by TERRI PSIAKIS
Dear Makers Of Vagisil Feminine Wash,
I just saw the ad for your product and did some reading-up on it online (because I’m cluey like that) and excuse the pun but I think it stinks.
Vagisil Feminine Wash has been specifically designed by you to cleanse down-there lady-parts, yes? You claim Vagisil wash “doesn’t just clean away odour, it helps stop it from happening.” What sort of odour are we talking about here, exactly?
Because if you’re talking about the normal, natural smell of a vagina I’m pretty sure the only way to stop that from happening would be to see to it that the owner/operator of that particular vagina expired. As in, dead.
Actually, now that I think of it, could you tell me: apart from the word “feminine” and some swirly pastels on the packaging, how does Vagisil Feminine Wash differ from normal soap, exactly? Oh, that’s right – normal soap doesn’t make women, specifically, feel inherently dirty. In the downstairs.
Vagisil Feminine Wash does, by its very existence and the fact that there’s no equivalent for blokes.
So, allow me to help you out. I asked around a bit and had a think (I get my best ideas in the shower while furiously scrubbing my nether regions) and I’ve come up with some ideas for Penisil Masculine Wash.
That is, if you like that name. A Twitter friend suggested “Dick Douche” but I didn’t really like that. First I thought it wasn’t subtle enough but then I thought it sounded like it might be the name of a comic book character.
Vagisil Feminine Wash has a “light and clean” scent, right? (By the way, do you mean “clean” as in just-washed…with soap?) I’m assuming you did some market research and found “light and clean” to be a smell that most women find pleasant? Well, I did some market research, too, and Penisil Masculine Wash smells like crispy bacon. (In fact, you should have made Vagisil wash smell like that: everyone knows a lot of people just love eating bacon!)
Your product is apparently “safe and gentle enough to use every day” (unlike soap, which is of course highly dangerous and may cause death when used regularly on human bodies.) Well, blokes don’t want safe, gentle, daily use. They want something a little more fun that needs doing a little less often.
That’s why Penisil Masculine Wash is designed to be used occasionally, like sheep dip. The male method of use is also similar here: simply fill a small tub or Tupperware with Penisil and dip that dick (I would have called it Dick Dip but that sounded like something you might pass around with Savoy crackers at a really sick party.)
Finally, you champion Vagisil Feminine Wash as “the confident clean” (again as opposed to soap, which just leaves my already insecurity-prone vagina feeling confused and frightened.) Well I’m telling everyone that Penisil Masculine Wash is “the clean you want when someone makes you think your knob is unnaturally noxious and soap just won’t do the trick.” Too wordy?
Anyhoo, let me know what you think about my idea. It can’t be any worse than yours.
Sincerely,
Terri.
P.S. When you get a chance, can you also do a special wash for balls? I’m telling you, those little guys are kind of rank.
This post was originally published here and has been republished with full permission.
Terri Psiakis has worked as a stand-up comic, comedy writer and broadcaster since 2000. Her first book, ‘Tying The Knot Without Doing Your Block’ was published by Random House in 2009. You can find her website here.







Comments
148 Comments so far
This is childish and immature. Of course they are not talking about the normal odor. They are referring to perhaps some women who sweat more in that area during exercise, or who feel the need to “clean up” after sexual interactions, something reasonable like that.
I mean come on. We don’t not put on deodorant under our arms because we feel they have a natural smell and it should stay that way. No we get embarrassed and cover that smell up. Get off your butt and actually go do something proactive for woman’s rights.
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Yeah, it doesnt change the natural smell… If anything ia restores the natural smell. The wash isnt intended for all women. Its actually aimed at women who suffer from recurring bv and yeast infections.
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what does this have to do with bono?
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Obviously you haven’t done enough research or you are just ignorant. The advertisement is for people with PH PROBLEMS, for example people who suffer from recurring Bacterial Vaginosis. This can cause a fish like odor and is caused by a Ph imbalance and can very often be extremely difficult to treat. I don’t know if this product could actually do anything other than prevent bv or mask the odor, but that’s what its meant for. So thanks for your opinion, but do a little more research next time!
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Create a fear, then create a product to go with that fear… and bingo…big profits.
