Since I come from a poor family, our values were simple: make the things you use last, save them for the next generation, and purchase them cheap. In essence, practicality took precedence over self-care.
Why do I mention this?
As long as I could remember, my house had always had more women than men. I remember seeing cabinets filled with boxes of day and night menstruation pads from different brands like Always, Kotex, and Carefree. Some of them were recognizable because I’d remember seeing commercials of them as a kid after my cartoons on television. Remember they’d pour a blue solution on two different pads to show us which brand could hold more blood?
When did our blood ever become blue? A part of me back then thought they were advertising pads for these folks:
When I entered puberty and started my first period, it was a gross phenomena. I remember feeling it sucked being a female. We have to wear tight bras that I couldn’t wait to pull off once I got home and NOW my vagina will bleed monthly?! Oh, middle finger to you, Mother Nature!
Whenever my period started, I would diligently rip out one pad and paste it onto my pink underwear. This happened all the way up until I discovered how to use a tampon at the age of 22. It was so awkward and painful when I first tried it. But once I got the hang of it, it became my best friend. I still use a pad underneath in case my period overflows (it happens, and it sucks, again). Still, around this time I was buying tampons from Costco because they were cheap and convenient.
When did I finally use LOLA? I’ll get there, too.
It was a gradual process of learning more about nutrition and the benefits of eating organic foods. The stages progressed from buying organic food to wearing organic clothing, and one day… I came across LOLA’s advertisement on Facebook, I believe. “Eh? How come I didn’t think of this!” At this point of my life, I was very into self-care and had some money to support that lifestyle. Still, my current tampons were still from the brands my family purchased for cheap, and since they didn’t bother me, I didn’t feel the need to convert.
But then I got curious…
Buying LOLA is a major act of self-love. LOLA makes their tampons, pads, and liners from 100% organic cotton, sourcing from the country Turkey. The cotton is certified organic by GOTS (Global Standard Textile Standard). There’s nothing else in there except cotton. Wasn’t this already the norm? I thought this was how every feminine product was made, but in actuality, that is far from the truth.
For decades, women like me have been using feminine products that were well advertised or what was on sale. LOLA has been educating me that these common brands were laden with chemicals and material that don’t make sense to be in our bodies. The craziest part is pads, tampons, and the likes are not forced to be regulated by the FDA!
As a result of this knowledge, the female founders of LOLA gave birth (no pun intended) to these 100% organic cotton feminine products. The argument is, if people are starting to question the chemicals and ingredients in their food and beauty products, why don’t they do the same for their feminine products? Especially if it’s going to be residing in a body part where we derive the most pleasure from and give birth to our own children?
Honest LOLA Review: But to be honest, I haven’t noticed much difference “down there” ever since my conversion to LOLA’s tampons. The most positive thing I can say is I don’t feel any pain or discomfort, which is always a great experience for anyone. Sure, I could revert back to cheaper tampons that have mysterious chemicals that I’ll never know about or know how to pronounce. But hear me out. Or hear your answers to these questions. Why is there a need for chemicals in our feminine products? How would those chemicals affect us in the long-term? How would an organic cotton tampon, with absolutely nothing in it, affect us in the long-term?
All in all, it comes down to priorities and what we care about. You’re different from me, rightfully and logically so. I prefer to prioritize my health and support the causes I feel strongly for. I get easily anxious inserting chemicals into my body that I don’t know the benefits to. On a side note, last year, I became aware of organic cotton and its effect on the lives of small farmers.
In India, where lots of cheap clothing are often tailored, lots of farmers were committing suicide (still occurring today) due to the mountain of debts they were accumulating from purchasing pesticides to spray their cotton field. At home, diseases were spreading from village to village because the farmers would bring harmful pesticides home from their clothing and uniforms. Cultivating and consuming organic cotton is how we prevent these mishaps and return healthy humans and soil back to the Earth. This is one of the deeper reasons I support LOLA, aside from my own health reasons. For more information, watch the documentary The True Cost like I did to educate yourself.
Yet, even if you weren’t convinced of my environmental and social reasons to support LOLA, there might be a part of you that can’t help but notice LOLA’s brand, their fun culture on Instagram, and their cute array of blue packaging.
Once you visit their website, the layout is cute and the information is crystal clear, providing a safe haven for any confused teenager who just saw a fresh drop of blood on her underwear (I was one of them).
Products & Features: Their products are simple, ranging from 3 types of tampon: applicator, non-applicator, and cardboard applicator ones; ultra thin pads (day and night time) with wings; and ultra thin liners. I was thrilled when they came out with cardboard applicator tampons because it was biodegradable and much more environment-friendly than the BPA-free plastic applicator ones. Despite all of this, here’s the catch: They do monthly delivery! Initially, I was hesitant, forecasting all these complications and unnecessary online modifications, but like I said, their website is straightforward and simple. You simply make an account, log in, and modify your order for next month’s shipment! Next month, you get a small brown box with all the promised tampons, pads, and liners you bought!
Whenever the topic of feminine products is brought up, no one fails to mention female empowerment. And why not? Instead of taking themselves seriously, LOLA celebrates femininity with funny cartoons of boobs and vaginas. The LOLA community on Instagram is also very cute. Each Friday, someone will tag #FirstPeriodFridays under their story confession of having their period for the first time. And it’s not just teenagers who bring up their story–ladies of all ages are participating with all types of stories–some of them with emotional tears and others with belly laughing tears.
In a world where transparency is hard to come by because business can easily go down the route of valuing money over people, LOLA defies that by being transparent with its customers. I emailed their staff, asking where they source their organic cotton, why the company is named LOLA, and if they ever intend to go Fair Trade–and surprisingly I got a very prompt, sweet email from Molly Soloff:
Hi Vivian,
Thanks for reaching out! Love hearing that you’re loving LOLA. Please see below for the answers to your questions:
- We source our GOTS-certified organic cotton from Turkey.
- When our founders were first naming LOLA, they wanted something that captured the essence of the brand and customer. LOLA is cool, confident and conscious — she cares about her health and what she puts in and on her body.
- We are always evaluating certifications from trusted global groups. While we support Fair Trade, we feel that our GOTS certification ensures that we hold ourselves and our suppliers to many of the same high standards as Fair Trade, including but not limited to fair worker treatment, compensation, and empowerment, as well as environmental stewardship.
Please let me know if you have any questions or need anything else!
Best, Molly
Truthfully, I wrote this post to immerse you to different feminine products that are available out there. LOLA’s service is unusual and quirky in their monthly delivery, customer customization, and as well as their culture to support women. It’s funny and endearing to cartoons of female body parts on their social media because it reminds me to take myself less seriously (especially when my hormones are surging and convincing me to bear attack my boyfriend). Thanks, LOLA, for reminding me that you’re there for me on my period (.)