How to take care of your vulva?

Your vulva is a part of the body that is quite fragile. Periods, sexual activities, hair removal/shaving, synthetic materials… It goes through many factors that can easily deteriorate it. This is why it is very important to take great care of it! The vaginal flora is made up of micro-organisms and to avoid discomfort (mycosis, odors, irritation, unusual discharge, etc.) there are some tips to maintain the harmony of these bacteria. 🥰 We give you all our advice here!👇

• Personal hygiene
• Pubic hairs ; to remove or to keep?
• And during your period?
• Sexuality and vulvar health
• Choose your vibrator wisely and take care of it while respecting your vulva

Personal hygiene

First, know that your vagina is self-cleaning; so, when we talk about intimate hygiene, we are talking about the hygiene of the vulva and the inter-buttock fold. 😊

Douching, which involves injecting liquid into the vagina using an enema bulb or directly with a jet, is strongly discouraged! Just like the vaginal sauna, this could damage your intimate flora. 😕

To wash your vulva, do not use washcloths! These are breeding grounds for microbes and can irritate your private parts. Perfumes, deodorants, shower gels… Forget!

Instead, use clear water once a day and, several times a week, an intimate soap with a pH that respects your body. 🧼 With your hand, wash your vulva from front to back so as not to spread germs from your anus. 👍

To maintain a healthy vulva, say goodbye to your synthetic underwear 👋; make way for cotton panties, like those from the Henriette H brand . 😍 Cotton materials will allow your vulva to breathe properly and avoid all kinds of discomfort. To let your vulva “breathe”, it is also advisable not to wear underwear at night. 😉

If you find that your vulva has a bad odor despite good intimate hygiene, this is certainly a sign of a gynecological infection. In the same way as if you observe unusual discharge, consult your gynecologist as soon as possible! Moreover, your annual appointment with your gynecologist should not be neglected. 😉 Nothing better than advice from a doctor! You can also self-auscultate this area using a mirror!

Finally, a healthy diet will also impact your health and your vaginal odors (which by the way are completely natural eh)!

Pubic hairs ; to remove or to keep?

While they have been removed since Ancient Egypt, we could say that biological evolution could have eliminated our hair! But if this is not the case, it is simply because they are very useful and have a function for every place! 🤗

So why do we wax? For Charles Darwin, hair was synonymous with modern man, the descendant of the ape. But the citizens of the Victorian era precisely had the ambition to detach themselves from animals. So the beauty industry followed this idea and publicized the fact that removing hair is a matter of hygiene. Thus, a new criterion of beauty was created; that of hair removal/shaving. 🪒 Over the ages, many factors have banned hair from our lives. Mainstream pornography, for example, depicts women with smooth, hairless skin, which has become a popular fantasy.

Nature gives us hair almost everywhere; on the head, face, legs, arms, armpits and also on the bikini line and vulva. If they are there, it is not for nothing; they serve as a protective barrier against unwanted bacteria and reduce the risk of drought , especially in this location which is certainly one of the most fragile. The hairs present on the labia majora protect against infections during sexual intercourse, since friction is limited as well as burns, irritation, serious infections and the risk of giving rise to condyloma (responsible for the papillomavirus). 😦 In case of infection, consult your gynecologist or doctor quickly!

In everyday life, it has become commonplace to see women without any hair on their legs; the opposite has unfortunately become surprising. More and more women are taking responsibility for their hair. 😍 If leg hair removal has become so common, it's easy to wonder what we should do with our pubic hair. The answer is very simple: you should not keep them, you should not take them off. It's more a question of power and above all of wanting . It's up to you to decide what you do with it, even if it's difficult to detach yourself from other people's eyes, especially on this subject.

You now know that removing your hair is very far from being a question of hygiene, contrary to popular belief. 😉 And if you think that hair makes the smell of perspiration stagnate, that's completely normal; a trip to the shower and off we go again. 😊 

However, if you wish to remove them, do so while respecting your vulva! Shorten them with scissors, wax them or shave them… That’s the big dilemma! Know that in fact, whatever your choice, your hair grows back at the same speed. It's simply that hair removal pulls them out at the root. The bulbs must therefore have time to replenish themselves, the hairs to grow under your skin and appear, whereas razors and scissors only cut them on the surface. If you have the impression of having less hair when hair removal re-grows, it is because when shaving, it “divides” and appears thicker. At the end of hair removal, the hairs grow back as new, but just as numerous.

