Experts are calling out Vagisil for its new line of products aimed at helping teens manage “period funk.” The new cleansing products are unnecessary, some gynecologists say, adding that they believe the company's marketing preys on young people's worries over normal bodily functions.
The new line, called OMV!, includes an “intimate wash,” cleansing wipes, and an anti-itch serum, all fragranced with a vanilla-and-clementine scent. All of the products are intended for external use only. “This is intimate care designed with teens and the experts at Vagisil," the site says. "So period funk and bikini itch don’t get in your way.”
The issue is that you don't need special products to clean your vaginal or vulvar area, as SELF has explained many, many times now. Not only are special vaginal cleansing products unnecessary, but they can also cause issues. The skin in this area of the body is particularly sensitive, so products used here—especially if they contain ingredients like fragrance—can be irritating. Products like these can even disrupt the normal pH of the vagina and lead to a yeast infection in some cases.
As a reminder, it's completely normal for your vagina to have a smell that will be slightly different from person to person. And you can gently cleanse the external area with mild soap and water if you'd like. But you shouldn't be cleaning inside the vagina with anything—your normal discharge will do that job for you. (Even using a potentially irritating product on the skin surrounding your vagina could allow some to get inside of you.) If you're worried about a change in the typical smell of your vagina, or you notice any itching or discomfort in the area, your first move should be to check in with your doctor or gynecologist—not grabbing a new scented wash or wipes.
So experts are understandably frustrated by the new products as well as the marketing surrounding them. “Vagisil are trying to expand their ‘legacy brand’ (an unnecessary and often irritating ‘feminine wash’) by telling teens they have ‘period funk’ and can solve that issue and get a vaginal ‘glow up’ with creamsicle scented products,” Jen Gunter, M.D., ob-gyn and author of The Vagina Bible, who has been leading much of the criticism of the new products on social media, wrote on Twitter. “Preying on teens and amplifying patriarchal shame of normal bodily functions to sell an irritating product is not acceptable. I’m not stopping until they take that OMV! product line down everywhere,” she said.
“Vagisil is marketing an overpriced, predatory, misogynistic vulvar wash to MINOR GIRLS,” Danielle Jones, M.D., an ob-gyn based in Texas, said on Twitter.
After days of criticism, the company responded with a statement on social media. “We wanted to clarify any confusion or the underlying belief that OMV! was developed because there is something wrong or dirty with teens or that vulvas/vaginas are inherently dirty. That is not the case,” Vagisil said in the statement.
"This line was created by our skin-care experts together with teens and their moms, because young women are athletes and active in so many ways, and shared with us that they get sweaty, worry about period hygiene and odors, and want their own cleansing products with scents they enjoy for themselves," the statement continued. "Vagisil is here to provide safe, gentle external cleansing products that are gynecologist-tested."
But some experts are still skeptical and warning customers to stay away from any vaginal cleansing products, saying they're unnecessary at best and, at worst, could cause irritation and infections.
"Periods are normal—they aren't ‘dirty.’ You don't need any special products to make your genitals smell like creamsicles if you have your period, or sweat with exercise!" Karen Tang, M.D., a minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon at Axia Women's Health, said on Twitter. “'Hygiene' products can cause irritation and vaginal infections! Water is the best, and it's free!”
Ultimately, if you have any questions about your vagina or vulva, or want to know the best way to take care of those parts of your body, it's worth talking to your doctor first.
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