All Natural Ingredients Blog - flat lay of all Momotaro Apotheca on a beige background

Our Commitment To (And Love Of) All Natural Ingredients

October 6, 2022

Written with love by Momotaro Apotheca

If you know the story of Momotaro Apotheca, you know that we’ve been down the Femcare aisle a time or two. And probably just like you, we were not impressed. It may be 2022 but numbing agents, adhesives, steroids, astringent soaps, and heavy antibiotics still line the aisles.

Unfortunately, there’s just not a lot of education or conversation about what is safe, what is effective, and what is simply making things worse.

The issue that we faced early on was that the over the counter solutions, the ones we found in the mass-market femcare aisle, seemed to be more focussed on masking and hiding symptoms than addressing the root cause. Worse, these symptom focussed products seemed to jump start the recurrent infection flywheel. When we tried the prescription medication route, the heavy hitters seemed to wreak havoc on our system.

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Often this worsening is simply because the available products are focussed on just one part of the issue (i.e. killing a particular bacterial strain) but fail to provide a broader systems based approach that might address the root cause (building up healthy gut and vaginal flora).

What started as a personal experiment in self care and a fu*k-you to mass-market femcare, has blossomed into a business that is committed to rethinking and remaking vulvovaginal wellness - without the chemicals. We still focus on ingredients - ingredients that are certified organic, plant based and natural, and that are what we think of as everyday safe - ingredients that don’t make the problems worse.

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There are a few ingredients that we think of as the all stars. The backbone. The truly special gifts from nature that help us keep our promise to our customers and allow us to say no to steroids, numbing agents, benzoic acid, adhesives and any ingredient that the European Union says is likely unsafe for children under 12 (yes, really.) - basically things no one wants in their body - particularly in or on their vulva.

Berberine

Berberine or berberine hydrochloride, is a compound found in several plants. We get our berberine from Oregon Grape, Barberry, and Goldenseal. Shown to have broad application and effectiveness across various bacterial and fungal applications, it’s an incredibly effective, yet gentle, ingredient. We love Berberine for a variety of reasons but one study that got us particularly excited was its shown promise as effective at inhibiting the growth of fluconazole resistant candida. This is a big deal for people who have recurrent yeast infections.

Tea Tree

Love it or hate it (we love it), tea tree oil has long been relied on for its antibacterial and anti inflammatory properties. An incredibly important part of our ingredient list, Tea tree continues to be a cornerstone ingredient for anyone looking for support outside of conventional antibiotics or over the counter products - particularly for those looking to address yeast and bacterial vulvovaginal infections.

Calendula

Naturally antifungal and antimicrobial, calendula has been shown to be incredibly effective- particularly over a longer time horizon -than synthetic alternatives against vulvovaginal candida. It’s a wonderful ingredient in any vulvovaginal wellness product - particularly for anyone who is uncomfortable with the potential side effects of synthetic drugs.

We know that taking care of your vulva involves a bunch of important decisions. Decisions that aren’t straight forward.

You can be sure that anything made by Momotaro Apotheca will come from our commitment to a gentler, natural approach to vulvovaginal wellness.

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