There Will Be Blood
February 20, 2020 12:19 PM Subscribe
The Tampon Wars: the battle to overthrow the Tampax empire. Tampax, the Proctor & Gamble owned menstruation product, dominates the feminine hygiene market. But a wave of disruptors have come to destroy them. [Guardian Longread]
"Over the past few years, an array of new tampon brands and period products have appeared on the market... And they all want to topple Tampax, offering women what they see as more ethical and ecological options to replace Tampax’s single-use plastic applicators and a marketing strategy that often emphasises discretion, as though a period should be something to hide. 'It’s ripe for the taking,' said Celia Pool, co-founder of Dame, about Tampax’s hegemonic grip on the market. 'A brand like Tampax has dominated for so long with such hideous messaging and hideous products in such a personal area of a woman’s life which they use every month.'"
Previously:
Why should women be punished? Featuring Kiran Gandhi's free-bleeding London Marathon run
The tampon is cylindrical, the human vagina is not A history of the tampon upon the occasion of the removal of federal sales tax on them in Canada
The Case of the Missing o.b. Tampons The o.b. run of '11
"Over the past few years, an array of new tampon brands and period products have appeared on the market... And they all want to topple Tampax, offering women what they see as more ethical and ecological options to replace Tampax’s single-use plastic applicators and a marketing strategy that often emphasises discretion, as though a period should be something to hide. 'It’s ripe for the taking,' said Celia Pool, co-founder of Dame, about Tampax’s hegemonic grip on the market. 'A brand like Tampax has dominated for so long with such hideous messaging and hideous products in such a personal area of a woman’s life which they use every month.'"
Previously:
Why should women be punished? Featuring Kiran Gandhi's free-bleeding London Marathon run
The tampon is cylindrical, the human vagina is not A history of the tampon upon the occasion of the removal of federal sales tax on them in Canada
The Case of the Missing o.b. Tampons The o.b. run of '11
Ruggli was surprisingly charming (Swiss company that makes many of the machines that make tampons).
posted by clew at 1:20 PM on February 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 1:20 PM on February 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm sure there are ways to sell CBD infused tampons but the following isn't it:
posted by jeather at 1:20 PM on February 20, 2020
a man in a white hazmat suit was inching around a hunk of machinery that coated the tampons in oozing brown CBD oil.Fascinated that half of all tampons are made on the same sort of tampon machines. Never even heard of holes in the head/wavy grooves as advertising features.
posted by jeather at 1:20 PM on February 20, 2020
Some people can't use menstrual cups, tiny frying pan.
posted by cooker girl at 1:21 PM on February 20, 2020 [27 favorites]
posted by cooker girl at 1:21 PM on February 20, 2020 [27 favorites]
Can the word "feminine" in feminine hygiene both tag and in the post be changed to "menstrual"? This has been your eleventy-billionth reminder that not all people who menstruate are women or "feminine".
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 1:25 PM on February 20, 2020 [33 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 1:25 PM on February 20, 2020 [33 favorites]
I know some people can't use menstrual cups. I know that. Sorry for making a suggestion that people who WANT TO, try one. I said try.
posted by tiny frying pan at 1:38 PM on February 20, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 1:38 PM on February 20, 2020 [9 favorites]
Tampax doesn't want to sell cups because those things last for years.
But I did cackle a bit at the fear that women who can use the pill might just not menstruate, there goes your market!
posted by emjaybee at 1:41 PM on February 20, 2020 [3 favorites]
But I did cackle a bit at the fear that women who can use the pill might just not menstruate, there goes your market!
posted by emjaybee at 1:41 PM on February 20, 2020 [3 favorites]
I wasn't trying to chastise you, tiny frying pan, and I'm sorry. Looking at my comment, I should have replied to your comment only and not used your name. I can see that the way I did it feels like being called out. My bad!
