Recently, after rapidly learning what an HSA is (thanks eD!), I switched over to a healthcare plan with one and happily hopped over to hsastore.com. It felt like a wonderland of things I’d otherwise never buy, that I could buy with money meant only for these things (kind of. As you can see, eD still has some ‘splainin’ to do). I browsed the store which even has a “goodies” section, looking for things I needed and only finding things I didn’t.

I remembered a time years ago, at Passover, as my sister helped me clean up my bloody dress, where she also asked why I hadn’t just bought some Thinx yet. I’ll do it soon, I promised. So many years ago, back when I still used tampons. This was before I switched to cotton-only tampons, then to pads or panty liners, then to nothing at all. This was two different birth controls ago. This was the first Passover haha no but it was a while ago.

This post will have a lot of what some people consider “TMI” or Too Much Information if you’re unfamiliar with the term. Well we at Sneer Campaign believe in “NEI” or Not Enough Information. Dollissa believes that period talk is for everyone, whether or not you have one or ever will. She believes that it’s not taboo or gross, and doesn’t need to be hidden away. Periods just happen! Many people get them, and they’re difficult or impossible to stop. If you’re a person who gets periods, you may have considered some period underwear yourself, and I’m here to give you my baffled, honest review.

Reasons I wanted to try Thinx

• Pads and tampons are not very sustainable, environmentally
• I’m over the idea of putting something inside me to catch blood, it’s not comfortable.
• Cheaper than buying lots of disposable things instead.

Reasons I Hated Them

• They are not to replace “freebleeding”, they can’t handle it. While using them is effectively freebleeding in name, they hold about as much as a tampon, and you would need to change them several times a day if you bled a lot. Hypothetically. Like I hypothetically do.
• They smelled like a litter box??? Okay, maybe that’s not the best description. But before you start to think that it’s just me oh god please don’t think that — it’s not just me! You can find so many articles about this online, but here’s my favorite, which also talks about everything else that sucks about Thinx, fantastically titled Thinx Stinx.
• Expensive, considering I was already just bleeding on my underwear, and you need more than one pair.

Instead, maybe you’d like these reusable pads I just ordered, featuring pinup men. They can be washed pretty much normally which is great! There are five choices for the pattern and you can’t miss with any of ’em, but definitely get cowboy. I have also read that Aisle, formerly Lunapads, have no odor issue and fewer toxic chemicals. I’m sticking to what I’ve got, but I bet they’re better than Thinx!