginas
This one is an absolute doozy – Gwyenth once claimed that her lady parts often need a good steam clean. She claims it helps balance your hormones, which boggles our minds because vaginas don’t produce hormones! Steam-cleaning is also supposed to improve the “appearance” of your hoo-haas, which can be an incredibly damaging message sent to women. All vaginas are beautiful and unique, with or without steaming.
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5. Triple-Exfoliation For Her PM Routine
Exfoliation is an extremely crucial step in your skincare routine, granted you are not overdoing it. We already know that Gywneth’s skincare routine is OTT ( costing up to 603$), but her nightly exfoliation routine is particularly flawed. She starts off with Goop’s exfoliating facial as a mask, then a massage and finishes off with a hot towel as the final step. We wonder if she has enough barrier building steps in her routine to help make up for the excessive exfoliation!
6. Threading Face-Lifts
The Gwyneth-endorsed threading face-lift is a procedure that uses contour threads that have brambles sticking out of them to help “pull up” sagging skin. The procedure is banned in the US because of its purported side effects of leaving significant injuries on the skin. The Goop website stated that celebs often travel to Europe or Asia to get the treatment done, which in itself sounds excessive AF!
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7. Infrared Saunas
This one is not just on Gwyneth; celebrities like Lady Gaga and Selena Gomez have also spoken of the healing benefits of infrared saunas. The procedure is often touted to rid your body of toxins by raising your body’s temperature and making you sweat. Unlike traditional saunas, which use hot vapour, infrared saunas use dry heat. They can very quickly make your body overheated and dehydrated. For us mere mortals, that seems too much of a risky business to shell out a big chunk of our salary on.
