- Okay.
- Get out of here.
- Do we have enough time to talk about that?
- Kind of hard to explain to someone else
what a vagina smells like,
because it's such a unique smell,
and there are a couple of things
that I can say it does not smell like,
which is flowers, ocean breezes, potpourri.
- My vagina is not my toilet,
it doesn't need to smell like lavender
or lilac or whatever it is.
- I would say that vagina should smell like vagina,
which means that it can smell different
throughout the menstrual cycle,
because the vagina has a natural flora in it
which consist of bacteria,
and of course you have hormones coursing through your body,
so things can smell just a little bit different
at different times throughout the month.
- One of the most common and stigmatized smell
is one that smells a little bit fishy.
The more fish like older could be a sign
of an overgrowth of bacteria,
even though it's good,
it's just gotten out of control,
so you might have something called bacteria vaginosis,
which tends to create a weird, strange smell.
- It can be an indication
of an STI like chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis.
All of those can cause that fishy smell.
However, typically vaginas don't smell fishy,
unless you have something else going on.
Unless there's a disruption in that vaginal flora.
- But all the rest of the time it is
just supposed to smell like a vagina.
- The vagina is a self-cleaning oven.
- So you really don't need to put anything up there,
no herbs or spices, jade eggs,
all of those different things
in order to detox, or pH balance yourself.
- You don't need to douche your vagina,
you don't need to clean inside of it.
Don't steam it.
Definitely don't steam your vagina.
- So if we look at the vagina,
we go up, there's a cervix at the end,
and that cervix is tightly closed.
So steam more than likely is not
gonna be able to penetrate that cervix
in order to go up into your uterus
to cleanse or detox it.
- Every time that you put something inside
for a cleaning purpose
it's going to alter the vaginal microbiome.
So if someone is trying to sell you a douche
or a vaginal wash,
these are absolutely things that I would avoid.
- So a lot of the products that get marketed
by celebrities are things that have to do with
taking care of your vagina, cleaning it,
and they're all so wholly unnecessary.
In fact, if you overdo it with vaginal products,
you can actually create the issues
that you don't want to have,
such as more odor or bacterial vaginosis.
So they're actually more harmful than they are helpful.
- My general opinion on celebrity vaginal health products
is that I hate celebrity vaginal health products.
I mean, let's talk about the OG, right, Gwyneth Paltrow,
and Goop.
- Goop is mostly bull shit.
- Gwyneth Paltrow has her line of,
what is it, Goop or whatever?
- People like Gwyneth Paltrow have a great platform,
and they have money,
and they've got influence,
and then they decide to go into the realm of
fem tech and fem hygiene,
which is a billion dollar industry.
And it plays into this whole idea of
you need to do more to your vagina
for it to be beautiful and wonderful,
and I call BS on it.
- Since the beginning of time and capitalism
it has been very profitable for people
to make those of us with vaginas
feel like they needed some kind of product
to make them acceptable,
whether it's the smell, the look of them,
and a lot of it's had to do with preparing them
the way that men think they should be.
- I think about how I grew up,
and there was a lot of stigma associated with
how the vagina smells,
and even menstruation.
And I think it's okay to want to feel fresh and clean,
but I worry about people stripping away the natural bacteria
and flora that's already in the vagina
just so they could feel clean,
or that it can smell like something not a vagina.
- Love Wellness is another company
that I have a problem with.
Let's just talk about their perfect condition vitamin
for a minute here.
So the name perfect condition, again,
there's that shame culture, right,
vaginas are supposed to be perfect and cute
and little, just so like a flower.
It plays into this whole purity culture thing,
which I can't stand,
because the opposite of purity is shame.
And we live in a society where virginity is paramount,
and clean and fresh and young.
I mean that's really gross, right?
Look at the bottle.
It's got an angel's halo on it.
It's sending all these messages,
especially to young people,
who aren't like me,
who were like screw this already,
I'm gonna be who I am,
and that's not fair.
They have probiotics that are called Good Girls Probiotic.
First of all, the name is,
I mean do I need to explain
what's the problem with the name?
Like saying that something is for good girls,
it's already kind of like weird and creepy in a way.
- What is a good girl's vagina like?
♪ Holy petals ♪
I think this is really chilling
to the purity culture idea,
and the idea that there is somehow,
you know, good girls have clean vaginas.
And that's one that I'm really taking issue with.
I came across that today
when I was doing some background research,
and I was like what the (beep) is this?
- But also just did that this product was supposed to help
with your vagina wellness and pH balance.
I mean do you know what else does that?
Your vagina does that.
- And the FDA has not tested anything in this,
but, again, people can buy it at Target and other places,
and spend tons of money,
and play into this whole culture.
- Vagisil also came up with a new line
that's called OMV that is targeting directly teens.
And I found that pretty despicable
to be capitalizing on teenagers' insecurities.
- The vaginal wellness and feminine hygiene industry
is a multi-million dollar industry,
and I do not believe based on any of the science
or the medical experts that these are products
that we truly need.
- Don't buy these products!
- Everybody's vagina has a lovely, natural vaginal smell,
kind of an earthy, sweet, pungent smell.
- Vagina is supposed to smell like vagina.
It's not supposed to smell like roses.
Discharge is normal.
That is actually a sign that your vagina is working
and functioning properly, as it should.
- I definitely think it's about knowing your vagina.
There's not necessarily a right and wrong smell,
but it's what smells right for you.
So what does your vagina typically smell like
after intercourse,
or after menstruation,
or when you work out.
You kind of get to know your body and your vagina.
- Your natural scent is your natural scent,
and you are fine.