Intimate wellness 101: how to keep your vagina healthy and infection-free – maintaining clean vulvas with the right beauty products, diet and exercise is essential, and not just for sex

Aug 17 , 2023

Soap and water doesn’t cut it for an intimate wellness routine, but building one involves understanding your own anatomy first. Photo: Osea V Cleanse

Christine Mason, founder of Rosebud Woman, suggests more education is needed while Bonafide Health’s chief medical officer, Dr Alyssa Dweck, highlights the key role of hyaluronic acid

Care includes increasing blood flow through exercise, keeping pH to around 3.8-4.5, having a balanced microbiome, grooming responsibly, avoiding synthetic underwear and using dry towels after a shower

There are some topics that don’t often come up in open discussion yet are important to our well-being. How to keep our vaginas healthy and infection-free is surely one of them.

Keeping intimate parts clean is vital to avoid possible infection and discomfort, but it can be challenging to determine which products are best – or even if an intimate care routine is necessary.

Did you know that, for instance, just like your gut, your vaginal area contains friendly bacteria that help maintain a healthy internal environment? And that to keep those bacteria thriving, it’s essential to practice proper hygiene?

Lady Suite makes feminine care products. Photo: Handout

It’s also important to be clear on the terminology. For starters, a common mistake is to use the terms “vagina” and “vulva” synonymously when they’re actually distinct parts of the anatomy. Many people use “vagina” to describe the entire area between the legs when “vulva” is the correct term to refer to all the external organs – the labia majora and minora, the clitoris, the urethral opening and the vagina itself.

The vagina is the muscular tube that connects the vulva to the cervix. Menstrual blood exits through it during periods and babies pass down it during birth. Awareness of these facts is the first step to a healthier intimate routine, as well as recognising that sometimes plain old water just doesn’t do the trick.

Christine Mason, founder of Rosebud Woman that makes intimate care products, suggests people start by filling in the gaps in their understanding of their own intimate and reproductive anatomy. “There are hundreds of little components in here that interact with one another, that we can benefit from learning about,” she explains.

“The structures of the pelvic basin, like how the muscles of the pelvic floor work and support the internal organs, the external and internal genitalia, as well as all the organs and neural pathways of arousal.”

Intimate care products from Rosebud. Photo: Handout

Mason started Rosebud in response after noticing that intimate wellness products were primarily designed for use with a sexual partner or to treat a diagnosed issue, but barely offered any effective formulas to provide everyday comfort.

The primary goal is keeping the area clean without overdoing it. Cleaning your vagina excessively may harm the beneficial lactobacilli bacteria that help maintain an acidic pH to prevent infections. Upsetting this delicate balance can result in unpleasant infections, prompting further washing and complicating the problem.