Turning Science Into Sex
Learn how a personal problem became a passion and then a solution for millions of women.
BY WENDY STRGAR

rawpixel.com Sex should not be an uncomfortable activity, fortunately science is here to here. “ It has taken time, but the medical community is now comparing the vaginal biome to the gut biome which impacts overall health in everything from immune response to emotional reactivity.”

For the record, I am not a scientist. I got close when I married a scientist.

He was all about Chemistry and Biology, and became a physician. I was always the one more intrigued by our personal chemistry, which was ultimately what tipped me over to his research at the crossroads of human biology and chemistry. Necessity was the mother of invention as I worked to find a solution to the vaginal dryness and painful sex that increasingly weighed on our interpersonal chemistry as we grew our family.

It only takes a few experiences of non-lubricated sex to know that this is not a problem easily ignored. And then, the myriad of burning, itching, and sticky trials with standard over-the-counter brands made me look at science in a new way.

Our first and best selling lubricant resulted from the process of elimination. By removing all the ingredients I would never consider mixing in a kitchen, it was easy to arrive at an organic, aloe-based lubricant. But, being married to a scientist, I knew there was more to it. I just didn’t know what I didn’t know.

We were catapulted into the heart of our scientific research through our donation programs. As a "love" company, we always say "yes" to organizations, clinics, hospitals, universities, etc., that want to provide healthy product options for their people. In 2010, our local chapter of HIV Alliance requested samples and through routine sample testing, we become one of several lubricants included in a $50 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) study. The results shocked us as it showed Good Clean Love as the safest lubricant in the class that had been reviewed.

When I met one of the primary researchers of that study, Dr. Richard Cone, my science education really accelerated. I went from the process of elimination in formulation to truly understanding the fundamentals of what makes lubricants effective and safe. The original NIH study was intended not as a study of personal lubricants, but rather to develop a "buffer gel," which could prevent the increasing incidence of HIV and other serious STDs. Although their research didn’t accomplish this task, the data they gathered on 5,000 women taught them a lot about the incidence of one of the most common genital infections, bacterial vaginosis (BV) and how it exponentially increased the risk of infection with HIV and other STDs.

I remember that spring day, sitting outside my kids’ school in the carpool line, talking to Dr. Cone about how we could use these findings to improve our existing lubricant. I finally understood my own experience with recurrent episodes of weird odors and itching that continuously came and went in my life. Literally years later, I learned that I was one of millions of women (two in five women have BV) who are impacted by the most common of genital infections. And 84% of the time, like me, they don’t know what it is either. No wonder the term "smelly vagina" is one of the most expensive keyword searches you can buy on the web. This is how science became my best friend and how, slowly, the beautiful idea of bio-matching our hygiene and intimacy products to existing healthy vaginal ecosystem dawned on me.

Since then, the concept of how osmolality functions and the understanding of its huge impact on the health of the vaginal biome has grown exponentially. At almost every medical conference we attend, presentations are made, and we are mentioned ;) as a safe, iso-osmatic choice for women. It has taken time, but the medical community is now comparing the vaginal biome to the gut biome which impacts overall health in everything from immune response to emotional reactivity.

This falling in love with science has helped us to lead this important research about sexual health and we have been leaders not only in educating the medical community and regulatory agencies like the FDA, but in helping women to better understand their own bodies. All of our vaginal care and feminine hygiene products serve to protect and restore the feminine biome.

Studying the growing field of biomimetics continues to guide our product offerings and we will soon be launching the first and only Bio-Matched fertility solution, as well as a unique moisturizing product for complex vaginal dryness that impact over 25% of all women.

Science is sexy. And you don’t have to be a scientist to listen and learn from them.

Wendy Strgar, founder and CEO of Good Clean Love, is a loveologist who writes and lectures on Making Love Sustainable, a green philosophy of relationships which teaches the importance of valuing the renewable resources of love, intimacy and family. In her new book, "Love that Works: A Guide to Enduring Intimacy," she tackles the challenging issues of sustaining relationships and healthy intimacy with an authentic and disarming style and simple yet innovative advice. It has been called "the essential guide for relationships." The book is available on ebook. Wendy has been married for 27 years to her husband, a psychiatrist, and lives with their four children ages 13-23 in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

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