Natural Women's Sanitary Items

As I phase out all of my current household/lifestyle products to safe/healthier options, I've decided to also switch to safe sanitary items. I'm unable to wear tampons, so a DivaCup is not an option for me. Reusable pads are making a comeback, but it's just not practical for my life. So, at a recent trip to Whole Foods, I decided to try out a few of the brands they offered. 



The Science

The skin in the vaginal area is highly vascular and permeable to substances that come in contact with it. Most traditional pads and tampons contain chemicals such as BPA, phthalates, DEHP, and synthetic fragrances. Additionally, in order to make the products appear clean and white, the fibers are bleached with chlorine. If you look at a traditional box of tampons or pads, you will see no ingredients. Companies are not required to list what is in them. While these chemicals can cause dangerous long term effects if they accumulate in the body over time such as caner and infertility, but they can also cause short term effects such as dryness, irritation, and recurring vaginal infections. 


The Brands

Seventh Generation is a brand most people in the green world are familiar with.

Azalea is a brand I had not heard of before, that seems to be (per box) specific to Whole Foods Market.


The Products

Seventh Generation is advertising their pads as chlorine-free, and free from dyes and fragrances. The ingredients are chlorine free wood pulp, adhesives, polyolefins, silicone-coated paper, polysaccharide, and chlorine free wood pulp. While these ingredients are fine with me, some people do not like to use silicones in any capacity so it should be noted that these do contain them. Also, it simply states that the product includes adhesives, but does not tell us which ones they are. This is somewhat concerning. 

Azalea pads are advertised as chlorine free, hypoallergenic, and fragrance free. It states that the composition is Certified Organic Cotton (83%) and biodegradable polymer (17%). My suspicion here also is that this is not the full list of ingredients. What has been used to adhere the pad to underwear? Also, are those the only two ingredients in the pad itself or are there others. 

It seems that both products have been reluctant to list the adhesive ingredients. While I am aware that they are not required to list them, I was hoping that I would have full transparency from these natural products.


The Price

The Azalea pads were $1 more than the Seventh Generation at $6.99 for 10 compared to Seventh Generation at 5.99 for 16.


The Performance

I found the use of these to be very similar. They performed about the same for me. I did not have any issues with adhering them to my panties. I also did not experience that much a difference in absorbance. It should be noted though, that I do not have a particularly heavy cycle, so if you do you may want to try them and see how it works for you. The only small difference for me was the packaging. With the Seventh Generation pads, the wings have individual adhesives and then that was separate from the backing. This made them somewhat difficult to open up especially when in a hurry. So, for that reason, I will say that I preferred the ones from Azalea.


The Conclusion

I will be researching further in order to obtain a full ingredient list from both brands. I will reach out to each company if need be, and update this post. 


What do you all use during your time of the month? Have you tried any eco-friendly brands? Comment below.