Allergic to scented sanitary products? Add your story here!

[wheresmymojo]

Loads of posts about scented sanitary products causing some of us to have issues such as:

• Itchy rashes
• Thrush
• Bacterial vaginosis

After a few attempts I have finally been able to get the attention from Always to respond to my issues.

I know lots of us have them and don't want to be fobbed off that it's 'just me'.

Please can you add your story below if you have issues with scented products.

As another poster has said - I'm pretty sure men wouldn't be expected to spritz Febreeze on their cocks all day for 7 days and have no issues.

I will be adding a link to this thread to my response to Always on Twitter (so obvs don't put anything outing unless you name change)

Yours,

Itchy Vag from Hampshire x

That’s the other thing I complained about to
them, it oddly seems almost stealthy as a strategy (but why??) as when they first started doing it, it was just a few of the ranges and they were marked as scented. Then it became practically all of them and they have made it really hard to tell that they’re scented but are marking the very few ones that aren’t as ‘unscented’.

It’s as though they have made fragranced the default.

The only couple of times I have accidentally used scented pads, they have given me thrush. Vile.

Absolutely ThePawtriarchy

I've been really lucky that I haven't had a physical, burning or itchy reaction but the smell makes me feel really sick.
I have endometriosis and suffer from nausea and sickness when on my period. The smell from the always pads really worsens my reaction, sometimes to the point of vomitting. I stopped buying them and started to feel much better.
I can also smell them on other women.

I boycott all scented sanitary products and have encouraged my daughter to do the same. It can only be unhealthy to put something artificially fragranced against the vulva all day ... it's not rocket science. Someone is going to make a fortune when they start selling a full range which is heavily marketed and clearly labelled as fragrance free.

Well if they'll change their packaging for a tiny minority who didn't like it surely they would change the actual pad if it's causing real physical problems for women using them?

I've gone over to reusable now. It's a revelation. No more recurrent thrush, no raw skin by day 3 of my period, and no more nasty cheap stink. It took me a long time to switch as I thought it would be grim, but actually it's way more pleasant than disposables in every way. I no longer feel like periods are gross and to be ashamed of. It's just abit of blood - we don't sell scented fucking bandages ffs.

I don't care what they do now tbh, I'm never going back. P&G can take their period shaming misogyny elsewhere.

I haven’t had an issue (mainly because since I have started having skin sensitivity in my 40s I have had the coil fitted so no periods) but Always if you are listening, I could not believe how difficult it was to find non-scented pads for my teen daughter when she started her periods. Non-scented should be the norm not the exception! Thrush is grim. End of story.

Not allergic but have noticed that smell recently. As I wear pad I can smell the scent, makes me feel self conscious in case anyone else can.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3719590-To-think-more-women-want-unscented-sanitary-towels-than-scented-ones

The majority of people on this thread agree too.

An email response from P&G back to 2016. Apparently they asked over 2000 women.

"Odour neutralising" 🙄

I don't stink but thanks for that.

Patronising shite.

I hate them! Had to use them for 24 hours and they make my fanny sore. They're fucking awful. I'll never buy always again. Bodyform and the intention is to go to reusable.

I only ever used to use Always and every month I would have bright red painful sores and itching. After grabbing a packet of supermarket own brand one month and having a period without the painful sores and itching, I realised it must have been related to the scented always towels.

After having my first baby I asked my mum to grab me a pack of sanitary towels on her way over. Unfortunately she picked up a pack of Always. I used them and within hours I was very sore and itchy, I quickly threw the pack away and vowed never to buy them again. I'll only every use supermarket own brands now as I know which ones are unscented.

Thanks all....I will be responding to Always on Twitter today with a link to this thread and will update if/when I have a response!

The thing is - since using the organic cotton Natracare ones... not only do I not have a rash but any odour that did exist after wearing a pad for a while (like overnight) doesn't exist!

So I wonder if any odour is made worse by the plastic which creates a 'damp' environment. Then they've added this horrible odour neutralising stuff to counter that and actually using cotton only removes the need for it IYSWIM?

I have used the hashtag #dontfragancemyflaps

Thanks to PP for the inspiration for that one!

yep. Not only is the smell of these products just awful but they make me really itchy.

I used always for 20 years. After contacting them and being told the same old shite about how I couldn't possibly be having a reaction to the pads as the new super duper odour neutralizing crap is underneath the top layer, and therefore not in contact with my vag, I switched to bodyform.
How many fucking women have to complain before they take notice?

@MNHQ

Is this a campaign Mumsnet HQ could help raise the profile of?

There has been a similar outcry on Twitter by African women and it just doesn't seem like they're taking it seriously when their products are causing health issues.

If anyone is interested this is the Twitter link to the story about the same thing being raised in Kenya and then other women from African countries comment on it...

twitter.com/bbcafrica/status/1105872131362091009?s=21

I used Always from being a teenager in the 90s when they first brought out their thin winged pads. I was really brand loyal, too, because it felt like they'd been the first to actually investigate the issues of bleeding from your vagina and making something really practical (ecological worries aside).

I have had to stop buying them since they started using perfume because 1) you can smell them all the time - someone said air freshener in the butchers and that's it 2) they sting after about 5 minutes 3) I get thrush if I use them more than once 4) I'm SO ANGRY they think periods smell worse than that chemical bilge.

I can definitely smell them on other people too. I don't use air freshener in my house so why the hell would I use it on my foof?

I've switched to Sainsbury's own brand btw.

They made lots of my pubes fall out.
I felt very raw and sore too, but knicker alopecia is a bit much surely.

Has anyone noticed the BV medication being much more heavily marketed recently?
I hadn't linked that to stinky febreze pads until now.

I remember a decade ago you saw adverts for canesten but BV wasn't such a huge issue. (I mean, if you had it I imagine you would want to treat it but I wasn't as aware of branded medication and tests)

I was a loyal Always customer for 20 years until they added this crap to it all. Couldn't understand why I was so itchy and sore with every period till I tried a different non scented brand.

I live in a rural area and my local supermarket only stocks Always. As a result I often travel miles to find alternatives or buy in bulk. That's how much I hate the scented stuff.