What Women's Health Branding Looks Like When It Takes Readers Seriously

In April 2022, Boots, the UK's equivalent of CVS or Walgreens, changed how it labeled a category from "feminine hygiene" to "period products", starting on its website and app, with in-store signage to follow. Asda, one of the UK's largest supermarket chains, had made the same change about a month earlier. Both retailers were responding to menstrual equity campaigners who have long argued that the terms "hygiene" and "sanitary" imply that periods are unclean, while "feminine" incorrectly suggests that only women menstruate.

Jamie Kerruish, beauty director at Boots UK, explained that retailers can help change how people perceive periods, including the language used to describe related products. As designer Seth Rowden noted in a 2022 essay on period care branding, menstruation is the only bodily function that is described using language associated with sanitation. The NHS, Britain's national health service, still uses the term "sanitary products," which more appropriately describes equipment for a different purpose. While not intended to be harmful, this terminology has persisted for decades until enough people advocated for change.

Two major retailers changing their category language within a month is a useful marker of where women's health branding has arrived. The category has spent years learning how to accurately describe its products.

1. Evidence became a design decision

The most visible change is the placement of clinical information. Trial data, dosages, ingredient percentages, and product mechanisms have moved from the back of the packaging and the bottom of web pages to the front. This reflects a behavioral shift, as women now read health labels similarly to skincare labels, looking for active ingredients and percentages. Four key questions accompany this habit, serving as a design brief: What is in it? How much? What proves it? What does it solve?

Hertility, a London-based reproductive health company that provides at-home hormone and fertility testing, exemplifies this approach by building its brand promise around clinical data instead of hiding it. Including numerical information on packaging necessitates careful typography, as the text must remain legible even at small sizes and fit effectively on curved surfaces. Only companies with solid evidence can adopt this strategy. Gentle language often indicates a weak evidence base, which is why it remains common; every reader who learns to check labels diminishes the effectiveness of such language.

2. Consumer-grade design arrived in clinical categories

The second shift involves borrowing design elements. Stripes, the menopause brand founded by Naomi Watts in 2022 and now sold through Ulta, has moved menopause out of the pharmacy aisle and closer to premium skincare. A May 2026 survey by FutureFemHealth found a similar trend in smaller clinical practices, such as LUME Clinic in Toronto, which presents menopause care in a warm and approachable manner rather than through an institutional lens. Both brands challenge the assumption that medical subjects require a strictly medical aesthetic. They draw visual cues from the beauty and luxury consumer goods sectors, bringing a design quality previously absent from health products. Women purchasing menopause products are now accustomed to higher design standards from skincare, cars, and furniture.

3. Accuracy did the work that bluntness gets credit for

The linguistic transformation has the most substantial evidence supporting it. Jennifer Dwork, co-founder and CEO of the anorectal care platform Bummed, who worked at the telehealth company Wisp before starting it, recalls campaigns that focused on openly using the word "vagina." Initially embarrassed to discuss herpes in public, she concluded that the more these terms are used, the less power they hold.

At Bummed, the category name itself facilitated this shift. Dwork had never encountered the term "anorectal care" before, but adopting it allowed her to discuss issues like constipation, fissures, and hemorrhoids without discomfort. "I had never even heard the term anorectal care before," she told FutureFemHealth. "But once we started using it, it gave us a way to talk about these issues properly. It's a real medical term. Let's say it."

In this case, medical accuracy facilitated open conversation, not bluntness. "Anorectal care" is a clinical term that makes discussion possible. Ebb, a reusable pad brand created in partnership with the UK charity Binti, replaced terms like "sanitary pads" and "feminine hygiene" with "menstrual wear," a more accurate description. This new terminology earns its place by being truthful, allowing it to be repeated without hesitation or discomfort. Such precision carries legal weight along with the brand benefit. Naming a condition specifically moves a brand toward the line the FDA draws between a structure and function claim and a disease claim, where language that reads as honest to a customer can read as an unapproved indication to a regulator. Direct language is a strategy that runs through legal review rather than around it.

4. Specificity replaced scale

Beneath all three shifts in the market lies an economic transformation. Brands no longer require pharmacy shelf space or a national budget to gain visibility. This means they don't need to appeal to everyone; instead, they can create a focused ecosystem around a specific condition, symptom, or life stage and reach the individuals actively seeking that solution. In this shift, generic wellness positioning has ceased to differentiate. The new approach involves owning a particular demographic and addressing a specific problem.

This is more challenging than it appears, as it demands a clear understanding of who the brand does not serve and maintaining that focus across every interaction. For example, a woman might discover a company on TikTok, engage with a telehealth intake form, and eventually join a patient community. Consistency throughout this journey is crucial for building trust.

What outlasts the trend

Every convention currently adopted in this category originated as a unique differentiator. Millennial pink was once a departure from the standard clinical blue before it became commonplace. The soft editorial palette that followed addressed an important need until every brand adopted it. Similarly, language aimed at destigmatization was essential before becoming a standard phrase used by all entrants.

At present, bold, evidence-based, and anatomically direct design is gaining attention. However, the creators of such designs are already referring to it as a consensus. Historically, this represents a moment when a particular approach stops setting brands apart. What truly matters is the discipline underlying these trends, rather than the superficial signals. A brand that clearly understands what it treats, accurately names the issue, presents valid evidence, and defines its target audience will continue to convey a specific message even after bold typography and visible data become the norm in the category. Dwork's summary of her customers' desires highlights both aspects: people seek proof and evidence, but they also want to feel less isolated.