I do think it's valuable for people in general to realize that not everyone can use menstrual cups, because not everyone does know that. They're a great option for those who can use them.
posted by cooker girl at 1:44 PM on February 20, 2020 [4 favorites]
I do think it's valuable for people in general to realize that not everyone can use menstrual cups, because not everyone does know that. They're a great option for those who can use them.
posted by cooker girl at 1:44 PM on February 20, 2020 [4 favorites]
Mod note: Added the "menstrualhygiene" tag; as much as "feminine hygiene" is aging itself out, it's such an established point of reference in industry/marketing jargon that my feeling here is it's going to be more useful to supplement the tags and discuss the usage issue in thread than to unilaterally excise it from the post.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:53 PM on February 20, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:53 PM on February 20, 2020 [9 favorites]
I got my partner THINX a few years ago and they've never looked back. At first my partner was cautious, coming from the Tampax world and having a decent flow, but once we knew it would hold, it's been great for them: no chance of toxic shock, easy to clean, far less waste. Probably the best several gifts I've ever given them.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 2:21 PM on February 20, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Lord Chancellor at 2:21 PM on February 20, 2020 [5 favorites]
is this where I can pitch my tampon ad idea? I've had it for years now:
a woman clad in white robes, one shoulder bare, hair loose or head shaved. she is covered in blood, holding an axe and screaming with rage. She raises a hand and points a bloody finger at the camera, then curls it into a fist, her smile terrible and fierce as the torches burn
large letters fill the screen: TAMPAX
fin
"I don't get it," says my spouse, laughing nervously. "IT'S NOT FOR YOU," I reply
posted by castlebravo at 2:28 PM on February 20, 2020 [90 favorites]
a woman clad in white robes, one shoulder bare, hair loose or head shaved. she is covered in blood, holding an axe and screaming with rage. She raises a hand and points a bloody finger at the camera, then curls it into a fist, her smile terrible and fierce as the torches burn
large letters fill the screen: TAMPAX
fin
"I don't get it," says my spouse, laughing nervously. "IT'S NOT FOR YOU," I reply
posted by castlebravo at 2:28 PM on February 20, 2020 [90 favorites]
I read that article the other day, and thought it was odd that menstrual cups were only discussed in passing. Yes, they are not for everyone: but everyone who uses them becomes much less of a tampon customer. Wide acceptance of cups would in fact be a problem for the industry, much as wide use of BC to prevent bleeding at all.
posted by suelac at 2:50 PM on February 20, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by suelac at 2:50 PM on February 20, 2020 [4 favorites]
Instead of different ways of soaking it up as it slowly drips out I wish we could work on extraction technology to just get it out in a few minutes and be done. And let the government pay for it.
posted by bleep at 3:09 PM on February 20, 2020 [28 favorites]
posted by bleep at 3:09 PM on February 20, 2020 [28 favorites]
she is covered in blood, holding an axe and screaming with rage
so clytemnestra in the choephoroi
posted by poffin boffin at 3:27 PM on February 20, 2020 [3 favorites]
so clytemnestra in the choephoroi
posted by poffin boffin at 3:27 PM on February 20, 2020 [3 favorites]
I think something like 2% of women in the US use something besides a tampon or pad. It’s an easier sell to eliminate the period with BC you’re already using than to introduce a new way of dealing with period blood.
posted by Selena777 at 3:36 PM on February 20, 2020
posted by Selena777 at 3:36 PM on February 20, 2020
castlebravo, after well over a year of lurking here on the blue, I made an account today specifically so that I could favorite your tampon ad pitch
posted by wind_up_horse at 4:46 PM on February 20, 2020 [25 favorites]
posted by wind_up_horse at 4:46 PM on February 20, 2020 [25 favorites]
You can pry my plastic applicator out of my cold, dead vagina.
posted by jeather at 5:01 PM on February 20, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by jeather at 5:01 PM on February 20, 2020 [6 favorites]
But but but Tampax has had cardboard applicators all along, alongside the plasticky ones.
posted by janell at 5:04 PM on February 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by janell at 5:04 PM on February 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
But yeah, some sort of 5 minute extraction with a tool like that gross baby-snot-pipette bulb? Take my money.
posted by janell at 5:05 PM on February 20, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by janell at 5:05 PM on February 20, 2020 [5 favorites]
Is this where I tell the story about the time I tired a reusable menstrual cup? I was very excited. I am all about the environmental, financial and convenience benefits of a cup. This was going to be great. So great.
So I put it in. That went well.
I wore it. That went well too.
And then I tried to remove it. That did not go well.
I have some reduced flexibility in my wrists, a long torso and not-long arms. I just could not get ahold of that fucker.
