Much has been written about Gwyneth Paltrow, and her wellness brand, Goop. Much has been written in this magazine, in fact. Some of it has been written by me. But despite being the most visible of the celebrity wellness influencers, Gwyneth Paltrow is not alone – she’s joined by the likes of Elle McPherson (whose supplement powders, teas, tablets and elixirs, should perhaps have been as much of a red flag as her romantic relationship with Andrew Wakefield), Kate Moss’s (owner of Cosmoss, whose herbal teas claim to “protect against the stress, pollution and toxins our body is exposed to during the day”) and even beauty influencer Tati Westbrook, whose Halo brand offers supplements for hair, nails and skin. Even international treasure Gillian Anderson has dipped her toe into the wellness world.
If Paltrow was a trailblazer, hot on her heels was celebrity celebrity Kourtney Kardashian, founder of not one but two wellness brands. My initial introduction into Kourtney’s wellness empire was via her lifestyle platform Poosh, which has been roundly criticised for how closely it took inspiration from Goop.
POOSH is the MODERN GUIDE to LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE.
Our mission is to EDUCATE, MOTIVATE, CREATE, and CURATE a modern lifestyle, achievable by all.
I decided to launch Poosh because I felt that there was something missing in the healthy lifestyle space. Healthy living gets a bad rap; it’s as though if you care about what you put in — or on — your body, then you’re not sexy or cool. But this just isn’t true, and Poosh is here to prove just that.
I’m not alone in seeing the similarities to Goop – back in 2019, Elle magazine reported that Gwyneth Paltrow was aware of the comparisons, but had no issue with Kourtney or Poosh. In fact, the two have gone on to demonstrate their mutual appreciation by collaborating on the creation of a candle, called “This Smells Like My Pooshy” – a nod to Goop’s headline-baiting “This Smells Like My Vagina”.
However, Poosh is not Kourtney’s only venture into wellness – she is also the founder of a brand called Lemme. As the Lemme website explains:
I have tried so many different things and met with doctors, gurus, specialists, in pursuit of living my healthiest and most balanced life – from oversized supplements that are difficult to swallow to gummy vitamins that were ok on taste but not so good on ingredients, and I learned so much along the way! None of this made sense to me. Why can’t it be yummy and be good for you?
Lemme tell you, it can!
Meet Lemme – My new line of vitamin and botanical supplements I’ve created to become a divine part of your everyday life.
Lemme’s product range will be familiar to anyone who pays attention to supplement companies – with a product called Lemme Glow which is for skin, nails and hair, and Lemme Matcha for energy and metabolism, and Lemme Debloat for digestion, plus Lemme Chill, Lemme Sleep and Lemme Focus. But while many supplement brands sell (questionable) supplements for PMS or the menopause (and Lemme does have a “tincture” for PMS), Kourtney has gone one further, by going straight for the vagina.
Lemme Purr is the name of the company’s ‘vaginal health gummies’, which they claim are:
The purr-fect lemme: Clinically-studied SNZ-1969™ probiotics support vaginal health and freshness.* Supports healthy vaginal pH levels.* Supports vaginal odor.* Supports a healthy vaginal microflora.* Supports vaginal health.* Supports vaginal freshness.*
Note the asterisks, which follow every one of the claims, and which lead the eagle-eyed reader to a tiny statement at the bottom of the page (way below all the product info and the reviews) which reads
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Well, there’s that box ticked, I guess.
According to the site, Lemme Purr gummies contain:
- SNZ 1969™ – “A clinically-tested probiotic (Bacillus coagulans), SNZ 1969™ is shown in clinical studies to support vaginal health, freshness and odor. This strain of probiotics is tested to survive the harsh, acidic stomach environment and make it to your digestive tract where they are most effective. Each serving contains 1 Billion CFUs of SNZ 1969 probiotics*”;
- PINEAPPLE EXTRACT – “Lemme Purr has 100 mg of real Pineapple per serving”; and
- VITAMIN C – “A powerful antioxidant and pro-collagen vitamin that is an essential nutrient to support immune system health, skin health and promote overall health and well-being.*”
Now, firstly and most importantly I want to make clear that we do not need to do anything to alter our vaginal freshness or odour. This is a social pressure put on people with vaginas about how the natural body smells and is complete and utter bullshit. The vagina is self-cleaning and needs no extra help. The vulva can be washed with a very gentle soap or soap free cleanser when you shower.
If you notice a change in your smell or your discharge you might have picked up a bacterial or yeast infection and should see a doctor (or self-treat if you’ve had them before and your doctor has advised you on self-treating). If you find you have skin problems, you can make sure you’re wearing cotton underwear, and wear jeans a little less frequently. But we don’t need special pills or supplements, or special soaps or wipes. In fact, wipes and soaps that might have chemicals not tested for the sensitive skin of the vulva can cause dry skin, increase the risk of minor tears and damage to the skin and increase the risk of infection.
The vagina does have a microbiome – that is the set of healthy bacteria that live on the skin and help keep us in balance – and it is true that sometimes that microbiome can get out of whack. Sometimes, that’s because we’ve had a bacterial infection treated by antibiotics which have also killed the healthy bacteria.
There is some research into the use of probiotics for people who’ve had bacterial vaginosis treated with antibiotics, because a change in the microbiome can make it a little easier for a reinfection to take hold, but the evidence is in the early days and says nothing about prevention in people who haven’t already had an infection. According to the Cochrane Collaboration:
Despite the marketing and the benefits associated with probiotics, there is little scientific evidence supporting the use of probiotics. None of the reviews provided any high-quality evidence for prevention of illnesses through use of probiotics.
What’s more – the vagina mostly has a bacteria called lactobacilli. This is a completely different bacteria to the one in the Lemme Purr gummies. No contain the variety of lactobacillus that we find in a healthy vagina – instead, as the Guardian noted in a recent article, if these kinds of products contain any lactobacilli at all, it’s typically lactobacillus plantarum, lactobacillus rhamnosus or bifidobacterium animalis lactis. These are typically found in the gut, rather than the vagina – if they ever did manage to find their way into the vagina, there’s no evidence to say they’d be of any use there.
We have no good evidence these gummies help in any way, but it’s worth, as ever, considering if they cause any harm. I think the harm here is around the idea that you need to do something special to make your vagina appealing or keep it healthy. The vagina is pretty happy looking after itself, and the vulva just needs some gentle cleaning once in a while.
In fact, introducing special measures as often promoted by the wellness industry can actually cause harm to the vulva and vagina, by increasing the risk of skin damage, which increases the risk of infection. Or it can kill off the healthy bacteria that we know are good for keeping infections at bay in the first place. The gummies probably aren’t going to do that – but their existence feeds into the very idea that they are needed, and needlessly feeds into the insecurities so many women already have.
Author’s note: this article was originally written in September 2023, since then Lemme Purr is under investigation by a class action litigation firm for allegedly deceptive marketing around their supplements.
