Forget the begging calls to PRs – this newly minted magazine editor looked no further than the mirror when it came to finding a cover girl.
Turning her online magazine into a $14.99 printed glossy, Gwyneth Paltrow stripped nude and covered herself in mud for a memorable image.
Taglined ‘Earth to Gwyneth’, the shot was the centrepiece of Goop’s first printed edition.
‘Earth to Gwyneth!’ Paltrow strips nude and covers herself in mud as she plays cover girl on Goop magazine
It showed the topless Oscar winner lying on her back, one arm behind her head as she gazed into the lens.
While her flawless skin was highlighted with minimal make-up, the 44-year-old preserved her modesty with a healthy heaping of dirt – smeared from her neck downwards over her bikini bottoms.
Gwyneth shared the cover to Instagram on Friday morning, reminding fans they could pick up a copy of the quarterly publication next week on September 19.
Inside the pages they can look forward to reading up on how Gwyneth had bee venom injected into her C-section scar.
‘The doctor stings you [with a live bee] like it’s an acupuncture needle. I had it done on my cesarean scar… I had some buckling in the scar, and it really evened it out,’ explains the mother-of-two.
All her own work: Often mocked, Gwyneth’s unashamedly aspirational lifestyle blog has been turned into a real-life magazine by Vogue’s publisher, media company Conde Naste (file image from online magazine)
Fans can also learn about how Gwyn enjoys the more simple things in life.
‘For me, when I take my shoes off and walk in the grass, it’s so healing. It’s hard to find scientific evidence for the idea that “I feel good.” But by trying, you get so much juice out of life.’
Then there are her thoughts on failure:
‘You can only be a perfectionist if you think, erroneously, that there’s a finish line in life. I try to succeed and fail all the time in all kinds of ways.’
Alternative: The magazine is aimed at women hoping to improve their health and well being
Often mocked, Gwyneth’s unashamedly aspirational lifestyle blog has been turned into a real-life magazine by Vogue’s publisher, media company Conde Naste.
Gwyneth founded Goop in 2008 as a weekly newsletter giving healthy living advice and an insight to her own loves.
As subscribers surged she expanded it into an online portal with recommendations for all aspects of modern life for visitors.
Over the years Goop has been lambasted for recommending controversy treatments such as vaginal steaming which may not have the health benefits stated and urging users to purchase costly products, such as a $15,000 14-karat-gold sex toy, which are completely affordable to most people.
Gwyneth – whose ex-husband is Coldplay frontman Chris Martin – is adamant most of the criticisms are unfounded and are knee-jerk reactions to headlines rather than constructive.
Knows her market: Gwyneth founded her magazine for women like her – and has had success despite being mocked