One of many issues Sachee Malhotra, Founding father of femtech startup , says she’s significantly pleased with is how each lady can discover illustration within the many posts on the corporate’s Instagram web page. For her, That Sassy Factor is not simply within the enterprise of feminine hygiene but additionally altering perceptions strengthened by patriarchal diktats.
“Girls have been diminished to a sum of their components. We’ve been advised to not solely be insecure about our hair, face, weight, and peak, but additionally the best way our breasts, vulvas, and bottoms ought to look,” Sachee tells YourStory, including that her private mission is to quash internalised misogyny and empowering individuals to personal their our bodies.
With this objective, she launched That Sassy Factor in 2020. The startup goals to fill a gaping gap within the femtech area by specializing in girls and their our bodies — and having a lady main the cost helps. Most business wellness manufacturers at this time, a minimum of those present in grocery shops and the likes, are run by males, and concentrate on males’s pleasure, generally on the expense of girls’s wellness.
“Take flavoured lube, for instance, which may generally comprise sugars and trigger yeast infections in girls. In most heterosexual relationships, males not solely personal girls’s pleasures but additionally the implements of hygiene,” Sachee explains.
The course That Sassy Factor is taking is knowledgeable by these prejudices, she provides. For instance, DTF, the startup’s sexual lubricant is just not solely plant-based and all-natural, however is conscious concerning the pure pH of the physique, not like most lubricants which might be both oil-based, sticky, or made up of dangerous substances.
(Picture credit score: That Sassy Factor)
Not too long ago, it launched two intercourse toys too to allow extra vulva homeowners to take cost of their very own pleasures. Not like most imported toys that price upwards of Rs 5,000, That Sassy Factor’s merchandise — OG and Lit — are pocket-friendly and of the identical high quality as a lot of their imported counterparts. Sachee says, even the feel and appear of the toys had been designed retaining Indian sensibilities in thoughts.
“We realised that Indians are likely to draw back from overtly realistic-looking merchandise though there’s demand for that too. We needed to create one thing {that a} majority of individuals wouldn’t thoughts proudly owning or having,” she provides.
Pushing into hygiene merchandise
Past empowering girls and vulva homeowners to take cost of their sexual wants, That Sassy Factor has been making an enormous play for female hygiene merchandise, which Sachee says is an thrilling area as of late.
“Hygiene isn’t just about sexual well being; it’s additionally about private well being, and that’s a core focus for me,” she provides.
The startup has, thus far, launched 4 merchandise underneath this umbrella — a hemp-based menstrual cramp care curler, pubic hair oil, underwear detergent, and an intimate wash that doubles up as a physique wash.
The menstrual cramp care curler is without doubt one of the startup’s most promoting merchandise and has obtained a lot commendation due to the pure substances it makes use of.
(Picture Credit score: That Sassy Factor)
The underwear detergent has been extensively talked about as a result of it replaces harsh and dangerous business detergents that usually not solely trigger put on and tear of the material, however depart chemical residues behind that may disturb the physique’s pure pH.
“Due to the best way the feminine anatomy is, our our bodies are consistently in shut contact with our underwear, and due to that, our intimate clothes want particular care. Business detergents don’t cater to that and as a rule find yourself damaging the material,” Sachee explains.
The intimate physique wash too was formulated on the identical precept — not corroding the physique’s pure pH stage.
Sachee says all of That Sassy Factor’s merchandise are formulated in session with dermatologists and skilled chemists, and examined not simply within the lab, however on family and friends. And whereas the merchandise and their chemical composition might differ, the underlying philosophy doesn’t.
“Every product is designed retaining in thoughts the central theme of empowerment. The thought is to assist vulva homeowners take the initiative for his or her hygiene and pleasure,” the founder says.
