Tara Olivo, associate editor04.27.22
A new hemp-based line of period care products has launched this month, adding another body- and Earth-friendly option to the growing natural hygiene market.
Val Emanuel, a Southern California native, conceived the idea for Rif care (Regenerative International Female Inc.) a few years ago while looking into some of the terms and ingredients in feminine hygiene products that she didn’t understand.
“My ex founded a company called Circular Systems, and he works a lot with hemp—he’s been working with textiles for 25 years,” she says. “I was traveling the world with him and I realized there are so many applications for hemp that we weren’t utilizing yet. One industrial use I thought could be great is as an absorbent material, so that’s how the original concept came about.”
Rif care founders Val Emanuel & Rebecca Caputo
Rif care currently offers pads in three absorbencies—regular, super and overnight. The pads feature a hemp and organic cotton fiber blend topsheet, a responsibly sourced and chlorine-free tree pulp core—without the use of super absorbent polymers (SAP)—and a sugar-based plastic backsheet, making it fully biodegradable. “My co-founder and best friend Rebecca Caputo is also working with our biotechnology partners to make our pads even more absorbent with other plant-based materials that have been underutilized.”
Emanuel believes hemp is a great alternative to other plant-based options on the market. “The feminine care industry was missing an alternative solution that was as good as cotton,” she says. “There were other products using bamboo, banana and even someone who came out with pineapple fibers, but at the end of the day we needed something that had a naturally better fiber composition, plus hemp is antimicrobial.”
Emanuel claims Rif care pads can biodegrade 100% in less than a year, in a landfill or in an industrial compost. The pads’ wrappers are also made of a sugar-based plastic that protects the pads without having an additional plastic bag surrounding them in the box.
In terms of sustainability, hemp has about a quarter of the carbon footprint as cotton, and as far as comfort, she believes it’s on par with cotton. “Imagine when you wear a pair of underwear and it feels like you have nothing on, we tried to get a fiber blend that really reflected that feeling. We tried around 10 different fiber blends and then we got it. Also, 80% of women use pads and more than half of them say pads are uncomfortable, so we really changed that. The hemp/cotton blend feels extremely soft and luxurious.”
Rif care, which launched on Kickstarter, began shipping its first orders earlier this month, and plans to expand into retailers in May. The products can also be ordered through the brand’s website, www.rifcare.com.
“I think it’s a great time to launch a new feminine care brand,” Emanuel says. “There’s so much more information out there, and women are reading a lot and looking for other materials. We’re using hemp for something as practical as feminine hygiene, and it’s going to help people realize the alternatives outside of synthetic options; it’s going to shine a light on what we could be using, and let people know that there are more options.”
Val Emanuel, a Southern California native, conceived the idea for Rif care (Regenerative International Female Inc.) a few years ago while looking into some of the terms and ingredients in feminine hygiene products that she didn’t understand.
“My ex founded a company called Circular Systems, and he works a lot with hemp—he’s been working with textiles for 25 years,” she says. “I was traveling the world with him and I realized there are so many applications for hemp that we weren’t utilizing yet. One industrial use I thought could be great is as an absorbent material, so that’s how the original concept came about.”
Rif care founders Val Emanuel & Rebecca Caputo
Emanuel believes hemp is a great alternative to other plant-based options on the market. “The feminine care industry was missing an alternative solution that was as good as cotton,” she says. “There were other products using bamboo, banana and even someone who came out with pineapple fibers, but at the end of the day we needed something that had a naturally better fiber composition, plus hemp is antimicrobial.”
Emanuel claims Rif care pads can biodegrade 100% in less than a year, in a landfill or in an industrial compost. The pads’ wrappers are also made of a sugar-based plastic that protects the pads without having an additional plastic bag surrounding them in the box.
In terms of sustainability, hemp has about a quarter of the carbon footprint as cotton, and as far as comfort, she believes it’s on par with cotton. “Imagine when you wear a pair of underwear and it feels like you have nothing on, we tried to get a fiber blend that really reflected that feeling. We tried around 10 different fiber blends and then we got it. Also, 80% of women use pads and more than half of them say pads are uncomfortable, so we really changed that. The hemp/cotton blend feels extremely soft and luxurious.”
Rif care, which launched on Kickstarter, began shipping its first orders earlier this month, and plans to expand into retailers in May. The products can also be ordered through the brand’s website, www.rifcare.com.
“I think it’s a great time to launch a new feminine care brand,” Emanuel says. “There’s so much more information out there, and women are reading a lot and looking for other materials. We’re using hemp for something as practical as feminine hygiene, and it’s going to help people realize the alternatives outside of synthetic options; it’s going to shine a light on what we could be using, and let people know that there are more options.”