Cue the montage of me trying every position I could think of to reach it. About five minutes in I start weighing the choice between texting friends to ask them to come over to help* or going to a medical professional (ER? wait until the next day when my doctor's office opened?). Ten minutes in, the yoga stretches I was doing on the bathroom floor finally loosened my muscles enough that I could grab onto the cup and get it out.
Never again.
*Every friend I've told about this has said that they would have totally come over to help. So, the moral of the story is to be nice to your friends. You never know when you might need them.
posted by mcduff at 5:41 PM on February 20, 2020 [23 favorites]
So I put it in. That went well.
I wore it. That went well too.
And then I tried to remove it. That did not go well.
I have some reduced flexibility in my wrists, a long torso and not-long arms. I just could not get ahold of that fucker.
Cue the montage of me trying every position I could think of to reach it. About five minutes in I start weighing the choice between texting friends to ask them to come over to help* or going to a medical professional (ER? wait until the next day when my doctor's office opened?). Ten minutes in, the yoga stretches I was doing on the bathroom floor finally loosened my muscles enough that I could grab onto the cup and get it out.
Never again.
*Every friend I've told about this has said that they would have totally come over to help. So, the moral of the story is to be nice to your friends. You never know when you might need them.
posted by mcduff at 5:41 PM on February 20, 2020 [23 favorites]
years and years ago, tampax added some sort of wick-like exterior to their tampons and had this big advertising push saying it would wick fluid into the tampon better to help prevent leaks. ...only that's not how wicks work. it draws it ALONG THE WICK, which means it starts leaking well before the core is fully saturated, so they have to be changed more often, which means more sales for tampax.
they had a comment page up on their website that had, when last i looked at it, literally 12,000 comments, a majority of which were regarding how less-than-effective this wicking technology is and how could you change the tampons so many generations of my family were loyal to eleventyone! they don't have a comment page anymore that i can see.
cheap pharmacy storebrands don't have those fancy coatings, though some of them are of dubious manufacturing quality.
posted by Clowder of bats at 5:48 PM on February 20, 2020 [5 favorites]
they had a comment page up on their website that had, when last i looked at it, literally 12,000 comments, a majority of which were regarding how less-than-effective this wicking technology is and how could you change the tampons so many generations of my family were loyal to eleventyone! they don't have a comment page anymore that i can see.
cheap pharmacy storebrands don't have those fancy coatings, though some of them are of dubious manufacturing quality.
posted by Clowder of bats at 5:48 PM on February 20, 2020 [5 favorites]
(Disclaimer: thanks to Depo, I haven't had a period in years, so I assume that Insteads are long gone from the market.)
I miss Instead. I honestly squick at how large the reusable menstrual cup is, and I don't want to get myself all bloody in the public stall/rinse it out in a public sink. Nor do I want to see anyone else's use of one in a public bathroom. But the Instead just popped in there, didn't feel like I was on my period, only had to be dealt with twice a day, and I didn't have to save it forever either.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:51 PM on February 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
I miss Instead. I honestly squick at how large the reusable menstrual cup is, and I don't want to get myself all bloody in the public stall/rinse it out in a public sink. Nor do I want to see anyone else's use of one in a public bathroom. But the Instead just popped in there, didn't feel like I was on my period, only had to be dealt with twice a day, and I didn't have to save it forever either.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:51 PM on February 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
@jenfulmoon, looks like the name has changed to softdisc
posted by Clowder of bats at 6:15 PM on February 20, 2020
posted by Clowder of bats at 6:15 PM on February 20, 2020
Another thing about the old “feminine hygiene” platitude is the way it implies that (AFAB bodies) are inherently dirtier and need more hygienic care than (AMAB bodies).
And of course the whole world believes it, from guys who expect unreciprocated head, to chauvinist drag queens who use the term “fishy,” to judgmental pharmacists.
There’s just so much shame pitched at half the population over this. Add in plastic applicator guilt and leaky cup snafus and birth control hormones giving salamanders DDD-boobs or whatever it was, and once again there is no right way to be one of us.
posted by armeowda at 6:59 PM on February 20, 2020 [17 favorites]
And of course the whole world believes it, from guys who expect unreciprocated head, to chauvinist drag queens who use the term “fishy,” to judgmental pharmacists.
