PERIOD POWER: Period Underwear - My Honest Thoughts

A few weeks ago I got a delivery from a brand called Thinx. I popped this on my Instagram and rather ominously just said, “I wanted to try out some period pants” and I was met with quite a lot of confusion.

What are period pants? Is it just like a nappy? How does it work? And a lot of please tell me if these are any good because I’m desperate to try something new! So, here I am talking about period underwear on the internet, there’s always a first for everything!

Periods are a pain in the arse. There’s no two ways about it. Other than the fact obviously they let you know you aren’t pregnant (although not 100% of the time), they’re bloody annoying - no pun intended. Not only do us women have to deal with a full week of cramps, mood swings and fluctuating body temperatures, we also have to deal with the cost (environmentally and economically) of sanitary products. Whether that’s tampons or sanitary pads, neither are something you want to spend your money on. The main thing that bothered me about using tampons though, was the harm they can do to your body. Tampons contain lots of chemicals that can potentially be very harmful to your body (note: you can buy organic cotton ones), and also the disposal of tampons is harmful for the environment. It’s just one more thing to worry about too, making sure you have some with you, getting to a toilet in time to change etc. So I set about searching for an alternative.

Obviously a lot of women have moved to using the menstrual cup, sometimes known as the moon cup. I know there are sooo many advantages to this, but I personally just felt a little bit squeamish and weird about it. Mostly the idea of changing it in a public toilet. But, who knows, I may well give it a go one day and be converted as so many women have been!

Instead, I stumbled across an ad on facebook for period proof underwear. There are a few brands that sell them, the ad I saw was for Thinx, but I know there are a few other brands like Modi Bodi etc. I watched the advert all about how you just wear them like normal underwear and that they just absorb the blood totally with some amazing technology which involves a fair few layers, meaning you are leak free and odour free too (if you want to know all the technology and the science behind it, then its deffo best to read up on their website). I was so sceptical at first. I was certain there was no way this garment could absorb that much blood without it looking like an actual pampers nappy. But the reviews were incredible, and that’s what sold me on them.

So I ordered three pairs of the THINX period pants, in their new super absorbent style, designed to be worn for 8 hours and to absorb up to 4 tampons worth of blood. I had to order them from America, and they were pretty expensive in themselves. They were around 30 dollars each and then I had to pay about £20 for shipping and customs charge. However, they are now available on sites like ASOS and Selfridges. I did justify the cost though with the amount of money I’ve spent on tampons over the years, it made sense to make an investment into something that would last me a lot longer than a tampon does. They also offer a money back guarantee too (not entirely sure how that works but worth a look).

HOW DO THEY WORK?

So I’m not going to go into all the nitty gritty of periods, I mean if you’re reading this I’m going to assume you know a fair bit about having a period. But, what I will say is… they work. They absorb everything. To test it before I used it, I ran the tap on a pretty high pressure and held the absorbent part under it… it absorbed so much of the water, and I would say it was probably about 500ml of water, or even more, before it started to leak a little bit, and that was with a forceful flow of water - and an average period over the whole duration is only around 6-8 teaspoons of blood, that just shows how absorbent they are.

Just to note - the “absorbent part” is exactly where you would expect it to be, on the gusset of the underwear and it goes up to around half way up where your bum goes, so if you are lying down for example then you are still covered. It also isn’t anywhere near as thick as I expected - it is thicker than the rest of the material but only a little and I couldn’t feel it being thicker at all when it was on, it didn’t bunch up or anything like that. It’s kind of like a towelling material. 

DO THEY SMELL?

They don’t smell at all either, that was one thing I was worried about as for me thats something I hated about pads; the smell and the idea of essentially sitting in your blood. But with these, they don’t smell at all and because the blood is absorbed into a “secret” layer essentially, you can’t see it nor is it at all wet, so you really don’t feel like you are sitting in it at all.

