Every month I get this pesky little thing called a period. It’s basically my body’s way of relaying a nasty message to me signed from my uterus.
The gift that keeps on giving
My uterus fights me every month because I refuse to give it a baby. This fight consists of bloating, making me feel like I have about 20 extra pounds from my waist down, bleeding, losing the uterus lining in chunks, and terrible hormonal swings. If that wasn’t enough, I must sacrifice good panties for ugly period panties that will not escape the inevitable. I hold a viking funeral in their honor.
So one day, in my inebriated stage, I was just hanging around at home just cruising YouTube as I always do, hammered or not, I just enjoy YouTube holes. I came across this Buzzfeed video where the girls try Padkix period panties and this YouTuber I follow, Safiya Nygaard who also tried Thinx, another period panty. I had just finished my period and thought I should try these!
Life changing moment
I had gotten my first period at the age of 11 and since then, it has been a bloodbath – no pun intended. Because I come from an immigrant family and my mother is religious, I was NOT encouraged to wear tampons so I strictly wore pads, the bulky kind all through my preteen and teenage years. It wasn’t until I went shopping with my cousin and saw her buy the Ultra Thin pads with wings! Mind blown. I immediately switched out to those until I hit about 21 years old. I had went to a pool party and planned on just hanging out because my beloved menzies showed up unceremoniously. Then… a wizard appeared before me and offered me a tampon. This 16 year old wizard showed me a whole new world.
She handed me a Playtex Sport tampon. What a game changer. It took me about three tries to actually figure out how to use it but once I did, holy shit, I never went back. Now, because I didn’t treat my anxiety at that time, I had unrealistic fears such as…
Along with pool swimming sharks, I am constantly worrying about Toxic Shock Syndrome so I refuse to sleep with a tampon inside. Instead, I usually wear overnight pads which aren’t the most comfortable. Between the diaper feeling and the crinkle noises, it’s just a inconvenience. After watching both YouTube videos, I decided to give it a go and try out both.
Pulling the trigger
I first went to the Thinx website and ordered a Large Bikini in black. Looking back, I should have gotten a medium but the only reason I opted for a large was because Safiya mentioned in her video that the panty felt a little snug around the leg opening and if I am going to wear these, I wanted to be comfortable. This panty cost $37.00 with shipping included. I ordered it January 11 and I received it on the 16th. Next I went to Padkix and ordered a Medium in polkadot. The cost was $36.00 altogether with shipping as well and I received this one on the 17th.
When I first opened the packages my initial reaction was, “Holy hell, they are HUGE!” but not bad. Thinx was a plain black panty. It looked almost identical to regular black panties I would normally wear except with a liner, pad, or a tampon. The Padkix was cute with its polkadot pattern and, considering I don’t wear cute panties during my flow, it was a comforting fact knowing this company was so confident on no spills that they made this black and white pattern.
The experiment
I decided to wear the Padkix on my first night of my period. As adorable as these polka dots looked, it felt like I had a lot going on down there. The bottom inside has a fleece like material so it’s warm. The outer side of the panty feels kind of like a swimsuit. Imagine wearing one of those swimsuit that holds everything in but has an outer layer that is slightly loose, that’s what it feels like. It’s not uncomfortable but I was aware these were not regular panties. I did feel secure that nothing was going to leak out on the sides. You can see the slightly placed lining of the “extra padding material” on the back and if anyone touches your butt, they WILL feel the padding. It’s not very discreet so I’m not entirely comfortable wearing these with leggings or tight pants at all. My lady bits did feel like they were being snuggled by a pillow so that was a plus.
When I went to bed, I was hesitant but thank goodness the bedsheets were red colored already! I slept the whole night and when I woke up, there was no spillage and no leaking but it also appeared that I didn’t bleed that much to begin with. I decided to wear them during my morning routine: waking up at 5:30am to make breakfast for my husband and myself, let the dogs out in the yard to potty, eat said breakfast, take the dogs out for a 2 mile walk, and did some light household work. All of that seemed to do the trick to get things flowing down there. Although it was soft and comfortable, it felt a little bulky and I was very aware of what I was wearing. When I went to shower, I saw the massacre that was my period. The care instructions advise to wring out your worn period panty before washing them. I’m not stranger to blood but that part seemed the most unpleasant was having to wring out. I get why you should do this, I do, but, man, that was A LOT of blood. I would recommend doing this in your laundry sink or in the shower. After I did this, I tossed it in my laundry, washed it, and hung it to dry. No stains, no odor, nothing. It was good to go!
I wore the Thinx pair the following night. These look like actual panties and this is from their new line of cotton underwear. This black undie is way more discreet than Padkix but what it lacks in cuteness, makes up with comfort. Because I bought one that is all black, you can’t really see the lining but you can’t feel it either. I was a little apprehensive that it wasn’t going to secure my second night flow because it is a size larger than my normal size so imagine my surprise when I woke up and, once again, no leakage, no spillage, no stains. The clean up process was the same as the Padkix – it was a massacre in my sink. Once they were wrung out, I tossed them in the wash and hung them to dry.
Am I a changed woman?
Padkix has their cute design and with their black and white pattern, it is easy to tell if you’ve had any leakage but I’m not sure how I feel about the fleece lining. It’s definitely secured but the padding would make me feel paranoid if I wore it in public under dress pants or leggings. With that said, despite the “full” feeling down there, you KNOW it is working. The Thinx were light weight and the lining was barely visable. It’s breathable so you don’t feel like you’re wearing a diaper but I feel as though I may have to retry them again on my first day on a light run to really test how much it can hold. If next month they both feel comfortable, I may just buy them both again, Padkix in another design and the Thinx in a beige color and smaller size and style.
Personally, I would wear them again because not having to put a tampon in or wearing a pad is SO freeing. I would recommend you try at least one of them. Pull them up, throw on some sweat pants, get comfy on the couch while you stuff your face with chocolate and use your hormonal tears to wash it down!
Organized Chaos 