Recommendations for an intimate wash please

[BlackAmericanoNoSugar]

Since I've been menopausal I've been using the wash from yesyesyes.org but they don't deliver to the EU at the moment. So any other recommendations? I had a look online but most of the washes either don't give the full ingredients or use an SLS as the foaming agent which I know would make me itchy.

Thanks.

You don't need an intimate wash. Use water and ordinary soap. Intimate wash is a rip off.

@Fauvist

You don't need an intimate wash. Use water and ordinary soap. Intimate wash is a rip off.

Ordinary soap gives me thrush. I use femfresh which doesn't.

That's not my experience, water and ordinary soap was giving me massive itchiness. Someone on here recommended Yes and it made a huge difference to my comfort. However now that I'm trying to find an alternative it does seem that most intimate washes are just body washes with a price increase, which is why I'm looking for a recommendation.

I suffer thrush too, I've not found a soap which doesn't give me thrush yet (try to use ph balanced soap such as carex, simple, sannex) so I'm following for peoples recommendations 🙈

Femfresh has SLS VsgKitt, so I couldn't use it.

@overtherainbo

I suffer thrush too, I've not found a soap which doesn't give me thrush yet (try to use ph balanced soap such as carex, simple, sannex) so I'm following for peoples recommendations 🙈

If you're in the UK they are still delivering there. I found it very good. www.yesyesyes.org/products/yes-cleanse-intimate-washes/

The Gallinee Cleansing bar doesn't irritate. On cult beauty and gallinee websites.

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar thank you, I am in the uk. I'll try it out. Currently pregnant and I'm sick of the constant return of thrush. Also only use fairy non bio wash for clothes 😩

Fairy is absolute rubbish for sensitive skin, despite their advertising. Even my DH who doesn't react to anything got itchy when I tried Fairy non-bio.

Filetti is good, and so is M&S own brand. What I'm using at the moment is Tru Earth which I tried on a whim and is working well for my DS's very sensitive skin.

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar Dermatologists and gynaecologists will advise you to use only warm water to wash your vulva.

patient.info/news-and-features/should-you-clean-your-vagina

You don't even need soap and if you feel you must, then something perfume-free and gentle is the way to go.

But the reason you got thrush with soap is that (as above) you don't need soap. To wash away discharge, and sweat, all you need is warm water.

'Intimate' washes are a complete con, persuading women a) the smell and b) they need something special to clean their skin.

Warm water is all you need. The rest is just marketing.

Washing with aqueous cream works for me - and is very cheap. Not had a problem since I switched to that.

I know the advice is to just use water but curious to know whether people actually find that works - I know that just water doesn't work for me on what I assume is a mix of sweat/skin cells/discharge that would otherwise build up - I know from having just used water when I went away for a weekend without the cream. And I can't see why it would work, eg you wouldn't make pastry with your hands then just try to rinse the flour/fat mixture off, you'd use soap.

I know the advice is to just use water but curious to know whether people actually find that works -

Yes it does.

To be really blunt, if you use your fingers to get into all the nooks and crannies of your vulva and wash away any secretions with a shower spray at the same time, you end up very clean.

Aqueous cream is suggested sometimes by drs for women with irritated skin who cannot use water at all. (apply, wipe off the cream.)

The only area you need to use soap is your anus. That's because poo contains fatty secretions and they need soap to wash them away.

Why would you doubt a medical site (see link) where they information is okay-ed by a dr?

My gynae gave me a brilliant bit of advice re smelliness: when you've wee'ed, wipe, stand up straight, sit down on the loo and wipe again. You may even wee some more, in which case repeat the process. Apparently if you are obese or have had babies you may not void every last drop of urine, and those last drops trickle down un-noticeably. But they make you smelly. And all the soap in the world won't prevent that smell developing.

External vulval area (ie the hairy bits) water and whatever you use to wash the rest of your body. Internal vulval area, just plain water.

Not what you were asking for, OP, but your vulva doesn't need a special detergent. It doesn't need any detergent or soap.

Sometimes warm baths are actually easier than showers for washing the area without using soap.

Just to clear up, I'm not getting thrush, other people on the thread have mentioned that. At first I thought I was getting thrush and was frustrated because the treatment wasn't working, but actually I was just dry and itchy because of menopause. Water alone is better than soap, but the Yes! product was reducing itchiness more effectively than water. I'll stick with water and give it a few weeks, perhaps they'll resume delivery to the EU, or I might use a parcel forwarding service.

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar

Just to clear up, I'm not getting thrush, other people on the thread have mentioned that. At first I thought I was getting thrush and was frustrated because the treatment wasn't working, but actually I was just dry and itchy because of menopause. Water alone is better than soap, but the Yes! product was reducing itchiness more effectively than water. I'll stick with water and give it a few weeks, perhaps they'll resume delivery to the EU, or I might use a parcel forwarding service.

If your vulva is itchy it's sign of low estrogen at 'your' age. The easy treatment is a weak estrogen cream from your GP (Ovestin) applied in a pea-sized amount.

This won't get better in time on its own, and needs treatment.

Dry, itchy vulva + menopause = low oestrogen causing vaginal dryness. You need Ovestin ASAP. I also did not recognise the symptoms and left it too late. Ovestin has eased the discomfort enormously, but cannot fully reverse the atrophy. It happened even though I've been on HRT since peri-menopause.