21 Innovative Period Products for Your Menstrual Cycle

From customized birth control to effective pain relief and leak-proof products, these women-owned period brands are transforming the feminine care industry.

By Quinn Devita

 

In 1931, American physician Earle Haas invented the menstrual tampon, a revolutionary patented product that birthed the dawn of Tampax, which arrived on shelves across the country in the mid-1930s as one of the great menstrual inventions of the 20th-century. Often delivered by mail in discreet, plain paper-wrapped boxes of 10, the dawn of the “Modern Period” began, along with its legacy of shame, disgust, and secrecy that continues to plague the approximately 1.9 billion people worldwide who menstruate today. Though most major menstrual hygiene companies are run by cisgender men, women-owned and operated companies are stepping up to change the business of periods, launching exciting new innovations (everything from customized birth control to effective pain relief and leak-proof products) that provide more choices for women to find comfort and protection through their cycle—along with transparency, sustainability, and empowerment.

Tracking Your Period:

WILD.AI

The WILD.AI application uses the science of female physiology for athletes, giving women a way to train while following the patterns of their menstrual cycle. CEO and Founder Hélène Guillaume started the WILD.AI app to help women train, track their nutrition, and make sleep recommendations based on their physiology—whether you’re menstruating, on birth control, or experiencing menopause symptoms.

Flutter Health

Flutter Health is the app for painful periods, which can be an early indication of Endometriosis and other women’s reproductive diseases. Because it takes on average of 10 years to diagnose Endometriosis, co-founder Kristy Curry launched the Flutter app to help women identify signs of possible Endometriosis in your cycle so you can seek treatment sooner than later. Early diagnosis increases the likelihood of a positive outcome and the avoidance of unnecessary surgeries, infertility or hysterectomy.

Birth Control:

Aavia

The Brooklyn-based startup Aavia wants to guide individuals with uteruses through their lifelong hormone journey by offering daily education and personalized insights. While the Aavia app is the company’s core product, they also sell a patented smart pill bluetooth case that reminds users to take their pill on time, every day. Co-founded by Aagya Mathur and Aya Suzuki.

Tuune

Tuune leverages AI and biological testing to match women with contraception that actually works for their bodies. Co-founded by Shardi Nahavandi, the platform will aggregate data from each patient’s mail-in swab sample and an online health assessment to provide a detailed, holistic report of a user’s hormonal health—allowing users to choose their birth control rather than conforming to the industry-standard “one size fits all”.

TwentyEight Health

TwentyEight Health is on a mission to empower individuals when it comes to their reproductive and sexual health by providing convenient access to various forms of birth control. On their online platform, you can easily get a new prescription from a doctor or re-up your existing one, receive fast delivery to your home, and ask doctors follow-up questions via secure messaging. Co-founded by Amy Fan, TwentyEight Health accepts most commercial insurance, including Medicaid, and offers out-of-pocket payment for as low as $16/month.

Adyn

At Adyn, choosing your birth control is a science, not an art. After taking an easy, at-home test kit, Adyn analyzes your hormone levels and assesses your genetic risks for specific side effects before making precise birth control recommendations for your body. Founder and CEO Dr. Elizabeth Ruzzo started Adyn to help personalize medical treatment for each customer’s unique hormonal and genetic profile.

Pandia Health

Pandia Health is a one-stop shop for birth control prescriptions and medicine delivery, working to make the lives of women easier. Co-founded by Dr. Sophia Yen and Perla Ni, Pandia currently offers free and discreet delivery of the birth control pill and emergency contraceptives in partnership with pharmacies and doctors specializing in women’s health. Convenient 3-month to 12-month supplies, with automatic refills, Pandia is eliminating the common anxiety of running out of your birth control.

Pain Relief:

Food Period

Through its extensive research of Seed Syncing and Cycling, Food Period has demonstrated that each seed has a specific micronutrient or chemical compound that helps a woman’s body to better modulate the production and elimination of estrogen and progesterone— helping to restore hormonal balance and alleviate a number of period-related symptoms. Co-founded by Britt Martin and Jenn Kim, Food Period offers a variety of products like their Moon Mylk and Moon Bites to help relieve menopausal pain.

Semaine Health

Semaine Health created a vegan dietary supplement to specifically address period pain and PMS symptoms with a focus on women living with endometriosis. Co-founded by twin sisters Lauren and Catherine Lee, Semaine’s supplements offer women a natural, plant-based product that has been rigorously researched by Semaine’s Head of Formulation, a medical bioengineer, for both efficacy and safety. 

Looni

Looni offers medically-formulated, botanically-derived solutions to menstrual pain. Founded by Chelsea Leyland, a DJ and leading medical cannabis and epilepsy activist, and Tatiana Steel, a former investment banker, Looni’s soon-to-launch Intravaginal Pain Relief contains cannabinoids and terpenes for localized release from menstrual and ovulation cramps.

