We’ve handpicked the best intimate products – from those that help make your periods hassle- and mess-free, to feminine hygiene washes that won’t mess with your private area’s delicate balance
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Fanny. Flower. Vagina. Whatever you call your private parts, you’ll need the best intimate products to help keep them clean, fresh, and healthy.
From sustainable tampons to menstrual cups, period pants, feminine washes, and more, we’ve handpicked the best intimate products for women.
Before we get started, though, it’s important to establish the differences between your vulva and vagina so that it’s clear what each of the products listed below is used for. Often people use the term, ‘vagina’ when they are technically referring to a ‘vulva,’ for instance.
In short, the term vagina refers to your internal female organs – the muscly tube that leads from your external genitals to your cervix. Your vulva refers to your external genitals.
When it comes to cleaning products, your vagina is a self-cleaning organ, and cleaning it, especially with products that contain too many chemicals, can cause its delicate ecosystem to become unbalanced.
Your vulva needs help to be kept clean and hygienic, but again you don’t need to be scrubbing it or applying strong chemicals. Vulvas and vaginas are meant to have a natural odour to them
Now we’ve cleared that up, here are the best intimate products for women, categorised by type.
Periods. What a bloody pain, excuse the pun. Gone are the days when you had limited options for managing the blood flow, however. Today, there is a range of innovative period products on the market that help make your time of the month easier to deal with. Or, at the least, less annoying.
Tampons are great, for what they are, but they can be uncomfortable, damaging to the planet, not to mention dangerous when kept in too long.
A viable, more sustainable alternative is a menstrual disc. Unlike a tampon, a menstrual disc sits slightly past your vaginal canal and collects the blood, rather than absorbs it.
In theory, this means there should be fewer leakages than with a tampon, although putting it in place does require some practice to begin with, especially when it comes to removing it.
Once you get the hang of it, this new period product will help the environment and potentially improve your comfort and lifestyle during your period. You can have sex with a menstrual disc in, for instance. Some can be worn for up to twelve hours and can hold up to five tampons’ worth of blood, all while generating 60% less waste.
Just be aware that, unlike menstrual cups, if you opt for a disposable menstrual disc, you’ll need to throw it away at the end of each day.
Flex Flex is made of a medical-grade polymer and is hypoallergenic, BPA and phthalate-free, with no silicone or latex. You can have sex with this menstrual disc in, and it can be worn for up to twelve hours and will hold up to five tampons’ worth of blood, all while generating 60% less waste.
Price: £40 for a three-month supply on a subscription. A one-off pack of 24 discs costs £45.
Where to buy: Flexfits
Menstrual cups have been around for a while now which means there are quite a few to choose from. So which menstrual cup is best? Our favourite is the Saalt menstrual cup because it has multiple seal points, meaning leakages are less likely.
Choosing to use a menstrual cup is a great environmental decision because it reduces wastage massively, as a cup will last for up to ten years. That’s because it’s made from 100% medical-grade silicone, which is chemical and toxin-free. It’s brilliant news for your bank balance too because you’ll be paying £25 to cover ten years, rather than buying period products every month.
If you’ve given birth vaginally and/or have a heavy flow then go for the ‘regular’ cup. A regular cup is the equivalent of four tampons, so you should be able to wear the cup for the whole day without having to worry about emptying it.
Saalt The Saalt Cup is made of 100% medical-grade silicone, which is chemical and toxin-free. A regular cup is the equivalent of four tampons, so you should be able to wear the cup for the whole day without having to worry about emptying it.
Price: £25 for ten years!
Where to buy: Saalt.co.uk
Period knickers are a great option to reduce waste – because they’re reusable – while also helping you to save money in the long run. This is because you only need to buy them once and you can wash and wear.
We particularly like the range of period pants from Wuka. It offers a range of different-shaped underwear for light flow, medium flow, and heavy flow. This means that no matter how heavy your periods are, you’re covered. They even offer a lace option, so you can feel glam.
