Puberty. We’ve all been there. And it hasn’t always been pretty. (For me, it involved years battling with hormonal acne, much grieving over the many beloved pairs of shorts lay to ruin because of Aunt Flow’s ill-timed visits, and the overwhelming realization that the smell I had been trying to ferret out was, in fact, just me). Luckily, the next generation may be a little more #blessed when their metamorphosis rolls around. Enter: BLUME, the first subscription-based line of self-care products curated specifically for girls going through puberty.
Created by Taran and Bunny Ghartora, the founders of Ellebox—a subscription service that delivers organic, toxin free tampons and pads to your door on a monthly basis—BLUME was founded as response to the “pervasive misinformation, disparate, and dangerous, product offerings, chronic lack of useful education, and deep send of societal shame that makes [puberty] incredibly painful and isolating,” said a spokesperson for the company.
In design, BLUME looks like the pubescent kid-sister of Glossier and THINX—think creamy pastels; laidback, cutesy illustrations; and euphemistic fruits, all jam-packed into one. Although it nods to its older siblings, BLUME dishes up something entirely different: a kids-meal version of feminist self-care, suited to the needs of a blossoming teenager instead of a full-grown adult; BLUME speaks directly to the anxieties and physical needs of young women, remedying a variety of adolescent woes that can feel overwhelming, isolating, and unnecessarily embarrassing.
Their kits include a wide range sustainable, safe, and thoughtful products, like gentle, paraben-free face wash (“Day Dreamer”), aluminum-free deodorant (“Hug Me”), acne treatment (“Meltdown”), essential oils for PMS (“Cloud 9”), and pads and tampons derived from organic cotton. Along with products, BLUME provides teens and their parents with information through BLUME University, a content hub filled with reproductive and puberty related material, a downloadable booklet (“getting to know your flow”), and a series of virtual and physical tutorials and guides to elicit a more open and honest discussion about changing bodies, reproduction, and body acceptance.
Serving up products and access to information, BLUME turns up the volume on teenagers’ bodily rhythms. In ritualizing self-care, the company encourage girls to understand and connect with, rather than ignore and shun, their bodies, reminding tweens and teens that they are not alone as they undergo a natural and normal universal life experience.
BLUME launched on June 19th. You can find it online at meetblume.com
images via BLUME
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