International Women's Day falls on March 8 this year.
While the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»sees a number of women-owned businesses, from mother-daughter ventures to women-led beers, there are several local brands that are transforming and destigmatizing period care.
Here are a few Vancouver-based brands that champion for sustainability, comfort, and vaginal health when it comes to that time of the month.
This locally-made sustainable zero-waste period underwear brand designs panties that eliminate the need for tampons, menstrual cups, or sanitary pads. Made out of 100 per cent organic cotton, Rosaseven undergarments are anti-microbial, anti-odour, inhibit bacterial growth, and are leak-proof. They also come in five different flow protection levels: light, moderate, heavy, overnight, and postpartum.
Like Rosaseven, this local period underwear brand makes absorbent, leak-proof panties that are toxin-free and are ethically and sustainably made. Undergarments are made with breathable, natural bamboo fabric that helps prevent bacteria growth and locks in odour. Flow protection levels range from light to ultra protection, which is ideal for folks who find themselves changing menstrual products every one or two hours.
This period brand has been around for several decades. Since 1993, when the brand was first called Lunapads, Aisle offers a variety of reusable period products, from washable pads and liners to menstrual cups and period underwear that can absorb four tampons' worth of blood. It's a Vancouver-based, zero-waste, sustainable alternative.
Though this underwear brand doesn't specialize in period panties, it does know how to deter yeast infections and bacterial growth often caused by synthetic undergarments. Huha's mineral undies feature a seam-free gusset infused with zinc oxide, a mineral possessing antibacterial and odour-reducing properties, and are made of breathable, sustainably sourced fabric.
Periods often come with painful cramps, and this brand aims to help with that. Somedays offers an array of options for those days, from cramp creams and belly jellies to heatpads and belly bands to herbal teas and bath blends. The Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»brand is on a mission to debunk the myth that period pain is normal and unavoidable.
