Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop plugs skincare practice of chanting and praying to products
IN THE world of Gwyneth Paltrow, bras cause cancer, vaginas are steamed and now skincare products are chanted and prayed to. It’s as weird as it sounds.
IN the fascinating world of Gwyneth Paltrow, underwire in bras causes cancer and vaginas are steamed.
And now the team at Paltrow’s lifestyle brand Goop have lifted the lid on another intriguing trend in the organic beauty industry: swish skincare brands are praying to their products. Because you’re worth it.
It’s a practice that even Goop writes “at first” seems “beyond out there”. (And when Goop describes something as “out there”, you know you’re in for a good knee slap.)
The piece chats to three luxury brands, including Australian label Sodashi, about infusing good vibes into products using music, chants and blessings.
At de Mamiel, oils and creams are treated to “extensive prayer, meditation and music” before appearing on shelves.
But the owner says she prefers not to talk about it because “people think its hippie hoo-ha”.
And when you then see the founder of Ila state that “skin is an organ that is deeply emotional”, then hippie certainly feels like a likely assessment.
Perth-based Sodashi founder Megan Larsen told Goop her employees meditated with the company’s skincare everyday to “ensure the energy ... is the best it can be”. They also play an Ayurvedic natural medicine rain melody in the laboratory to “cleanse the space”.
Ila’s Denise Leicester said her label used healing chants to bless the range of salts, oil and scrubs.
“What we put on our skin can nourish and nurture our emotional happiness as well as nourishing the physical skin,” Leicester said, after explaining skin held a “particular vitality for women”.
Annee de Mamiel — who, like Goop, salutes the theory of Masaru Emoto that human emotions can change water’s molecular structure — described in mind-boggling detail the effort that went into nurturing the energy of her products.
“We put crystals around the oils. As we macerate the herbs, we play music. As we add the base oils, we use more music, crystals, and meditation. Then when we add the flower essences, they sit out with music, too,” she said, saying the process took up to eight weeks.
“In the blending room we say blessings of love and grace and gratitude; I add the oils in a certain order, and I chant as I blend them. I like to burn frankincense as I do it, to clear the room.”
Each product has its own chant and when a blend is ready, de Mamiel meditates to devise what words she wants to place on the label. It then sits for two months.
But they told Goop customers don’t need to know about their spiritual processes — which is probabaly for the best.
“I don’t like to wave a flag about it ... People sense and appreciate it, whether they know why or not,” de Mamiel said.
Leicester too said it was more about how buyers were subtly affected, with the Goop writer deducing it’s more about how “your skin — and spirit — picks up on the care invested”. So, no, nobody can conclude any of this really works. And let’s be honest, when you’re forking out $125 for one of Sodashi’s eye gels, you’d be mighty disappointed if you didn’t feel lathered in positive vibes.