Anand goes to the bazaar: Feminine care edit

Packaging for feminine hygiene and personal care products is rarely looked at with the attention their FMCG counterparts get. The products themselves change hands wrapped in crumpled newspaper over hush-hush glances. The new generation of female consumers recognises and despises this secrecy around an important part of their monthly shopping lists.

Informed by their demands, new feminine hygiene and personal care brands are changing the way they package; branding and storytelling now assume the center stage. I consulted the women closest to me about the products they like and set out to examine them at a local supermarket. Here are their top five picks. 

1. Yardley London talc tin: Standing out on a shelf dominated by plastic squeeze bottles, this rigid tin container is engineered to evoke the feel of a vintage dressing table or a classic English salon.
   
   Pratima Singh, a salon owner from Thane, Maharashtra talks about her pick “I prefer having a few tins like this on the salon table. It adds to the experience of stepping out and getting beauty work done.”
   

2. Nua Overnight Period Panties paper box: This rigid paperboard box does away with the loud plastic crinkle of legacy menstrual brands for a softer, personal care-forward aesthetic. The sturdy, matte box signals premium quality and discretion, sitting on the shelf like a high-end skincare product rather than a medical necessity.
   
   18-year old college student Shreya Singh explains her pick “I like that it mostly uses paper, and the packaging itself feels so warm and refined. I can keep it in the bathroom with other beauty products, it fits right in.”
   

3. Pee Safe Reusable Menstrual Cup cylinder: This rigid, matte-finish cardboard composite tube leverages eco-conscious structural design to perfectly mirror the zero-waste ethos of the product inside. The tactile, "papery" cylindrical packaging and bright green cap act as an immediate visual shorthand for sustainability.
   
   Stuti Kute, an English professor at a Mumbai-based college says “It’s super easy to carry in a handbag and sturdy enough to not get crushed under my books. That’s all I need from a product like this.”
   

4. Furr Acne Relief Patch envelope pouch: This slim paperboard sleeve cleverly opts for an abstract visual language, completely detaching blemish care from its clinical, drugstore stigma. The top half commands shelf attention with bold, psychedelic swirl illustrations, while the bottom half shifts to a hyper-clear, minimalist interface detailing patch sizes and key ingredients.
   
   Anusha D’Cruz, an anesthetist from Mumbai explains her choice “I get tired of looking at medical products all day. This is a fun, artistic pack that still lists all ingredients I need to be aware of.”
   

5. Studiowest Eau De Parfum glass bottle: This compact bottle leans into bold geometry and pop art to move away from luxury packaging’s bland, hyper-serious tropes. The structure pairs a sharp, vibrant orange glass cube with a playful, spherical matte cap, serving as an immediate visual shorthand for the bright, zesty, and citrusy notes housed inside.
   
   Benafsha Desai, fashion consultant at a Mumbai firm elaborates on her pick “Luxury products get too dull and bland beyond a point. I’m always looking for smaller, uniquely-shaped perfume bottles I can plop on my office desk.”