Just a note of caution to the ladies out there, men you can all look away now. I’m talking about the dreaded monthlies. The builder’s are in. Stop reading now if you are a squeamish man who doesn’t do ladies problems and winces at the mere mention of ‘periods’. You have been warned…
Not all fragranced and perfumed sanitary products are labelled as such.
So if you are sensitive to perfumes and don’t want to use a fragranced sanitary product next to your most sensitive skin, read on.
I bought these ones by mistake. Always Dailies. I was in a rush, I was caught short. I was going for belt and braces, tampon and towel, I won’t go into details.
But when I opened the box I knew instantly that I’d made a mistake.
I made this mistake once before, never again.
Using perfumed sanitary products can cause skin irritation if you have sensitive skin.
No more details required here but if you want to find out what happened to me when I accidentally used perfumed toilet paper have a laugh and read, “Allergic to scented toilet roll – fragrance allergy”.
So back to the sanitary pads. They were quite clearly very heavily fragranced.
Why? And how hadn’t I noticed? There is nothing on the box to indicate that they are perfumed – unless I really am going blind.
It does say they ‘keep fresh’ so maybe that’s it?
When you examine the box it also says they are ‘odour neutralising’ which is probably another word for masking with unnecessary chemicals and fragrances.
Luckily I didn’t make the mistake of using one this time but I cannot even pass these on to someone else to use, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. No one should be using these. They are in the bin where they belong. I’m just annoyed I bought them.
But I do like these ones from Natracare
This is what they say about their products,
“Our products are a direct response to health and environmental concerns about dioxin pollution caused by chlorine bleaching, pesticide spraying on conventionally grown cotton, and the use of rayon and plastics in feminine hygiene.”
I find that these Natracare tampons and sanitary towels perform perfectly well, just as good as the normal brands you can get in Boots and Superdrug.
Sarah from SugarPufFish has also written about these sanitary towels from Time of the Month which look excellent. Read her review here: “Introduction to Time of the Month 100% cotton organic sanitary towels.”
Micki Rose from Truly Gluten Free has also written this brilliant blog, “Corn in sanitary products causes gluten sensitivity migraine.” Now I recommend everyone should read this, regardless of whether you can tolerate corn or not, it’s a fascinating read and will open your eyes to a whole new world of reusable sanitary products.
You may also be interested in Honour your Flow, who make washable, eco friendly sanitary products.
What sanitary products do you use? Have you ever reacted to perfumed sanitary wear? Do you think they should be freefrom all fragrances to protect our sensitive skin?
I have had trouble not just with the perfumed ones but with all of them, they just dry my skin up too much. I have a moon cup which is brill – see the website for the description: http://www.mooncup.co.uk/. It can be a bit messy and if you live a lot of your life in a work environment without a wash basin close to the loo, it would be difficult but well recommended.
Yes I have heard of the mooncup but can’t quite get my head around that one. Is it really secure? I’m not every so keen about putting a plastic thing inside me but I’m a bit paranoid. Being freelance and working from home though I would be able to cope with the mooncup. How long have you been using it?
I’ve used one (the same one) for about 5 or 6 years and it is great. It is flexible and does take a little bit of getting used to, but it certainly well worth using. It can sometimes sit wrong, but you would feel that, otherwise, you really wouldn’t know that you are using it. It also doesn’t smell at all, can be a bit messy at times, but nothing really horrible. It is well worth the investment.
Not sure I’d be very good at ‘getting it in’. Is it easy to insert and remove? Possibly a bit squeamish for me but the pads and tampons create so much waste for landfill or blocking toilets.
If you have a good look round their website, there are full instructions and pictures – I even think I watched a youtube video(!)….. Basically, for me, I wash it out so it’s moist, fold it over and send it up, it tends to sit just above my pelvic bone. Much easier than a tampon without an applicator. Taking it out if it’s not full, you can sometimes need to release a sort of vacuum, if it is full, it is much easier just to pull out. Go for it and see how you get on.
Not sure if you have ventured into the realm of Mooncups but read this yesterday and thought of you!
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/apr/27/disposable-tampons-arent-sustainable-but-do-women-want-to-talk-about-it
I joined this hoping for some advice for a long term skin problem plus limonene and linalool allergy – and all the relatives of them!
I don’t quite see where this discussion may be.
Help! Teri
Hello,
Do you believe it could be a good idea to bring pressure to bear upon the sanitary products industry to remove all perfume from their products?
I don’t know why they add perfume. But how would we do that? It’s the same with some toilet roll… irritates my skin and what’s the point? We throw the things away soiled. They don’t need to smell nice.