What If Menstrual Hygiene Products Were Designed by People Who Actually Get Periods?
Key Takeaways:
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Period products were historically made without input from people who menstruate.
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Early designs focused on absorbency over comfort or confidence.
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Ruby Love’s innovations, like period swimwear and reusable underwear, center lived experience.
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True menstrual product innovation prioritizes empathy, flexibility, and real-life usability.
For most of history, period products weren’t created by people who actually experience periods. Instead, they were engineered for “absorbency” and “hygiene” by people who prioritized containment over comfort, often with little understanding of how it feels to menstruate. The result? Products that technically worked but rarely worked well for the people who needed them most.
It’s only recently that we’ve started to ask the question: What would period care look like if it were designed with real, lived experience in mind?
A Brief (and Telling) History of Period Products
The earliest menstrual care wasn’t about innovation. It was about necessity. People who menstruated used whatever was available: folded cloth, rags, linen scraps. These makeshift solutions were reusable but rarely comfortable or secure, often relying on belts, pins, or creative improvisation just to stay in place.
By the late 1800s, a few commercial attempts surfaced (like Lister’s Towels), but they didn’t gain wide traction. It wasn’t until World War I that a major shift occurred. Women serving as nurses noticed how absorbent the cellulose bandages used on wounded soldiers were. That discovery led to the first disposable pads. Brands like Kotex ran with the idea, creating a product that could be thrown away after use, which was a revolutionary concept at the time.
If you’ve ever wondered how sanitary napkins were made, the early answer reflects a one-size-fits-all mindset. These pads were constructed using wood pulp or cotton wool layered in gauze and worn with a sanitary belt or suspenders. The focus was strictly on absorbency and disposal — not wearability, not comfort, and certainly not confidence.
That same pattern played out for decades. Women identified the problems; men usually controlled the solutions (and the profits). While tampons became available in the 1930s, they weren’t widely embraced for years, in part due to social and cultural fears rooted in narratives about virginity and modesty.
Even as products “evolved,” the decision-making remained in the hands of people who didn’t menstruate. But that doesn’t mean women weren’t shaping the industry. Gertrude Tendrich, for example, bought the patent for the modern tampon and founded Tampax in 1933. In the 1920s, psychologist Lilian Gilbreth conducted in-depth research for Johnson & Johnson about what women actually wanted from menstrual care; her work helped shift the conversation toward freedom of movement and discretion.
What was missing? Ownership. Autonomy. And most importantly, design driven by lived experience.
Designed by Someone Who’s Actually Been There
That’s exactly what led our founder, Crystal Etienne, to create something better. As a mother and someone who menstruates, she knew firsthand how limited traditional options were — especially for young people trying to manage periods during school, sports, or swim class. The products available weren’t designed for comfort or confidence. They were designed to hide a problem, not support a person.
So she got to work from a place of lived reality. Crystal created the first period swimwear, a product that didn’t just patch a gap in the market but solved a challenge so many people quietly struggled with. From there, she expanded Ruby Love into a full line of innovative period products, including reusable feminine hygiene products and comfortable women period underwear product innovations that fit into real, active lives.
Every detail, from the built-in leak-proof protection to the inclusive sizing, reflects someone who’s actually been there. And that’s the difference. Not just who’s using the products but who’s designing them, too.
Why Experience Matters in Innovation
When someone who actually menstruates leads product design, everything changes. Suddenly, the focus isn’t just on absorbency or disposal. It’s on dignity, flexibility, and freedom. The result is period care that adapts to real situations: school, sports, sleepovers, and swim classes.
It’s a shift from managing a “problem” to supporting a person. And that mindset leads to better design — not just technically, but emotionally. Because real innovation in this space isn’t about newer materials or sleeker packaging. It’s about putting lived experience at the center.
Moving Toward Empathy-Driven Design
The history of menstrual hygiene products reflects a long-standing disconnect between the people designing them and the people actually using them. Too often, decisions were made without real understanding, shaped by discomfort, stigma, or outdated assumptions. That gap has real consequences, especially when comfort, dignity, and freedom are treated as afterthoughts.
At Ruby Love, we believe period care should be made by people who understand periods biologically and personally. That’s why we’ll always lead with empathy, lived experience, and an honest commitment to supporting real life, not just solving for mess.
Because when period products are designed by people who actually get periods, you can feel the difference.
