REVIEW: Ruby Love Period Underwear
This review is a bit of a departure for me. While I don’t think there should be any stigma or shame surrounding menstruation, I do also feel that it is a personal thing. While I happily talk about periods with my friends - comparing notes and sharing tips, or over-informing male partners about the whole process to watch them squirm or even better, to watch them take it all in stride like understanding adults - I typically wouldn’t write about my period or my underwear on the internet, for various reasons. However, I am really committed to trying to find ways to minimize trash and non-biodegradable waste, and also to help share any info I have that could make periods easier and more comfortable for women, girls and non-binary folks that experience periods.
Regarding my goal to minimize waste and trash:
I personally mostly use pads; I just don’t like using tampons, but I will use one if I am on vacation and don’t want to miss any beach/pool days, for example. I’d say I use a tampon less than five times a year, so period underwear, for me, is an attempt to cut down or eliminate using pads.
Every time I use a pad, it’s wrapped in plastic and has two more waxed plastic strips protecting the sticky side and wings, which goes right into the trash. Then, a few hours later the pad itself goes into the trash. Multiply this by 5-8 pads per period, times 12 months, and that’s 60-96 a year, which is probably a huge trashbin’s worth. In the grand scheme of things, is this enough to take down Planet Earth? No. But is it absolutely necessary? Also no.
My particular goal was not necessarily to save money. Saving money is never a bad idea, it just wasn’t why I personally decided to shop around. I spent about $56 - $15 for the two reusable pads, $18-20 for the underwear, plus tax, and I used a free shipping code. I spend probably $25 on pads/tampons for the year, so if I keep these for more than two years, I can start breaking even.
CHOOSING A PERIOD UNDERWEAR BRAND
I knew about Thinx, because they have awesome marketing and a great social media presence. (They also had a sexual harassment scandal involving Thinx’ former CEO). But after doing some research online I learned that there were a handful of other companies out there as well.
I chose Ruby Love for price and value; I ultimately found Thinx to be too expensive for a first-time period underwear experimental venture. I also looked at the suspiciously similarly named Knix but felt that the quality and fabric didn’t look as nice or as cotton-y as the other two.
Before I get into reviewing Ruby Love, I will say that I loved how Thinx’ tagline is the super-inclusive “For People With Periods.”
Ruby Love has the most inclusive website, with people of all skintones and sizes, and they also have men’s products, although they are marketed as solutions for incontinence rather than menstruation. (If any reader is confused right now, I’ll explain super quickly: Some trans or intersex men may have periods. Also, some female-bodied folks might just like mens’ underwear better.)
Knix did a great job of including models with all different body types and skin tones on their website. There was also a section dedicated to postpartum products, so they deserve a kudos for all that.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF RUBY LOVE PERIOD UNDERWEAR
I bought two pairs of bikini underwear, Onyx + Sapphire and I bought a two-pack of the reusable Double Sided Pads.
Loved the packaging. I thought it was super cute that my order came with a free pad and a note to share it with someone in need. There was also lots of positive messaging that I really liked too. Nothing was overly girly, and nothing alluding to the contents of the boxes or a period itself being embarrassing or shameful or a “problem” to “solve.” I appreciated that!
Upon taking them out of the boxes, the black looked like regular underwear. The blue looked kind of like bathing suit material.
You can wear the underwear with no pad, or slip one of the reusable pads into the “pocket”..
The reusable pads fit into a pocket in Ruby Love’s underwear. Once in, they don’t move or shift at all.
SO, DOES PERIOD UNDERWEAR WORK?
Kind of.
Wearing Ruby Love underwear on the first day and the last day of my period was as easy as pie. I wore it without the reusable pad, and had absolutely no issues; I was comfortable, there was no leaks, no stains. Loved it. Recommend it.
Period underwear vs Day Two, however, was another story. Period: 1, Ruby Love, 0. My heaviest day is Day Two (everyone’s is different), and within about an hour I had already leaked through just the underwear, no pad. I quickly popped a reusable pad in. It felt really bulky. Unlike a store-brand disposable pad, which is made of a combination of plastic, cotton, and cotton/plastic mesh and is generally flatter and kind of shifts into place as you move, the reusable pad was thicker and the material didn’t settle as much. It also felt a lot…hotter, I would say. I think the material is just less breathable. Lastly, it is marketed as a “double sided” pad, but I didn’t dare flip it over. First of all, I didn’t really want to get all up in there to take it out and flip it over; second of all, flipping it over would have meant there was only a relatively thin fabric barrier between the contents of Side 1 and my jeans; I didn’t think the lightly padded inside of the underwear would prevent Side 1 from leak through.
I took it out at home, and, not really knowing what to do with it at that point, ran it under some water in the sink. It was pretty messy. Then, it was completely wet and I really didn’t know what to do with it, so I put it into the bathtub to dry, and later tossed it into the washing machine with the rest of my laundry. No issues there, but the process of washing it, letting it dry (or the alternative, carrying it dripping wet to the laundry room) wasn’t exactly ideal or discreet, if you are looking for a discreet solution.
The above situation just really wasn’t ideal. First of all, I just happened to be at home; what if I wasn’t? Would I have had to just slip a used reusable pad into a plastic bag, for example, to stash in my purse and bring home to wash? If I were to use a plastic bag, there goes the whole sustainability thing, since instead of creating plastic trash with the pad and wrapper, I would have just switched to trashing a plastic bag instead.
Also, I wouldn’t have been comfortable sleeping in these. I measured the built in pad, and the resuable pad. They are each 7”, where a disposable pad for overnight is almost 12”. I didn’t have enough confidence in the underwear or the reusable pad to wear it to sleep on heavier days.
Day Three I stuck to disposable pads, and Day 4 I was back to Ruby Love period underwear, no pads. Same with Day 5, the tail end of it all where I really don’t need a pad but don’t want to stain any nice underwear. So, all in all, out of five days of my period, I wore Ruby Love Period Underwear for three days, and disposable pads for two days.
Did I minimize waste? Sure! Did I eliminate waste? Not entirely. Did I save money? No. Am I happy with this purchase? Yes. I’ll keep using these, and keep trying to figure out ways to make it more comfortable and less challenging to remove, carry, and clean the pads. This will definitely be part of my periods, but it is not the solution to end all solutions.
