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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to ask whether anyone likes scented sanitory towels?

172 replies

Shente · 13/12/2013 19:34

Periods just returned after a long time pregnant then breast feeding and I now find my old failsafes stink. I have bought a new pack of "simply fits" which don't seem to be as obnoxious as I was convinced the smell was so vile that someone would comment on it! Where has this idea come from and does anyone think it's a good one?

OP posts:
wonderstuff · 13/12/2013 20:26

Love my mooncup Grin

unlucky83 · 13/12/2013 20:27

I read somewhere oestrogen effects your sense of smell ....it is at its highest level when you are most fertile ...so about 2 weeks into your cycle...
The changes in your hormone levels as you start your period will change your sense of smell - it could mean you are convinced you stink and everyone around you can smell you - but it just isn't true!
Also after being 'infertile' (pregnant and breastfeeding) will mean that you just haven't had chance to get used to your 'normal' smell....your sensitivity to smell will have heightened from when you started your periods as a teen to now when (I am assuming) your are in your most fertile years...
Get a mooncup ...and don't go anywhere near those vile fake smelly stinky things!

PurpleJellyDisc · 13/12/2013 20:30

Nasty.

IamInvisible · 13/12/2013 20:31

The first, and last time I used them, they gave me such bad cystitis symptoms. I had to wake DH up in the middle of the night to go to Asda, 15 miles away, to get me some Cymalon and some unscented ones. I was in absolute agony on the toilet, he was ringing from the shop saying "I can't find them, I'll get Always!" I was shouting not to get fecking Always so he came home with a selection!

Bloody idiot marketers. Why would we want our fannies to smell of fecking Febreeze? Have they no bloody sense?

ViviDeHohohoVoir · 13/12/2013 20:32

They are awful. Made me itchy post DC3 and they are so strong smelling.

I walked through an aisle in the supermarket with DD (4) and she kept asking me what the smell was. It wasn't until she said it was 'flowery' Hmm and I had a good sniff that I realised it was the smell of the packaged and boxed pant liners she was talking about! Shock

AwkwardSquad · 13/12/2013 20:33

They are vile and they stink. Utterly foul.

WorrySighWorrySigh · 13/12/2013 20:34

Those who have said you like them..... Why?

Because I do. Which is just like you dont, but the other way around.

VampyreofTimeandMemory · 13/12/2013 20:34

I hate them because they essentially gave me nappy rash Blush

BertieBowtiesAreCool · 13/12/2013 20:37

I used to use scented liners when I was a teenager and quite liked them but it was very very subtle and not offensive.

I don't like scented pads because they tend to be bigger and more sweat-inducing than a pantyliner, also for some unknown reason the smell is much stronger.

I liked the liners because it was a pleasant smell and it's nice to get a waft of a pleasant smell any time, so just a sort of bonus I suppose when on the toilet. But it is totally pointless, because it doesn't "mask" any "odours", I could quite happily do without. And on sanitary towels themselves it seems horrible.

BertieBowtiesAreCool · 13/12/2013 20:38

And that is a weird sentence Grin

But generally, I like scented things. I like candles and I like fabric softener. So a scented pantyliner is no bad thing.

But scented towels are too far, IMO.

Methe · 13/12/2013 20:40

Well not really. I know I don't like them because I feel suggesting that our periods are something that needs to hidden away like a dirty smelly secret is offensive, the smell is unpleasant and they make me itch.

There are generally reason for liking/disliking things.

I wonder if there are women who are ashamed of their vaginas and if there are, why?

mummybare · 13/12/2013 20:41

I hate them. I tend to use a mooncup during the day and only towels at night so I have some from a couple of months ago in the cupboard to use up (bloody 3-for-2) but I certainly won't be buying them again.

They make me so self-conscious. As others have said, you may as well wear a flashing sign saying 'I'm on my period'.

Why, Always, why? I have also been a customer for a couple of decades and won't be buying them again. For myself or my daughter.

BertieBowtiesAreCool · 13/12/2013 20:46

Methe when I was a teenager I was very paranoid that somebody might smell my period. We were always being told that they "smell fishy" and when the Always/tampax person came along they were very clear about the "odour protecting layer". I (and I know most of the other girls I know) got the message loud and clear that a period was something dirty, smelly and disgusting.

Which is not to say, yay, we should all free-bleed because our periods are wonderful and beautiful. But a bit less disgust over a normal bodily function would be nice, after all, nobody feels disgusted when they wee or poo, do they? Even if they wouldn't want to come into contact with the substances another time. I use a mooncup now and it's just no big deal at all but I spent all of my teen years feeling repulsed and disgusted by my own body every time I had a period which can't be healthy at all!

PetiteRaleuse · 13/12/2013 20:49

Bloody hell that's shocking Bertie

BertieBowtiesAreCool · 13/12/2013 20:51

Is it really? Confused It was definitely the common view among my peer group, talking teens 10 years ago ish.

It's probably worse now. They probably waltz up the rows of girls handing out samples of fanny deodorant and vajazzles :(

PetiteRaleuse · 13/12/2013 20:56

Yes. Wings were only just coming out when I was 13-14 and I'm only in my mid 30s. The freebies we got at school were thick wingless things.

kali110 · 13/12/2013 20:56

I like them

PetiteRaleuse · 13/12/2013 20:57

Crap. That was 20+ years ago

Lucylouby · 13/12/2013 20:57

The scented towels are dreadful. I am convinced others must be able to smell me as I can smell it. I've swapped to tesco ones now, no smell and no worrying either.

Methe · 13/12/2013 21:02

That's a huge shame Bertie and exactly the kind of thing the marketing bods at Always like to hear.

Periods do not smell. Vaginas are not offensive.

summertimeandthelivingiseasy · 13/12/2013 21:04

I accidently bought a packet of carefree cotton feel panty liners with a thin green line on that said "fresh".

They are stinking the bathroom cupboard out, and I haven't even opened them. I don't want to go round stinking like cheap air freshener.

farrowandbawlbauls · 13/12/2013 21:06

I'm allergic to them and that was the final thing to push me to using a Mooncup. Never looked back.

WynkenBlynkenandNod · 13/12/2013 21:06

I hate them but have been so busy I haven't had a moment to find some unscented ones.

When did they start being scented ? Could there be a link to the recurrent UTI's I've been having since the end of last year ?

EthethethethChrisWaddle · 13/12/2013 21:10

I hate them. I can't normally smell myself during my period but when I had Always I used to get a whiff of the yucky scent, which then made me paranoid that other people would smell it too.

I've switched now and use either Bodyform or Tescos own brand. Both work perfectly well with no need for stinky perfumes.

ShadowsCollideWithPeople · 13/12/2013 21:10

Oh they are hideous! The faux floral 'scent' is horrible, they feel all plastic-y, are massively uncomfortable, and dear Lord, the itching!

I do find Always Infinity to be fairly comfy, and at least they don't stink like cheap perfume and rustle every time you move Grin. I am thinking of switching to reusables though.