Sales are heating up “down under.” The feminine hygiene market is expected to post a CAGR of 6.9% to reach $38 billion by 2026, according to Persistence Market Research. With gains like that, it’s no surprise that multinationals and indie brands are launching cleansers, supplements, salves and other care products for the intimate area.

A rising vaginal care brand is pH-D Feminine Health, which is billed as the only certified woman-owned company in the feminine hygiene space and the manufacturer of the first-to-market and best-selling pH-D Boric Acid suppositories. The company contends one bottle is sold every 30 seconds!

The suppositories have been a bestseller on Amazon for five years straight and the Nashville-based brand is now available in more than 8,000 brick and mortar locations including CVS and Target stores nationwide—a figure that will expand to more than 20,000 this year as it enters new retailers like Walgreens. 

“The pH-D Feminine Health brand was built around a mission to provide solutions to women’s vaginal issues with products that are always holistic and also backed by science,” Deeannah Seymour, CEO & founder, pH-D Feminine Health, Nashville, TN, told Happi. “Women today want to know that the products they’re purchasing are natural and resolve their issues. Wellness products on the market that are truly effective are seeing great success as a result.”

According to Seymour, the feminine care consumer is much more educated today, which is ideal for the personal care industry.

“We are seeing women seeking products with natural ingredients. Women want to feel confident that there are no side effects from the products they’re using and that what they’re putting in their body is safe,” she said. “It is wonderful to see retailers responding so quickly to the demand for more holistic alternatives. We see the change reflected in brick-and-mortar and in shopping online, even when compared to just two to three years ago.”

The line expanded in March 2020 with pH-D Instant Vaginal Odor Rinse and pH-D Holistic Feminine Deodorant Spray. Both can be used with their pH-D Boric Acid Suppositories as a complete system to promote vaginal balance and eliminate and prevent feminine odor. The pH-D Instant Vaginal Rinse is the first and only boric acid rinse on the market, while the pH-D Holistic Feminine Deodorant Spray is the first functional feminine deodorant spray, and the first on the market to use boric acid and amezol, a mix of natural peptide and amino acid derivatives that safely eliminates odors, according to the company.

Seymour is proud to flesh out the collection.

“Our newest products, pH-D Instant Vaginal Odor Rinse and pH-D Holistic Feminine Deodorant Spray are both vegan, paraben free, cruelty free, and can be used with our best-selling suppositories as a complete system to promote vaginal balance and to eliminate and prevent feminine odor,” she noted. “We launched these in response to seeing more women seeking a complete solution to vaginal wellness and odor.”

Feminine hygiene has always been a part of women’s wellness—but there has been a stigma associated with this category for decades.

“It has been a topic within wellness that many considered taboo and many women were too embarrassed to discuss. I’m thrilled to see so many women now openly speaking about vaginal issues and, as a result, helping to remove the stigma attached to what are very normal, natural issues that affect millions of women,” Seymour said. “As more women discuss and familiarize themselves with vaginal wellness, they seek products that can solve their problems effectively. I think this openness and communication has played a large role in the dramatic growth of feminine hygiene within the fast-growing women’s wellness category. Greater discussion leads to greater knowledge about matters such as the importance of a healthy vaginal pH balance. Much of the vaginal wellness products we’re seeing enter the market reflect this.”

At press time, pH-D Feminine Health announced it is breaking ground for a plant in Nebraska to support demand as the brand makes its way into 25,000 brick-and-mortar doors by year end. . It will be the company’s third plant, it already has one in Nebraska and one in Tennessee.