Private Packs

A modern solution for period pain, Private Packs offers hot and cold vulva personal pads to provide instant and discreet vulva relief from pain, inflammation, cramps, or discomfort. CEO and Founder Suzanne Sinatra created her Private Packs to address the common vaginal pain or soreness caused by Yeast Infections, sex, STIs, Vulvodynia, Vaginal Dryness, waxing, shaving, electrolysis or birthing a child.

Leak-Proof Products:

Sequel

tampon redesigned by athletes and engineers for superior comfort and absorption, Sequel is engineered to prevent leaks with its patented spiral design. Founders Amanda Calabrese (a national surf lifesaving champion) and Greta Meyer (a former Division I lacrosse player) developed the technology in 2019, rigorously testing prototypes with laboratory, clinical, and biomedical partners to ensure a reliable product. Launching in Spring 2022.

LOLA

LOLA, founded in 2014, was one of the first companies to address the under-researched product category of feminine care, offering tampons made from 100 percent certified organic cotton. (Tampons have historically been coated with synthetic materials like rayon and chlorine, along with toxic chemicals that can cause Toxic Shock Syndrome in young women.) The lack of tampon manufacturing transparency led co-founders Alexandra Friedman and Jordana Kier to launch LOLA, which now offers everything from eco-friendly menstrual cups to PMS cramp relief products.

Athena Club

From organic tampons to probiotic supplements and skin care products, Athena Club is a personalized subscription that delivers period products right to your door (enabling women to avoid those inconvenient last-minute trips to the store). Co-founded by Maria Markina and Allie Griswold, Athena Club’s products are made using clean, sustainable ingredients that the company ranks using the EWG database.

Cora

After Molly Hayward learned how menstruation negatively affects the health of impoverished girls and women, she founded Cora to advocate for women’s health globally. The brand offers a variety of thoughtfully-designed products to meet each of your body’s different needs, from organic tampons and period underwear to bladder liners and heat relief patches. Read more about Cora’s mission on their blog, Blood & Milk. 

DAME

DAME created the world’s first reusable tampon applicator in an attempt to reduce the 1.3 billion plastic applicators thrown away in the UK every year. Co-founded by Celia Pool, DAME’s mission is to make sustainable products that are both accessible and affordable, while working to change the conversation about periods for future generations of girls. (Now available in the U.S.)

Rael

Made with K-Beauty technologies and female expertise, Rael is a holistic care company founded by three South Korean natives: Aness An, Binna Won, and Yanghee Paik who set out to create their own solution to what they perceived as the lack of effective period products in America. From soothing vulva care to organic liners and acne blemish patches, Rael combines cutting-edge manufacturing technology in Korea with natural, effective ingredients.

Lunette

With a mission to bring the menstruation conversation to the mainstream, Lunette‘s founder Heli Kunjaren’s inclusive line of menstrual cups is designed with women of all different body types in mind with a focus on comfort and safety. Lunette’s reusable menstrual cups are available in two models: light flow and normal to heavy. After reaching popularity among menstruating women, Lunette’s products have expanded to include intimate wipes and reusable pads. Shop Lunette’s revolutionary period collection on the Helm Shop now.

Modibodi

After the birth of her second child, Modibodi founder Kristy Chong’s experience with bladder leaks made her determined to start her own brand of sustainable, leak-proof separates. In 2011, she developed her patented Modifier Technology and launched a line of  leak-proof and sweat-proof period underwear, as well as swimwear made from premium biodegradable and recycled materials like bamboo, merino wool, organic cotton, and recycled nylon. 

Blume

Sixty percent of women can pinpoint their self-esteem plummeting when they went through puberty, according to an extensive community survey completed by wellness startup Blume. Co-founders and sisters Taran and Bunny Ghatrora created Blume for this reason: to destigmatize normal things like puberty, periods, and sex-ed. Along with their collections of period and skincare products, Blume has also released A Guide to First Periods backed by the Executive Director of the Women’s Health Institute that covers “everything a girl needs to know before her first period.”

Daye

Daye’s CBD-infused organic tampons not only help to minimize period cramping, they are also sanitised to eliminate the risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome, and are wrapped in sustainable packaging (think bio-based sugarcane applicators, water-soluble wrappers, an organic cotton pouch, and recyclable paper mailers). Founded by Valentina Milanova, Daye is on a mission to bridge the gender gap in product innovation with additional products like its patented Vaginal ProViotics, to help prevent the growth of harmful pathogens, keeping your vagina healthy and protecting it from infections.  

Honey Pot

The Honey Pot Company is the first complete feminine care system that cleanses and balances your vagina. Founded by Beatrice Dixon in 2014 after struggling with recurring bacterial vaginosis, Honey Pot offers toxin-free, gynecologist-approved, and plant based feminine care products from intimate feminine wipes to menstrual cups.

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