The candle, which is currently sold out and held on a waiting list, was inspired by a joke Paltrow had with perfumer Douglas Little, according to the Goop website. The duo was testing out a fragrance Paltrow loved so much she quipped, “Uhh, this smells like a vagina.”
“Elton John bought a ton of them," Little told The Cut. "Like a lot. Like a lot, a lot. He’s a fan. We have been hounded and stalked by so many people [trying to get one]. I saw the candle being sold on eBay for a ridiculous price,” he added, referring to $250 price tag for the “vagina”-scented candle on the trading platform.
Little says the goal was to make a product that was “voluptuous and sensual and also proactive and fun, yet admitted that most of the popularity came from the “shock value” of having the word “vagina” printed on a packaging label.
The candle was recently criticized by Martha Stewart, who said during Andy Cohen’s “Watch What Happens Live” that she wouldn’t be buying it anytime soon, adding that its demographic is likely “a lot of guys who are horny." Little dismissed the claim, saying that 92 percent of the customers for this product have been female. “When was the last time a bunch of horny guys were out buying scented candles?” he added.