Period pants work by soaking up your blood, keeping it away from your skin, without the need for any other feminine product. The fabric is made up of thousands of small filaments that trap the liquid and stop it from leaking onto your clothes.
In addition to period pants, which Wuka is famous for, the brand also now offers zero-waste, carbon-neutral pants for the rest of the month when you’re not on your period.
Wuka Wuka offers a range of different-shaped underwear for light flow, medium flow, and heavy flow. In addition to period pants, which Wuka is famous for, the brand also now offers zero-waste, carbon-neutral pants for the rest of the month when you’re not on your period.
Price: From £12
Where to buy: Wuka
For all the stick we’ve just given tampons, they’re convenient and suit many women. If this is you, but you hate the fact they can be wasteful then these sustainable tampons from Dame are a great middle-ground.
They’re much more ethical than other tampon brands and are made from organic cotton, which is also pH-balanced and hypoallergenic meaning they’re kind to your vagina.
Unlike most conventional tampons in the shops, these tampons are chemical-free and don’t have any plastic, making them fully biodegradable.
You can get a starter pack, a whole year’s supply, or you can buy these tampons on subscription. There’s also a choice of absorbency from, ‘regular’ to, ‘super’ and ‘super plus.’
Dame Dame tampons are made from organic cotton, are pH balanced, and hypoallergenic. Unlike most conventional tampons in the shops, these tampons are chemical-free and don’t have any plastic, making them fully biodegradable.
Price: From £8.79 for 34 tampons
Where to buy: Dame
The period industry is a huge contributor of waste – 3 billion menstrual products are used each year in the UK, generating 200,000 tonnes of waste. Conventional disposable menstrual products are made from 90% plastic, and plastic products take up to a thousand years to decompose.
But it’s not only plastic wastage that’s a problem with single-use period products. The chemicals in them are also terrible for the planet.
If period pads, or sanitary towels – depending on what they’re called where you live – suit you best, then you can opt for pads made from 100% organic cotton.
They’re totally biodegradable, which includes the packaging and the wrapper, and our favourite from Grace and Green are also vegan. An ideal choice if you want to wear period pads but also protect our planet.
Alternatively, there are now flushable period pads from a company called Fluus. Founded by a doctor and engineer duo – Dr. Olivia Ahn and Aaron Koshy – the Fluus pads use a patent-pending, flushable, and microplastic-free technology called Flushtec. This allows the Fluus pads to be flushed down the toilet where they will break down just like toilet paper.
Grace and Green Grace and Green sanitary pads are totally biodegradable, including the packaging and the wrapper. They’re also vegan-friendly and are made from 100% organic cotton. This is why they’re slightly more expensive than regular pads, but we think it’s worth it.
Price: £5 for a pack of £10
Where to buy: Grace and Green
Fluus Fluus period pads are made from plant fibres, biopolymers, and tree sap meaning they don’t use any microplastics and create zero period pollution permanent waste. What’s more, you can flush them down the toilet and they break down like toilet paper.
Price: £5 for 15 pads, with a monthly subscription service available. Fluus is also currently offering a free trial.
Where to buy: Fluus
Many of us have likely been in loos where there’s an over-flowing tampon bin you definitely don’t want to touch, or at a friend’s house where they don’t have a bin in the bathroom. It’s a problem that the people at fablittlebag.com are attempting to solve with a discreet disposable bag for your tampons and pads.
This means you can get rid of them in a clean, more environmentally friendly way, without having to rely on the toilet facilities. They’re easy to carry around in your handbag until you need them and once used they are fully sealable, so you can keep hold of it easily without spillage until you find a bin.
Save My Knickers Sometimes your period shows up unexpectedly, or your menstrual product leaks leaving marks on your underwear. These can be hard to get rid of, but now you can buy a powder that’s specifically designed to remove blood from fabrics, particularly your knickers or bed linen.
This means you can wear your nice, pretty knickers and not your granny pants when you’re on your period, without fear of spoiling them.
It also means the days of leaving your knickers to soak in the sink are over!