There’s just so much shame pitched at half the population over this. Add in plastic applicator guilt and leaky cup snafus and birth control hormones giving salamanders DDD-boobs or whatever it was, and once again there is no right way to be one of us.
posted by armeowda at 6:59 PM on February 20, 2020 [17 favorites]
- Instead of different ways of soaking it up as it slowly drips out I wish we could work on extraction technology to just get it out in a few minutes and be done. And let the government pay for it.
-- But yeah, some sort of 5 minute extraction with a tool like that gross baby-snot-pipette bulb? Take my money.
This technology already exists (and it's not just for periods). What Is Menstrual Extraction? (WomensHealthSpecialists.org link); aka menstrual regulation; more on menstrual extraction via Wikipedia.
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:17 PM on February 20, 2020 [10 favorites]
-- But yeah, some sort of 5 minute extraction with a tool like that gross baby-snot-pipette bulb? Take my money.
This technology already exists (and it's not just for periods). What Is Menstrual Extraction? (WomensHealthSpecialists.org link); aka menstrual regulation; more on menstrual extraction via Wikipedia.
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:17 PM on February 20, 2020 [10 favorites]
I AM CALLED FROM THE DEPTHS TO RESURGE
posted by The otter lady at 7:29 PM on February 20, 2020 [13 favorites]
posted by The otter lady at 7:29 PM on February 20, 2020 [13 favorites]
Many years ago I read an article about someone who had tried to disrupt the tampon industry. The details are hazy but as I recall, nobody would manufacture for them and when an opportunity came up to purchase some used manufacturing equipment, the established players colluded to shut them out.
In describing this, the disruptor referred to them as "the tampon mafia" and I was always a little disappointed that I couldn't really share that description without coming off as some kind of tampon conspiracy theorist. I thought I might have exaggerated it in my head in the intervening years, and I am both relieved and annoyed to discover that I apparently did not.
posted by stefanie at 10:07 PM on February 20, 2020 [3 favorites]
In describing this, the disruptor referred to them as "the tampon mafia" and I was always a little disappointed that I couldn't really share that description without coming off as some kind of tampon conspiracy theorist. I thought I might have exaggerated it in my head in the intervening years, and I am both relieved and annoyed to discover that I apparently did not.
posted by stefanie at 10:07 PM on February 20, 2020 [3 favorites]
That is an amazing review, The otter lady!
A menstrual cup gave me a whole new way to find my own biology inadequate! I'd found tampons frightening at first, but practice made them easy to use. The cup, though, had to cover the cervix to prevent leaks, and I just can't reach mine. My fingers aren't long enough. I measured the cup, I measured my fingers, I pored over the photos the company had published with their hand model, and I worked out that the model's longest finger was over 5 inches long, when mine is barely 3. That's longer than my husband's fingers, and he is 9 inches taller than I am with much larger hands. I was so angry and felt so misled! There was nothing in the information leaflet about a minimum finger length requirement.
That cup is now a wasted bit of plastic that will end up in landfill because of course you can't return them.
posted by tulipwool at 1:01 AM on February 21, 2020 [3 favorites]
A menstrual cup gave me a whole new way to find my own biology inadequate! I'd found tampons frightening at first, but practice made them easy to use. The cup, though, had to cover the cervix to prevent leaks, and I just can't reach mine. My fingers aren't long enough. I measured the cup, I measured my fingers, I pored over the photos the company had published with their hand model, and I worked out that the model's longest finger was over 5 inches long, when mine is barely 3. That's longer than my husband's fingers, and he is 9 inches taller than I am with much larger hands. I was so angry and felt so misled! There was nothing in the information leaflet about a minimum finger length requirement.
That cup is now a wasted bit of plastic that will end up in landfill because of course you can't return them.
posted by tulipwool at 1:01 AM on February 21, 2020 [3 favorites]
The cup, though, had to cover the cervix to prevent leaks, and I just can't reach mine
Huh?! This confuses me - I have 3" fingers and have used a menstrual cup with no issues - I didn't need to be able to reach my cervix to use it? Nowhere near. I just had to shove it up my hooter the right way around and it caught all the blood - it was similar to using a non-applicator tampon in terms of reach. I needed to use... maybe 1 inch of my finger?
