Fair warning: this could get a little graphic, but this is the reality that many Singaporean women face, every month without fail.

Sanitary pads, often made with cotton or plastic, are made fit and snug — can’t have leaks, after all! But this also means they spend hours chafing against the skin with barely any room to breathe or move. Soaking up blood, sweat, discharge, and all manner of bodily fluids. Creating angry red period rashes that cause discomfort all day.

Did you shudder at just the thought? We sure did.

So did Tan Peck Ying and Caleb Leow, co-founders of homegrown period care brand, Blood.

Caleb Leow and Tan Peck Ying, co-founders of Blood

Partners in business and in life, Peck Ying and Caleb doubled down to find that special ingredient that could sustainably replace regular cotton or plastic in sanitary pads. The alternative also had to fit Blood’s mission: to revolutionise period products that are both high performing and better for the body.

In a year-long R&D process helmed by Caleb (who is also a self-taught product engineer!), this power duo cycled through various materials that came to mind: organic cotton, hybrid mixes, and even bamboo — all with little success.

Until they stumbled upon an unexpected solution: corn.

Far from just being a novel idea, the entire Blood team was won over by the performance of corn as an ingredient. They found that corn, being naturally dry, has the ability to absorb three times more liquid and still dry faster than cotton! As the pad’s topsheet, it’s also much gentler on the skin and eliminates period rashes completely.

Their corn pads have been put to the test (literally), having cleared a rigorous series of hypoallergenic, chlorine, phthalates, and fluorescence tests. If that sounds like a complicated mouthful, it actually is! But it also just means that Peck Ying and Caleb left no room for error in ensuring that their new pads are better for the body: naturally drug-free, safe for different skin types and allergies, and prevents infection.

Available at major local retailers like NTUC FairPrice and Watsons, Blood’s corn pads are the first of its kind globally and have been making a marked difference for women all over Singapore, with more than 1 million pads sold so far. The brand also has an expanding regional presence in Malaysia and Indonesia — and they have big plans for more.

In fact, Blood has just wrapped up a successful seven-figure Series A funding round led by DSG Consumer Partners with returning investor AngelCentral. Beyond expanding their retail footprint, the funding raised will go towards Blood’s fearless founding passion: to constantly create products that understand the need to support people who bleed.

To find out more about Blood and their game-changing period care solutions, visit their website at: https://sg.getblood.com/

Images: Blood