The cleaning powder is called Save My Knickers (£14.99), and as well as removing blood stains, it works a treat on baby clothes that have faced a poonami.
To be fair, with this level of stain-removing power, this product could be used on all sorts of laundry. A really helpful thing to have in your cupboard!
Your menstrual cycle can affect how fresh you feel downstairs. Your vaginal odour and comfort can change, depending on your time of the month and hormones, and when it comes to intimate washes it’s vital you choose a cleanser that doesn’t interfere with your natural pH levels.
The pH balance refers to how acidic or alkaline a substance is. Having a pH of 0 means something is highly acidic, while a pH of 14 is alkaline, or non-acidic). The normal pH balance of your vagina is between 3.8 and 4.5 on the pH scale which makes it on the acidic side.
Therefore you’re ideally looking for products with a pH level somewhere between 4.5 and 7 – anything higher and you’re moving into alkaline territory and this can wreak havoc.
Of course, simply using warm water will do the job (try to avoid soaps as they can dry out the area) but if you want something more specific, there are some great feminine washes. Here are our top picks.
Mio Skincare A pH-balanced intimate daily wash, the Mio Balance Act cleanser contains honeybush extract to help moisturise your skin. Shea butter help lock in this moisture and Aloe Vera helps to soothe, cool, and hydrate the area. The fragrance is completely natural, so it shouldn’t irritate. This intimate cleanser is vegan-friendly and cruelty-free, with 100% recyclable packaging.
Price: £15
Where to buy: Mio Skincare
The Honey Pot This intimate wash from The Honey Pot will help balance your pH, boost moisture and soothe your private parts. The brand is dermatologist-approved and hypoallergenic, so definitely a product to trust. Using this intimate wash will help get rid of any vulva odour and make you feel clean and fresh.
Price: £13.76
Where to buy: LuckyVitamin
The YESYES Company YES Cleanse from The YES YES Company is organic and contains plant actives including calendula and Aloe Vera – two ingredients that calm and soothe the skin. Its pH-matched formulation is designed to wash away odour-causing bacteria without any irritation and a bottle should last you around six months. Great value for money. .
Price: £15
Where to buy: The YES YES Company
WooWoo Sometimes you want to quickly freshen up. These feminine wipes from WooWoo are perfect for the job. Not only are they pH balanced, which is a must when it comes to cleaning your vulva, but they are also biodegradable, meaning you can flush them down the loo, making them really easy to use. You can also use these wipes to clean your vibrator. They’re vegan and cruelty-free, plus they’re plastic-free.
Price: £3.75 for a pack of 20
Where to buy: Lookfantastic
Sex can cause havoc with the delicate balance in and around your vagina and vulva. If everyone practices safe sex and keeps themselves hygienic then the changes are minimal, however, there are many variables that come into play (excuse the pun) from both foreplay and penetration that can cause an imbalance.
One of them is the use of lubricant – either on condoms themselves, or additional lube that’s added into the mix.
Your best bet when looking to avoid lube and any chemicals from interfering with your vaginal balance is to use products that are water-based. This isn’t a guarantee, but given water has a neutral pH – meaning it sits square in the middle of the pH scale and is neither acidic nor alkaline – there is less chance of it causing any problems.
Water-based lube can also work wonders for vaginal dryness experienced at any stage of your life, but particularly during menopause.
The YESYES Company As a pH-balanced, water-based lube, the YES WB Lube from The YES YES company is a fantastic and gentle way to increase dryness, or for use during sex or masturbation. This product is organic and contains Aloe Vera to keep things calm and less irritated. You can also buy an oil-based version, and one formulated specifically for anal.
Price: £11.99
Where to buy: The YES YES Company
We’ve also rounded up what we consider to be the best lube options over on our sister site, MBman.
Kat is a freelance journalist, photographer, and the founder of Simply Gender Free – a company dedicated to smashing gender stereotypes in kids’ products. As a mum of two, Kat is passionate about making the world a better place for the next generation
