Gwyneth Paltrow, the award-winning actress, author, and the founder of modern lifestyle and wellness brand goop, has partnered with Merz Aesthetics in the company’s first global campaign for Xeomin. Merz Aesthetics is the world’s largest medical aesthetics business, and the product Xeomin, is an FDA-approved anti-wrinkle injection targeting frown lines. Through her partnership with them, Paltrow hopes women and men can feel empowered to take control of their own minds and bodies and let their authentic selves shine despite ever-changing beauty standards.
There’s often stigma linked to beauty procedures and invasive treatments, but Paltrow, who’s no stranger to wellness and beauty procedures, has put her own weight behind this proven product, telling us that she’s been a loyal user of Xeomin long before the company even approached her to become the global face for the brand. What’s important and what matters the most is that products are proven safe and effective.
“It’s really the cornerstone of my whole philosophy,” she explains. “At goop, we also make products that we’ve tested rigorously and that don’t have toxic ingredients in them. It’s the same when you’re sourcing food, anything you’re going to put on or in your body, you want to know for sure that it is proven and it works, and also that it’s as purified as possible.”
One thing is for sure — body image and beauty standards affect each and everyone of us, and today especially, body dysmorphia is more rampant than ever in the age of social media. Celebrities feel this keenly too. Not too long ago, Khloe Kardashian posted a heartfelt plea on social media about her struggles with body image amidst constant judgment her entire life.
In her youth, Paltrow recalls when a producer came up to her, squeezed her waist and told her to stop snacking because she was gaining weight. Paltrow even jokes, “Robert Downey Jr. always tells me I’m too tall whenever he wants me to wear flat shoes. But you know, I think women actors, we get a lot of that. We have to be strong and just believe in ourselves.”
“I think it took me into my 40s to feel like I really knew myself,” the actress continues. “And really like myself and embrace myself in a different way. I hope women, young women my daughter’s age, in their 20s, can start to cultivate this kind of self confidence at an earlier age and just know that they’re beautiful, exactly as God made them.”
In the latest campaign with Xeomin, Paltrow speaks about embracing your true authentic self — the key here is really not to change or hide the way you look, but to embrace yourself, find confidence in your own self by investing in the health and wellness of your body and mind.
This wasn’t something Paltrow thought about until her mid-20s when her father fell ill. “It was catalysed by my father getting sick with cancer and that’s when I really dove into researching about the body, its capacity to heal environmental toxins and the ways that eating can affect our health. I’ve been interested in wellness since,” she says.
Paltrow started goop well before wellness was seen as essential rather than a privilege. “It was always a real passion of mine to provide information and tools for people so that they could really make the most out of their lives and understand that the power to optimise your life is within you. All you need is to give yourself the permission to do it,” she says. “That can be just like a great recommendation, or it can be you know, a full wellness regime.”
Paltrow compares getting beauty treatments a bit to self-indulgence — it’s all about balance. “If you’re sleeping well, eating well, and you’re exercising, even meditating that’s helpful,” she says. “But at the same time, we want products that are really efficacious, and with Merz I found a product that I really loved. I’m always about balance. I’m a person who tends to be on the healthier living side, but then I love a good martini and French fries, you know?”
Paltrow adds: “Everybody has the right to do what’s right for them and feels great for them. I don’t think there should be judgment about it. If you’re in your 20s and you feel like something bothers you and you talk to your doctor who recommends something, you know, I think you should feel empowered to do it. I didn’t do anything until I started to really see the signs of ageing, but if your doctor says it’s ok, then why not?”
At the end of the day, it’s about discovering yourself and allowing yourself to live a better version of yourself, flaws and all. “It’s about being the best that you can be,” says Paltrow. “Sometimes I think our flaws are what makes us interesting and unique. I think the more self-acceptance you can have, the better.”
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