I stopped using it in the end because it was just so fecking messy. If your periods are heavy, and you're unleashing a rubber cup absolutely full of blood into the loo, there's just no way to emerge from your cubicle not looking like you've just attempted to slaughter a large mammal. Mopping up blood from the floor with toilet paper, praying to God I hadn't sprayed it on my clothes, working out how to walk casually to the sink with rusty red stains all over your hands... nope.
I do now have a pack of CBD-coated tampons on order in the hope they might stop the cramps and improve my live 100-fold, so thanks for the post, gin & broadband!
posted by penguin pie at 6:13 AM on February 21, 2020 [6 favorites]
Huh?! This confuses me - I have 3" fingers and have used a menstrual cup with no issues - I didn't need to be able to reach my cervix to use it? Nowhere near. I just had to shove it up my hooter the right way around and it caught all the blood - it was similar to using a non-applicator tampon in terms of reach. I needed to use... maybe 1 inch of my finger?
I stopped using it in the end because it was just so fecking messy. If your periods are heavy, and you're unleashing a rubber cup absolutely full of blood into the loo, there's just no way to emerge from your cubicle not looking like you've just attempted to slaughter a large mammal. Mopping up blood from the floor with toilet paper, praying to God I hadn't sprayed it on my clothes, working out how to walk casually to the sink with rusty red stains all over your hands... nope.
I do now have a pack of CBD-coated tampons on order in the hope they might stop the cramps and improve my live 100-fold, so thanks for the post, gin & broadband!
posted by penguin pie at 6:13 AM on February 21, 2020 [6 favorites]
Something I find that seldom gets mentioned when everyone goes on about plastic applicator shame is part of the reason some people prefer plastic applicators - it's because they usually have a closed tip that makes for much more comfortable insertion compared to old-school-style cardboard Tampax applicators. And let's get real here, I don't think anyone should have to feel bad for wanting their menstrual product experience to be as comfortable as possible. Other than some of the organic cotton brands that aren't widely available and also don't come in all absorbancies, I'm pretty sure that there aren't any biodegradable/flush able closed-tip applicator tampons available in North America anymore.
I remember that back in the 90s, Tampax and some other widely-available brands made tampons with cardboard closed-tip applicators. Why these disappeared from the market is beyond me - they bring a lot of the advantages of plastic applicators without the environmental impact.
posted by blerghamot at 9:21 AM on February 21, 2020 [10 favorites]
I remember that back in the 90s, Tampax and some other widely-available brands made tampons with cardboard closed-tip applicators. Why these disappeared from the market is beyond me - they bring a lot of the advantages of plastic applicators without the environmental impact.
posted by blerghamot at 9:21 AM on February 21, 2020 [10 favorites]
That's true and it doesn't have to be just comfort or preference but physically possible vs physically impossible.
posted by bleep at 9:46 AM on February 21, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by bleep at 9:46 AM on February 21, 2020 [1 favorite]
I only ever used OB tampons without applicators and I HATED it when I'd go to a store that didn't carry them - which was becoming more and more common when I switched to cups. To me applicators are harder to use. But I remember offering one of my OB tampons to a friend in high school and she just said "I can't use that." At the time I had no idea what she meant - my shaky grasp of anatomy had me thinking that my ultra-super-strength tampons were simply far too wide for her vagina. (Yeah.) The lack of applicator didn't even cross my mind.
posted by showbiz_liz at 1:00 PM on February 21, 2020
posted by showbiz_liz at 1:00 PM on February 21, 2020
I switched to cloth pads some time ago (Lunapads if anyone is interested), and I really like them. I've drastically reduced the waste produced in my PCOS-induced-weeks-long periods, and they are much more comfortable than disposable pads which inevitably start to irritate my skin by day 7 or 8 of using them. I have a little plastic-lined pouch to store them in if i have to change them when i'm out and I just rinse them when i get home and put them in the 'towels and sheets' laundry hamper. The downside is the cost, of course. If you can manage it, though, and you're not too squicked out by rinsing them, they're a great alternative menstrual product.
posted by torisaur at 1:32 PM on February 21, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by torisaur at 1:32 PM on February 21, 2020 [2 favorites]
I remember that back in the 90s, Tampax and some other widely-available brands made tampons with cardboard closed-tip applicators
Oh wow, I had no idea these had been discontinued. I'm an ob girl now, but during my first few years of getting periods, Tampax with a rounded tip cardboard applicator was the *only* tampon I was willing to use - absolutely the best for folks who otherwise find insertion uncomfortable. This is a huge loss!