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Oh, what a joyous laugh that gave me. I had a discussion about Vagisil with my hubs the other day in response to a commercial. About the naming of it and how unnecessary it is. I think soap does a better job anyway. And if you wash often, like every day, twice a day for me you will be just fine. It’s your anus that’s the problem. Stop using plain old dry tissue to wipe. Use wet wipes and if your home, wash your arse after you poop. Simple as that. Vagisil is gross.
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Fishy odour coming from the ass? What you’ve been eating?
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I do understand the humour…..funny ha-ha! However the product is for women who have vaginal itching, discharge (embarassing smelly stuff!) and general discomfort in those regions and are enough to send some women into spiraling depression. If you suffered from any of those things you wouldn’t be laughing, let me tell you!!! If you are vain enough to want to not smell normal down there, by all means use it! But please be assured it’s uses are far beyond this!
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Hi all, I have to agree that the ad is super funny, however I believe the product is great for SOME women.
In some cases women are not entirely comfortable with the smell down there and Vagisil is good solution. I lived in Europe for a long time and I can tell you that products like Vagisil are displayed everywhere, it’s a common thing to buy, you can find even in Hotels.
What they say about soap is true; soap is made from fat and fragrance…
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I agree! If L’Oreal creates different products every month for our face, feet, hand, elbows, curly hair, etc, what is the problem of someone creating a product for our vaginas?
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Call it MUNDI MAGIC!!! That is all
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Didnt work ae ? Lol
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Hey Terri, ease up on us guys we didn’t make or sell vagisil, as a matter of fact I don’t even like when my wife uses anything to change or wipe away her sweet smell down there,and you don’t see us guy rushing out to buy it, only gals uncomfortable with their vaginas . So don’t drag our ball into your fight . Ps if housing like the smell of balls stop putting your face down there!
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As a bisexual woman I actually think the vagina smells quite lovely in all it’s different aromas. And if the smell is really that offensive thn there may be an underlying condition. I do find the way vagisil is marketed offensive, because as women we already are told our bodies aren’t the right shape our vaginas in their natural form are offensive looking and “pornographic” if labia show, now we are being told our vaginas don’t smell right??!! Come the f$&@ on!!!!
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Look at the cocktail of chemicals in it, It’s even got a formaldehyde in it! Nice… … Aqua, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, propylene, Glycol, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Lauramidopropyl betaine, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Parfum, Quanternium-15, FD&C Blue No.1
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Here’s one from the guys: product reviews for Veet for men hair removal creme on Amazon UK. Funniest thing I’ve read in years.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B000KKNQBK/ref=cm_cr_pr_btm_link_1/275-3236230-5408449?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&fb_source=message
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Are those product reviews for real??? That is some funny stuff, I could barely read through the tears!!
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Omg, I have been almost wetting myself reading those reviews!!!
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It just reminds me of years ago a piece of graffiti posted on a brick wall: “feminine deoderants tast awful.”
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Excellent.
Just missed one thing – what exactly is the “hard way of finding out” your vagina isn’t fresh?
Those public sniffings? Bending your head to your crotch? Or the time your Aunty hosted shagged an intervention?
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BEST . POST . EVER !!!!
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Actually there is a bloke’s balls wash. Hasn’t anyone seen the Sophie Monk lynx ad on TV??
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Call the blokes’ one Scrotisil, and I’d buy it!!!
)
But seriously, I’ve always thought this sort of rubbish is, well, rubbish.. I remember one satire of these sorts of ads to advertise elbow deodorant!
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Whst r u doin smelling blokes balls huh
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Wetting myself laughing! Fabulous post!
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My take after reading most of the comments is that it’s a problem with the advertising implying that every woman needs this, not the product itself.
pH balanced washes are obviously valuable for people who have a different-to-usual smell because of medication/hormonal/other physiological reasons.
But we already knew that advertising has to drum up “needs” for hundreds of mostly useless products …
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My sister in law used this type of product for years and now has some kind of disease called vulvadinya (sorry if I have spelled it wrongly) which has negatively impacted every aspect of her life, especially her sex life. Just say no, as Nancy Reagan might say….
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Was her vulvadinya linked to her use of the wash?
