When Gwyneth Paltrow raved about the wonders of vaginal steaming on her website, Goop, we were more than a little skeptical. As it turns out, the Goop goddess herself needed a little convincing too.
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“The first time I tried v-steaming, I was like, ‘This is insane,'” Paltrow, 43, told The Cut. “My friend Ben brought me and I was like, ‘You are out of your fucking mind. What is this?'”
But by the time the Oscar-winning actress finished the 30-minute treatment, which uses infrared and mugwort (an herb with medicinal properties) steam to theoretically cleanse your vagina and uterus, she was hooked. “I was like, ‘This is so great.’ Then I start to do research, and it’s been in Korean medicine for thousands of years and there are real healing properties,” she explained. “If I find benefit to it and it’s getting a lot of page views, it’s a win-win.”
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Paltrow, who shares two children with ex-husband Chris Martin, added that she’s more than happy to be the one test-driving the most unusual trends. “We’ve sort of taken on the responsibility of trying all that stuff. And like I said, I actually really like being the guinea pig,” she confessed. “Some of my other girls are guinea pigs for stuff too, but I enjoy trying things. I don’t necessarily endorse all of them, but I like to try them and write about them. It makes for really good content.”
The It’s All Easy author first discussed vaginal steaming via Goop.com in January 2015. After visiting Santa Monica’s Tikkun Holistic Spa, where the treatment is offered for $50 a session, she told readers, “The real golden ticket here is the Mugwort V-Steam: You sit on what is essentially a mini-throne, and a combination of infrared and mugwort steam cleanses your uterus, et al.”
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She added, “It is an energetic release — not just a steam douche — that balances female hormone levels. If you’re in L.A., you have to do it.”
That said, Women’s Health researched the treatment and found out that there are potential negative side effects, including a disruption of the natural flora of the vagina, not to mention burns if administered incorrectly.
