Does my vagina really need a ‘facial’? | Well actually

Hello ugly,

I noticed an advertising dam for the products of “vaginal well-being”: suppositories, balms and serums, and even a “Vagi face” in a local spa. What’s going on with that? I have always been taught that my vagina was self -cleaning and beautiful. Suddenly, I am not so sure and I wonder even if my lips are “normal” or in fact gross. Does it really happen?

– Vagina concerned

Call this the “Boom in the box”.

In the past year, Kiehl has deployed a 96 -hour “Frainer” and Dove vulva launched an “intimate” deodorant announced at Khia 2001 Hit My Neck, My Back (Lick IT). There are now specific moisturizers with muffs, as well as crotch thickness creams, spraying to make your various “corners” such as bergamot and supplements to make your vagina softer. (Thank you, Kourtney Kardashian.) Even the old guard intense: Vagisil has just announced a “revolutionary” partnership with the champions of the WNBA The New York Liberty.

The “female intimate care” market was estimated at $ 7.8 billion worldwide in 2024, and this figure is expected to double in the next decade.

Then there are the procedures: you have noticed that there are Vagi facials, but what about the transplant of large “vulva ozempic”, the “lip filling” and the “boxtox” to keep your sntch, well, torn off? The world rates of labiaplasty – surgical snipping of the lips, sometimes called “vagina of creators” or “barbie procedure”, although some Ethicians prefer to qualify it as “female genital mutilation” – have also increased almost 37% since 2016.

So yes, worried, it really happens. The question is: why?

I have a theory! Maybe we are increasingly obsessed with our genitals because the government is increasingly obsessed with our genitals. See: Abortion prohibitions, birth control debates, anti-trans-transfeers, the recent decision of Great Britain defining “woman” as “biologically female”, the rise of pro-natalist rhetoric, and the renewed concentration of Donald Trump on rigid gender roles. These policies reduce people to organizations – in games with prescribed uses. This causes a kind of general genital anxiety, which companies can use to sell American products.

According to the logic of vaginal cosmetics, when the state monitors your body, the policeman yourself can restore a certain sense of control. Or if your future is determined by your vagina, you could also optimize it.

For fear that this theory does not seem a little concerned with a conspiracy, let me remind you that the legislation has long had its hand in our pants.

In 1873, the Comstock Federal Act in the United States prohibited doctors and advertisers from promoting “information and birthday information”, according to a 2010 article by Michelle Ferranti. Douching was considered a form of contraception at the time, and advertisers bypassed the law with new euphemism: “female hygiene”. Companies that have sold vaginal showers have abandoned the explicit contraceptive claims of their advertisements and “rather focused on the alleged hygienic and therapeutic aspects of the shower”.

As the FDA approved the pill in 1960, Douching was widely known to be an ineffective birth control method, and advertisers had to invent new reasons for shower and new products for sale. They turned to “creation of demand”, or the art of selling so -called solutions to the problems that consumers did not know they had. Deodorization quickly became the dominant height, in parallel with the improvement of tone, elasticity, youth, sampling, purity and feeling of freshness – everything that suggests that “the body of women was aesthetically defective and needs cosmetic improvement”, writes Ferranti.

Does that seem familiar?

We know today that Douching is not a recommended “hygiene” practice – it can cause bacterial vaginosis and can be linked to infertility and MST. But industry propaganda is more important than ever, and new intimate care products have their own potential problems.

The genital field is “very sensitive”, Dr Angela Wilson, an ob / gyn certified by the board of directors at Montefiore Einstein Advanced Care, told me, and the use of these products “can cause irritation or infection”.

You have been well taught: the vagina East self -cleaning. “There is a normal vaginal flow, composed of normal water and bacteria, in most women,” explains Wilson. “It naturally maintains the clean vagina by continuously eliminating dead cells from the vaginal lining.” It takes care of that! It does not recommend using products inside the vagina.

In fact, like “female hygiene”, the term “vaginal well-being” is an unfit term. Most products in this category are intended for vulva – Lips, clitoris and Mons Pubis. And they are always useless. “The less it’s better” when it comes to keeping your vulva clean and healthy, says Wilson. “Wip back and forth after using the toilet.” When you shower, “wash outside with soap and water”.

Even soap has its limits, however. “Soft or hard wipes”, according to Wilson, can eliminate the pH from the region, leading to chronic inflammation, burning and / or itching. Dr. Jen Gunter, author of the Vagina Bible, recommended to wash with “a sweet face cleaner” for this reason. Bonus: You don’t support a brand that benefits from genital shame!

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Whatever you use, avoid perfumes, dyes and alcohol, adds Wilson. If you notice a strong and unusual odor, it could be a sign of infection, then do not take a refreshing spray perfumed by the figs – go to the doctor.

Cosmetically speaking, I can guarantee that your lips are not “raw”. If they cause you pain or discomfort, see an OB-GYN. Otherwise, scroll through the lip library – a non -profit health health resource – and delight yourself in the diverse range of completely normal lips exposed: long! Short! Pink! Brown! Hairy! Wax! Pierced! Never mind!

The next time a “facial vagi” announcement appears, do not forget that progress towards the liberation of women has always been welcomed by increasing pressure on our body. The idea that your vagina should feel as fresh as a daisy or looks like a doll is an attack on your autonomy, an insult to your humanity and a danger to your health.