Last time we covered harmful chemicals in sexual health products, like condoms, lube, wipes and washes.
This week, we’re giving you suggestions for products that are actually made with safe ingredients. The following products are certified MADE SAFE, which literally means they’re made with safe ingredients not known or suspected to harm human health.
You might be thinking, “Why does it matter so much what’s in the products in my nightstand?” Consider this: doctors are increasingly administering hormone treatments vaginally because they’re absorbed and circulated through the body much more rapidly. According to Women’s Voices for the Earth’s Chem Fatale report, “One study found that a vaginally applied dose of estradiol (an estrogen proxy) resulted in systemic estradiol levels in the body 10 to 80 times greater compared to the same dose given orally.”
That means that ingredients in sexual health products are coming into contact with some of the most absorptive skin on women’s bodies. So it’s a good idea to buy from companies who put your health first! Here are two of our favorites.
Good Clean Love
This company has been making safer products for women, talking openly about healthy sex lives, and teaching women to be advocates for their sexual wellbeing for years. Good Clean Love’s founder Wendy Strgar based her formulations heavily in science, and their line of personal lubricants was named one of the safest on the market in a recent National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study. In addition, Good Clean Love’s Almost Naked and Restore personal lubricants were the first lubes to receive MADE SAFE certification.
Good Clean Love goes beyond making products to educate women about sexual wellness using a holistic approach. Their Make It Good blog covers healthy relationships from emotional topics to physical ones, and what it means for women to take control of their healthy sex lives. Good Clean Love is a staunch advocate of women’s health organizations like Women’s for the Earth.
MADE SAFE Certified Products:
- Almost Naked Personal Lubricant
- Balance Moisturizing Wash
- Restore Moisturizing Lubricant
- Love Oils
- Myths and Legends perfumes
Sustain
Sustain’s condoms are the first and only condoms on the market that are MADE SAFE certified. The company uses their Fair Trade, vegan, sustainably-made condoms as a conversation starter to connect the dots between world issues like hunger, poverty, and climate change. And of course, family planning, education, and reproductive health care.
Sustain’s unique 10%4Women initiative donates 10% of profits to women’s health organizations and efforts, including Health Care Without Harm, Planned Parenthood, and Breast Cancer Fund. Why? Sustain’s philosophy is that lack of health care access leads to high rates of AIDS and other STDs and unplanned pregnancies. Sustain believes in access to basic women’s care services like breast exams reproductive health care.
MADE SAFE Certified Products:
- Condoms
- Organic Lubricant – Lavender
- Organic Lubricant – Unscented
- Post Play Wipes
MADE SAFE certified products have been examined by scientists to ensure they’re made without known behavioral toxins, carcinogens, developmental toxins, endocrine disruptors, flame retardants, GMOs, heavy metals, neurotoxins, high-risk pesticides, reproductive toxins, toxic solvents, or harmful VOCs. Ingredients have been further examined by a chemist for bioaccumulation (builds up in our bodies), persistence (builds up in the environment), and general and aquatic toxicity. Find more products made from safe ingredients.