posted by naoko at 11:04 AM on February 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
Oh wow, I had no idea these had been discontinued. I'm an ob girl now, but during my first few years of getting periods, Tampax with a rounded tip cardboard applicator was the *only* tampon I was willing to use - absolutely the best for folks who otherwise find insertion uncomfortable. This is a huge loss!
posted by naoko at 11:04 AM on February 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
My flow has only grown heavier as I age so far, and nowadays a tampon isn't even worth the bother-- I will soak right through the heaviest overnight super one in less than an hour-- so I just make do with wads of TP, a pack of overnight pads, and never getting more than 5 mins from a bathroom. I can usually tell when the dam has burst, as it were, and waddle into the bathroom for a bit of repacking before my pants get involved. It's also that I live on a twee little island where the septics can't handle anything other than toilet paper anyway, so it seems more green to just gush blood everywhere and figure it's at least biodegradable.
posted by The otter lady at 4:03 PM on February 24, 2020
posted by The otter lady at 4:03 PM on February 24, 2020
Also, I have to outrage again at this--Glue your labia shut, ladies, to stop your nasty periods!
posted by The otter lady at 4:03 PM on February 24, 2020
posted by The otter lady at 4:03 PM on February 24, 2020
tbh nothing has improved my life and my health more than hurling my fiendish monster uterus right into the fucking trash where it belongs. fuck that nightmare hellpit. it tried to kill me and it FAILED and i am VICTORIOUS.
posted by poffin boffin at 7:56 PM on February 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by poffin boffin at 7:56 PM on February 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
Thank the goddesses that I stopped bleeding a couple years ago. In my final few HARD years (like it was ever easy), it was tampons and pads at work and a cup and pads at home. That seemed to be the best compromise for the least stress and laundry. I initially tried to use the cup at work, too, but yeah, public bathrooms were not working for that.
I remember when I first got my period that my mom and I used a brand of tampon (Kimberley Clark, I think) that was poised on the end of a waxed paper stick like a lollipop. When I was a chemistry major a decade plus some years later (in the same town they were made), my advisor/mentor made extra money for the department by testing the quality control level of wax on the sticks to make sure they had the correct sticky vs. slidy equation. The wrapper was light plastic. There seemed to be a lot less waste for those at the time.
I really did appreciate the OB multipack the best. A convenient gathering of various sizes/absorbancies that I could just insert, thank you very much. And minimal wrapping waste.
When I was a single mom, I never could understand how basic human needs like various soaps (including toothpaste! and dish detergent), menstrual products, TP, and diapers weren't ever included for what is now called SNAP. And they still aren't! I didn't give a single damn for razors for shaving my legs and armpits and still don't. I just wanted basic dignity and hygiene for me and my kids.
My apologies for getting on a tangent here, but I really do feel like it is all related. Basic biological needs are universal. Much love, y'all.
posted by lilywing13 at 12:55 AM on February 25, 2020 [4 favorites]
I remember when I first got my period that my mom and I used a brand of tampon (Kimberley Clark, I think) that was poised on the end of a waxed paper stick like a lollipop. When I was a chemistry major a decade plus some years later (in the same town they were made), my advisor/mentor made extra money for the department by testing the quality control level of wax on the sticks to make sure they had the correct sticky vs. slidy equation. The wrapper was light plastic. There seemed to be a lot less waste for those at the time.
I really did appreciate the OB multipack the best. A convenient gathering of various sizes/absorbancies that I could just insert, thank you very much. And minimal wrapping waste.
When I was a single mom, I never could understand how basic human needs like various soaps (including toothpaste! and dish detergent), menstrual products, TP, and diapers weren't ever included for what is now called SNAP. And they still aren't! I didn't give a single damn for razors for shaving my legs and armpits and still don't. I just wanted basic dignity and hygiene for me and my kids.
My apologies for getting on a tangent here, but I really do feel like it is all related. Basic biological needs are universal. Much love, y'all.
posted by lilywing13 at 12:55 AM on February 25, 2020 [4 favorites]
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posted by tiny frying pan at 1:12 PM on February 20, 2020 [9 favorites]