If you choose to remove your hair, don't forget to take care of your skin, which will need a good scrub before, and good hydration after (no Nivea cream on your vulva please- please 🥹 )!

And during your period?

To avoid the inconvenience of periods, the use of tampons and disposable pads is quite common. In addition to being not very ecological, these protections often have chemical components which are not always good for the vulva. In direct contact with the mucous membrane, the residues of toxic and irritating products propagate directly in our body... Which does not eliminate them. 🤢

Luckily, brands like Jho are completely transparent in what their products are made of; their pads and tampons are made from certified organic cotton. In addition to being environmentally friendly, this material allows your privacy to breathe! 🌬

If you are prone to vaginal yeast infections, your flora is fragile, so you must take useful precautions! In fact, fungal infections do not occur due to a lack of hygiene, contrary to popular belief. It's a common infection for some women, in the same way that some people have more tonsillitis than others... 🤒 And during your period, the flora is turned upside down every time. Good news, some brands offer tampons and sanitary napkins with a probiotic content which will properly maintain the vaginal flora during menstruation!

Today there are menstrual panties that allow good absorption of your flow, whether light or heavy! Most brands that produce them also make them out of cotton and respect your privacy. ✨ It may sometimes be necessary to change your panties during the day if your flow is too heavy. But in general, panties are effective for 7 to 12 hours! 🤩

To replace the tampon, you can use a medical silicone Cup which will not damage your vaginal flora either. 😉 In the same way, a menstrual cup lasts up to 12 hours! In addition to being hypoallergenic, the vaginal mucous membranes do not dry out on contact! (However, it is strongly recommended not to keep it on at night). 🍃Same, it’s eco-friendly! No waste is produced with the cups! 😉

Long-term, ecological and healthy investments change your life, right?

Sexuality and vulvar health

In your intimate relationships, you should not ignore lubrication. Indeed, using a lubricant is completely beneficial as this product will improve your sexual relations. Being lubricated limits the risk of pain, friction, lesions, dryness and thus protects your vulva from the friction caused by your practices. If love juice is a woman's natural lubricant , it is very often recommended to supplement this intake! If you are prone to vaginal dryness, this is characterized by insufficient genital hydration: the natural lubrication of the intimate mucous membranes is insufficient. But using a lubricant is not reserved for women who have vaginal dryness, since during intercourse (alone or with two people), it will clearly intensify the pleasure, the sensations and avoid desensitization of the erogenous parts of your vulva! 💧

There are several types of lubricants and the water-based one is the most natural. 🌿 This is why we have created at Puissante your new organic intimate gel (rated 100/100 on Yuka 🤩) which you can find in pharmacies or directly here:

Also, it is always necessary to ask your partner to wash their hands and to practice good intimate hygiene themselves before your lovemaking . If it can be very embarrassing or even sensitive to put this subject on the table beforehand, you can bring it up indirectly by showing him that you are doing it yourself: “wait, I’m going to wash my hands”, “ I quickly go to the shower before”… Normally, he/she will be encouraged to do the same! If you're afraid it'll ruin the mood , you can always make this moment happen before the state of excitement and make it a moment of foreplay. 😉

Choose your vibrator and take care of it while respecting your vulva

If you want to use vibrators to masturbate or spice up your sex life , it is important to choose your product carefully, always with a view to respecting your vaginal flora. ☺️

Be careful with homemade vibrators. Using a cucumber, an electric toothbrush, fruit or other things is not great for your personal hygiene. 😕 And how many stories end up in the emergency room with these practices! Vibrators are designed to respect your privacy without any danger . ❤️

There are vibrators made of glass, metal, plastic…

At Puissante, we designed Coco in medical silicone, a non-irritating and allergen-free material. ❤️ In addition to respecting your body, it will allow you to explore and discover it thanks to its suction part and its vibrating head. 💓

Never neglect the hygiene of your vibrator, since it is in direct contact with your private parts! ⚠️ If you also use it with a partner, the transmission of STIs remains a risk ⚠️. Toproperly clean your vibrator, you can run it under clean water and clean it with an intimate soap or a special vibrator cleaner ! Coco is waterproof and therefore very easy to clean. 🥰 You can store it after use in its small pouch included in your package to prevent other microbes from entering. 🦠