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Doubt it. My sister has vulvadinia and I’m pretty sure it’s just a hormonal thing. Pretty sure my sister has never used one of those washes. Also pretty sure it’s not a disease? It’s just a thing, you don’t catch it.
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I believe it’s a bacteria, so it can be transferred. The wash just helps with the symptoms.
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Just trawled through the comments and it seems nobody else suffers from Disco Fanny. Please don’t tell me I’m alone in this…
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Ohh please tell me what Disco Fanny is? Glitter clit?
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Haha, close. But no. Let me paint you a picture: you’re out with your girlfriends having a dance. You see someone across the room who takes your fancy. You dance sexily with them. You go back and dance with your girlfriends. You go to the loo. You go to the bar. You kiss and gyrate against your love interest. You go to the loo again. You dance with your girlfriends. You get home and just HAVE to have a shower because you have DISCO FANNY.
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DISCO FANNY!!!!
Finally I have a name for my problem!
Thank you Maybedaisy!!
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Charlotte gets vulvadynia on SATC, she is prescribed anti depressants! My vagina is depressed!
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Bahaha first thing I thought of when the other ladies mentioned it “my vagina is depressed!” now I want a Cosmo!
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I used to have a flatmate that was super paranoid about the smell down there and would scrub it every night in the shower with body wash and she constantly had thrush from stuffing up the pH or whatever soap does to our delicate lady parts. I kept telling her to stop washing it so vigorously and the thrush would stop but she just didn’t wanna hear it.
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Love the shit outta this !!! Such a fucking waste of time nonsense product playing on women’s insecurities !
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Once, I commented to an old housemate that I didn’t like these washes. He was obviously confused and thought they were scrubs- like face scrubs. I said they were unnecessary and he said, “Catherine, when you get your period, you need to get in there and scrub the dried blood out. What, you think it just falls out?!”
I’m preeeeetty sure he hadn’t experienced too many vaginas.
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Hahahahahah!
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Omg that is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard! Lol how would u even respond to that?!
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The last time I “smelled” a vagina I was about 5mm away and we were both naked! What kind of noses are “smelling” a vagina under a layer of clothes in the open air?
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Ladies, my advice is you don’t need wipes, but if you must, just buy some KFC and you will get them for free!
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Lol. I honestly don’t know if those scabby little wipes would do the job.
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Ha ha, that reminds me of a primary school joke … Why is KFC like having sex? Because after you’re done with the breasts and thighs, all you have is a greasy box to put your bone in.
Plus a wipe to wash out your box, it seems!
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Laughing so hard!
).
I’m sure when Napoleon wrote to Josephine “Don’t wash – I’m coming home”, he was thinking of the aphrodesiac effect that vag odours apparently have (according men I’ve known
Aren’t we just supposed to basically leave our lady parts alone?
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Baahahahaaa!!!
Perfect! I’m crying with laughter!
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Wait, wasn’t there an article hear the other day about… MEN WASHING THEIR BALLS?
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Good points. A healthy vagina doesn’t need this sort of rubbishy product, and it just preys on womens’ insecurities. You can bet a bodily organ that men love the natural scent of a woman’s lady parts.
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I love this post. So true! Whenever I see that crap I roll my eyes and think, great. Yet another creative way for marketers to tell women our bodies are wrong.
If you think it needs a special “wash”, you either have an infection of some kind or a complex.
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Hilarious
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I don’t need vagisil, my lady garden already smells like roses. Just sayin.hehe
If I was going to market a masculine wash, I’d call it Doodle Spritz or Nut Scrub or Ballz-Up… or Snakes Alive. Feel like gettin’ fresh? Keep your snake alive, with Snakes Alive masculine cleanser
lol
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You need to work in advertising. You’ve already done a better job at selling a non existant product than most of the ads on tv at the moment!
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Thanks Jess! I used to want to be an advertising person actually. I loved in Bewitched when Darren and Samantha would have those work meetings at home and everything would go arse up until the very end when they’d come out with some random slogan and the boss would magically love it haha. Oneday, I will do something with my writing (I do still dream of it). Until then, I shall continue to teach
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I didn’t know I was ment to wash my vagina! Also thought it’s “self cleaning”.
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Hilarious thank you I had those same thoughts last week … Only a man would call it Vagisil !!!