I wore them all day and then changed and wore a pair all night and had no problems or leaks whatsoever. In terms of washing them, it’s pretty simple. You just have to rinse them as soon as you are finished wearing them, then chuck them in the wash on their own on a ‘delicate’ setting and don’t use any washing detergent or fabric conditioner. And then leave them to air dry. This is one of the con’s of the underwear - because they are so absorbent, they take a really long time to dry, so just bear that in mind. 

FINAL THOUGHTS…

So, overall, my final thoughts are:

I think they are an amazing invention, and they really did work in the way they said they would. I think it’s an amazing idea to prevent harm to the environment and to our bodies, and I think it would be incredible if these could be provided to women who don’t have the means to afford sanitary products or live in a country where they aren’t readily available - perhaps in the future this is an incentive that the brands that sell these could work on doing. 

Like I said, they worked exactly in the way they said they would. They didn’t leak or smell and I wore them for around 8 hours and had no problem. 

THE ONLY NEGATIVES…

These are very subjective, so just bear that in mind as you are reading.

There are two things that I wasn’t 100% keen on. The first, and this may sound really weird, but because you can’t see the blood or anything, I wasn’t really sure how heavy my period was - not really a problem if your periods are quite regular, but my periods really vary and for me to know how many more days of my period is left, I would normally tell by how many times I have to change my tampon. So, for me personally I felt as though I didn’t know as much about my period as I normally do, if that makes sense. A minor issue and probably just something that takes a little getting used to.

Secondly, I guess because I have worn tampons for a good 8 years or so I really wasn’t used to being able to feel the blood coming out of me. Sorry if this is TMI, but you came to read about period pants so what did you expect really. But you get my gist, it was a bit of an uncomfortable feeling - and whilst I couldn't actually feel it in the underwear, it kinda felt like I was slightly wee-ing myself, which therefore made me more aware and conscious of the fact I could leak, if you understand what I’m saying. If you wear sanitary towels then you will probably be used to this feeling (although often with a sanitary towel the liquid sits on the top of the towel and you really feel as though you are wet, and with the pants that isn’t the case at all), this one is a totally personal one and again something I think I would get used to!

So, overall, I am really happy with them. I will happily wear them no problem at all overnight, as the two issues I mentioned above don’t really affect me overnight. I’m so grateful for this as wearing tampons overnight in particular really bothered me, and there's nothing more upsetting and a little distressing then waking up to blood on your sheets. However, I also think I will wear them on my lighter days, and then wear them with a tampon on my heaviest day (not because I think they will leak, but because I’m not too keen on the sensation that I mentioned above - but as I said, I may well get used to this) . A lot of women in the reviews mentioned how they have incredibly heavy periods and they wear them as well as a tampon in order to be totally leak free as otherwise they were changing their tampons hourly. Obviously this means still wearing a tampon, but if it is making women’s lives easier and their cycle more manageable then I am all for it. 

So, as I mentioned, it is all so subjective depending on how you feel, your cycle etc. But it has made me really happy to know there are other really good options out there, and I am really glad I made the purchase, and I would maybe consider purchasing a few more so that I’m not desperately waiting for them to dry after being washed! So if these are something you have been thinking about and weren’t sure, I would definitely recommend buying at least one pair and giving it a go, or just head over to their website or Facebook page and read the reviews and hopefully you may be able to find a review from someone who has a similar cycle/flow to you.

Overall I think they are a great invention and I’m so happy that women are slowly getting more choice and their needs are being more and more considered. I may well try the menstrual cup next and if I do, I’ll let you know how I get on in comparison to the period proof underwear. But, these have definitely answered my concerns about using tampons, so I won’t be searching for another option for a while.

SIZING

Just a quick note on sizing, I ordered a size medium and they fitted perfectly - I am a size 10 on the bottom half and a waist 27. I didn’t want anything tight at all and they definitely fit really well. 

The exact ones I bought are here. They are the SUPER COTTON BRIEF (the more absorbent ones, than the standard cotton briefs).

You can also buy them from boots - linked here.

You can buy similar versions from ASOS, linked here. (These are not the super absorbent ones). I believe they also sell them on John Lewis too so shop around!
Make sure you check what you are buying if you are going through the website, as there are different ones for different absorbencies and different shapes etc.