The new celebrity wellness gurus you need to know now
Remember when Gwyneth Paltrow — who once claimed she’s the reason we all do yoga — was the reigning queen of celebrity lifestyle aspiration? Well now she has competition.
From sex toys to skincare, celebrities are fighting for space in your wellness routine, with the latest being the Duchess of Sussex, who has invested in a new superlatte brand. And who can blame them? The industry’s worth an estimated £3.4 trillion and in 2020, even A-listers need a side hustle.
But which (if any) is worth devoting yourself, and your cash, to in 2021? This is your guide to the gurus to know.
Meghan Markle
USP: the duchess polishing her wellness crown
Before she met Harry, Meghan ran a lifestyle blog, The Tig. She’s back in the game: this week she announced she’s invested in a female-led California company which sells “superlattes”. Clevr Blends makes instant oatmilk latte mixes spiked with medicinal mushrooms and probiotics. She has already got the brand in front of her friend Oprah, who shared a picture of a hamper gifted to her by “my neighbor ‘M’” with her 19 million Instagram followers.
Add to basket: Oprah’s “new favourite” is the golden superlatte (£28), packed with turmeric and naturally sweetened with monk fruit.
Ideal disciple: west coast UHNWIs with hippie values.
Gwyneth Paltrow (aka Gwynnie; GP)
USP: The OG of LA wellness
We’re not going to mention that candle again because chances are you’ve already heard everything you want to know about Gwynnie’s love of vulva-themed merch, and her six-part The Goop Lab Netflix series, which aired earlier this year and saw a group jet to Jamaica to get high on magic mushrooms, was slammed for making some wacky health claims.
Still, devotees remain fanatical (Goop is said to be worth about £191 million) and GP herself is the ultimate brand ambassador. In September, she celebrated her 48th birthday by sharing a naked selfie, crediting “@goop’s insanely amazing body butter for making me think I can still get my kit off”.
Add to basket: Goop’s annual holiday gift guide is full of overpriced wellness paraphernalia. Take the £45,000 climate-neutral bed and the £1,500 ouija board. The vulva colouring book is comparatively cheap at £12 — a bargain if it fulfils its promise of helping you “demystify your genitalia”.
Ideal disciple: wellness veterans who want their bum to look like GP’s at 48.
Jennifer Aniston
USP: The new queen of collagen
Jen’s age-defying wellness routine has been the subject of fascination for decades but the truth is she keeps things relatively simple, reportedly following an intermittent fasting diet, breaking her 16-hour fast each day with a glass of celery juice and partaking in “goddess circles” to set intentions with her female friends ahead of life’s major milestones. Same, babe.
Her latest foray into wellness is as the chief creative officer of supplement brand Vital Proteins. Ingestible collagen may well be the secret behind Aniston’s youthful glow, the science is still out on whether or not they actually work, but she makes a persuasive case.
Add to basket: Aniston apparently adds the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Powder ($25) to her morning coffee or shake. What would Gunther say?
Ideal disciple: sleek 40-something yoga mums.
Erykah Badu
USP: The singer turned incense blender
Erykah Badu gave GP a run for her money earlier this year with the launch of Badu Pussy, an incense which apparently smells exactly like her vagina, created with ashes of her pants. “There’s an urban legend that my p***** changes men. The men that I fall in love with, and fall in love with me, change jobs and lives,” she told 10 Magazine ahead of the launch. Intrigued? Badu once revealed she drinks cranberry juice for a “sweet-smelling vagina”.
Add to basket: Sadly Badu Pussy sold out within two minutes of dropping but the singer has assured Vanity Fair she’ll be launching an apothecary range of skincare, herbs, stones and, yes, more incense come the new year. Stay tuned.
Ideal disciple: alt-wellness warriors who are too cool for Goop.
Kourtney Kardashian
USP: The Kardashian going for GP’s crown
Kourtney Kardashian, described by her sister Khloe as the family “health freak”, launched her own lifestyle brand Poosh last year, where she shares a sneak peek into her world of butt workouts, clean eating and supplement-popping. The wackiest elements of her wellbeing regime? Drinking chlorophyll-spiked water — a green liquid supplement that claims to promote detoxification — and “muscle testing”, which led her to recently going gluten and dairy-free.
Add to basket: Poosh pushes all sorts, from a sassy $82 (£61) thong consisting of little more than a string of pearls, to pricey potions and lotions, sex toys and beauty gadgets. Sound familiar?
Ideal disciple: Kardashifans.
Pharrell Williams
USP: The rapper with the skincare secrets to covet
Mortals marvel at Pharrell’s eternally youthful complexion. His secret? Dermatologist Dr Elena Jones, who he’s been seeing for 20 years. Generously, he’s sharing his tips and tricks with the launch of a skincare line, Humanrace — and obviously it’s all vegan and gender-neutral. He writes on the website: “It’s important to take care of your skin and to also take time for yourself each day.” Too right. The environmentally conscious musician, who also recently launched a cutlery set made from recycled CDs with Pentatonic, has introduced a refill system for the skincare range, which is packaged using recycled plastic and features braille writing on each product.
Add to basket: The three-step routine includes a rice powder cleanser, lotus enzyme exfoliator and humidifying cream — $100 (£76) for the trio— your parched winter skin will thank you.
Ideal disciple: Gen Z-ers who like skincare gender-neutral and sustainable.
Lily Allen and co
USP: the new gen of A-list sex gurus
2020 was the year celebs made sexual wellness their mission. After revealing that she didn’t have an orgasm until she discovered sex toys in her mid-twenties, singer Lily Allen is on a quest to close the orgasm gap and has teamed up with German sex toy brand Womanizer to do so. Her Liberty sex toy took Instagram by storm last month.
Dakota Johnson, meanwhile, became co-creative director and investor of Maude, a sexual wellness start-up that sells organic condoms, lube and toys. Cara Delevingne has also joined the party, taking on the role of co-owner and creative advisor at Lora DiCarlo. Happy holidays all round then?
Add to basket: Try Lily Allen’s travel-friendly Liberty contact-free air massager (£89) for pleasure on-the-go, Lora DiCarlo’s premium robotic massager Osé 2 (£216) for blowout “blended orgasms” or Maude’s slick three-speed personal massager ($45; £34), for something that’ll look pretty in your shelfie.
Ideal disciple: the empowered millennial Insta-gang.