Everyone on the bus wants what I’m having because can’t stop laughing out loud – thanks for entertaining my trip home – brilliant
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I’ve had to use this before and after my period. Using the powder, it’s sprinkled just into the underwear but it works a treat. Unless you have a serious problem, you generally shouldn’t need to use vagina washes. Your body regulates your vaginas ph levels.
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hahahaha…whenever I hear ‘vagisil’ or any other vagi-type wash I always think of Me, Myself & Irene when Jim Carrey’s character first goes nuts in the supermarket…
“Price check on Vagiclean, aisle five. I repeat: price check on Vagiclean, aisle five. That’s Vagiclean. We’ve got a customer down here with a full-on fallopian fungus. She’s baking a loaf of bread and I think it’s sourdough”
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Haha me too! I can’t help but giggle. So immature!
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I think of Sam Rockwell in Gentleman Broncos. “This is good yeast! It’s pretty good! Pretty good yeast!”
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Knew you would reply to a movie post salbelle! This post is hilarious!!! I can’t stop laughing!!!
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Cock-wash!!! Had me laughing out loud. In fact the whole post gave me exactly the belly laugh I’ve been missing for a while now. Thanks!!!
I too felt funny when I saw the add.
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Hahahahahahaha. Just had the best belly laugh! Thanks.
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unfortunately, there is a wash for men parts as well – see here: http://www.lynxeffect.com.au/cyb/
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The ad is hilarious!
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Vagisil is a pretty boring & uncreative name for a vagodourant. It needs a name that is more covert so that people dont know you are buying things for your vagina. I cant think of any though.
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Yes I agree! Something that sounds totally unrelated to “vagina” would work well.
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Snatch-wash? Minge-rinse? Twat-scrub?
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Fanny Fresh, Crutch Flush, Nil Fish?
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Nil-Fish! Bwahahahaha!
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LAUGH OUT LOUD!!!!!!!
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Reminds me of a terrible joke.
God looks down on the garden of Edan just just Eve gets up from a romantic session with Adam. She wanders down to the sea to wash. “Damn”, things God “all the fish are going to smell like that now”.
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Oh my goodness – I just snorted at these!
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This is all well and good and I’d giggle along right with you- if I wasn’t a sufferer of recurrent thrush, and have found the feminine wash amazing when it comes to keeping it at bay.
And FYI, soap alters the vaginal pH and can lead to thrush. There IS actually a difference between soup and feminine wash, if you’d bothered to check.
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I totally get what you’re saying and agree with you but I definitley had a giggle at your misspell of soap in the last paragraph of your comment. I just imagined a lady heading to the bathroom with a tin of Campbell’s Big Red Tomato Soup in her hand and snickered to myself – childish, I know.
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I should HOPE there is a difference between soup and feminine wash, otherwise vagisil are in trouble… lol
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So does sperm, apparently.
The average vagina has a ph of approximately 6 (point something) and sperm has a ph of about 8. Put em together and you get perfect conditions for vaginal thrush. It’s just one risk factor, but it exists.
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Really! (I feel stupid saying that since it makes perfect sense) When I have heaps of unprotected sex* I get thrush – that’s probably why!! Is that why?
* with a partner!
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Yep. Had the dubious pleasure of learning that at uni (anat and physiology). Ph 8 ejaculate is a better medium for the sperm than ejaculate with lower Ph.
I’ve had a chronic problem with thrush that ebbs and flows with my sex life.
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Faybian, you are so clever! Thank you! At least now I can just explain to my partner that it’s due to his perfectly formulated semen
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After experiencing more than my fair share of thrush, the doc told me to go to the loo after you’ve done the doona dance to reduce the chance of thrush. Not very romantic but it’s done the trick, can’t remember my last bout of thrush!!
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You don’t need to use a specific ‘feminine’ wash.
Non – soap body washes are good for ALL of your skin – sorbolene / cetaphil etc
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Yep, I’ve always used face cleanser because I knew soap alters the PH.
My favourite face cleanser is Neutrogena Transparent Cleansing Bar – it’s sensitive, removes eye makeup and is super cheap!
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yes, i know the difference between soap and feminine wash – and yes, feminine wash is good at treating thrush. but this ad aims itself squarely at women in general, not women with thrush. unlike ads for, say, canesten, which are quite specific about who they target. my issue with the vagisil ad is that it makes women in general believe they need a special cleanser to combat what are most likely normal, natural odours – and i find that a bit on the nose.
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Its not that they are good for thrush, it’s that soap can actually cause it by washing too harshly the carefully balanced PH of the lady garden
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Some of us from time to time, due to medications etc do smell pretty bad down there. Vagisil has been a life saver for me.
So thanks so much for making me now feel like a FREAK.
Why does MM publish rubbish like this?
Do you not realise that people who use this product will read it and be made to feel like something is wrong with them??
I am seriously crying because of this, I already felt bad about the smell I get sometimes and now I feel even worse.
Thanks for nothing.
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I so see what you mean BUT I don’t think this post is attacking you or implying that there is anything wrong with you. You know why your vagina smells different
I think for the general population it is important to know that if there is a smell it is probably an indication that something is wrong (or it can be a side effect of medication). But disguising the smell and covering it up with a supermarket product is not the right thing to do UNLESS you have approval from a doctor.
If something smells wrong you need to see a doctor – not cover it up.
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You’re not a freak and you know that. I’m sure this is something that you are really self conscious about but I doubt the writer was targeting women like you when she wrote this.
Susan’s post is spot on.
I hope you’re feeling better.
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Are you having a laugh? Surely you’d agree that the name is awful and that there isn’t a product called “cockwash” or “dick douche” to make the guys feel dirty. This product is badly marketed and I’m pretty sure that’s what Terri was getting at. It might as well be called vagodourkiller. I know I wouldn’t walk up to the counter with a product with a name that screams “my vagina stinks”!
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I just laughed so hard
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i’m glad vagisil has helped you and please accept my apologies if you were upset by what i wrote. you’re not a freak, you simply experience symptoms that, as you say, we all experience from time to time (and that includes me!). if vagisil advertised in a way that targeted women who experience certain symptoms from time to time (like, say, canesten does) i wouldn’t have a problem with it but they don’t – their ad implies all women have a “problem” and that’s why i took issue with it. there is absolutely, positively, nothing wrong with you. and if it makes you feel better, i have a single, thick black hair that grows out of the left side of my left wrist. now that’s not normal.
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With all due respect – I think your first line is the point…
“Some of us from time to time, due to medications etc do smell pretty bad down there.”
That’s fair enough! But that is not who and what Vagisil is marketing to, they are trying to make a women without a distinct, strong odour feel ‘dirty’. This is a niche product, they are trying to turn mainstream, to increase sales.
To do so by changing the perception of a normal healthy vagina, to being seeing as not ‘clean’ is awful. And that’s the point the post is making.
It isn’t a personal attack on you. Everyone realises the necessity of this product for those that genuinely need it.
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Maybe you keep getting it because you are way too uptight?
Lighten up lady
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Hey, that’s not fair. Anon is obviously sensitive about the issue. Telling her to lighten up does no good – that’s just mean!!
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My husband loves bacon.
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Hmm, perhaps they should make a bacon-scented Vagisil for ppl that don’t naturally have that advantage
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Bacon? And a vegetarian option please! Ha ha!
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Brilliant!!!!
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Cock-wash. Classic!
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Some women smell not so sweet. Simple fact. This stuff is a cure. Like Listerine is to bad breath, vagisil is to Vag Odour
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Well thanks anonymous. Usually someone has vaginal odor when she has an infection of some sort.
BTW, it’s not a cure, it simply masks/covers up symptoms.
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No some women just smell unpleasant. Fact.
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Still just masks it. Simple.
As others have pointed out products like this help actually make it worse. Simple.
Also, medications can make natural odours worse. Simple.
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Some anonymous posters just write crap. Fact.
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ha ha yes! FACT!
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Well, feel free to choose the smell of balls instead Anonymous.
I don’t feel like I’m missing out on your incredible sensitivity as a lover.
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Keep liking your own comment Anon (pretty obvious that one like was from you) and have fun sniffing your own balls because they obviously smell a lot like the stuff that comes out of your mouth (and backside)
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absolutely hilarious! loved it. and please let us know if you do send that letter away and get a response
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