I’m finally back with another pad review! Yes, I became a menstrual cup convert (read about my full experience here), but I’m still testing all these pads for you ladies! Today’s pad review will be on Adore Sanitary Pads.
Adore sanitary pads? What adore?
Most of you would know of the four big sanitary pad brands (Kotex, Laurier, Sofy and Whisper), but there are also a couple of smaller pad brands in the Singapore market, like ADORE by Takara Holdings. So today, I’ll be sharing with you my thoughts on the range of Adore pads!
Photo credit: ADORE Facebook
What is Adore and who is it by?
“ADORE’s breakthrough technology features green compound strips bonded with far-infrared rays and nano Ag?, emits around 6100cm3/s (100 to 150cm2/s) of highly concentrated negative ions to effectively inhibit bacterial growth, promote freshness and improve feminine hygiene.” – Takara Holdings
It appears that these pads are made up of lots of science and should be good for you. But what do terms like “green compound strips bonded with far-infrared rays and nano Ag?” and “negative ions” even mean?
Far-infrared rays are known to have some health benefits such as detoxification and promoting blood flow, while nano Ag (nano silver) has anti-bacterial properties and is commonly used in sanitary products. Negative ions, or anions, are said to eliminate bacteria and odour.
A signature “green compound strip” is present in all of Adore’s sanitary napkins, and this is supposedly where all the good stuff is.
Takara Holdings Pte Ltd, a Singaporean company, owns Adore and they have operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and China.
Adore Pad Tests
I’m not sure if the nano Ag, far-infrared rays and negative ions help in any way as I don’t have any proof, but I can test these Adore pads to see if they’re any good at being a sanitary pad (i.e. to keep blood in place).
We have here two types of Adore pads – Adore Active Days (24cm) and Adore Dreamy Nights (33cm). Let’s get on with the experiments!
Adore Active Days 24cm
Adore Active Days is a pad for day use, as the name suggests. It is 24cm long, a standard length for most day-time pads.
Comfort
The very first question you’ll ask when buying a new type of sanitary pad is, “How comfortable is it?”. It’s definitely the most important question ’cause it’s going to be in contact with your sensitive lady parts for 5-7 days.
I love the texture of the pad! It’s really soft. The top layer is made of cotton, while the bottom layer is not as plasticky as most other pads. The pad is ultra thin as well, so you don’t have to worry about its bulkiness.
Absorbency
The other most important consideration is the amount of blood that can be absorbed and how quick the absorption is. Let’s have a look below!
Looking at the clip, the Adore Active Days 24cm fares pretty well, absorbing 7ml of fake blood in 16 seconds. By absorb, I mean the blood seeping beneath the first layer of the pad surface. Cotton absorbs pretty quick but it doesn’t retain liquid within the pad as well as pads with dry net surfaces do, which brings me to my next point:
Quite a significant amount of blood was transferred when I tapped lightly on the pad using a piece of tissue paper. This means that much of the blood has not seeped through the second layer of the pad yet.
What this means to you as a user is that as you go about your day sitting and standing repeatedly, the absorption process might be slower. This would make it slightly icky down below.
Leakage Protection
A pad’s basic function is to protect you from leakages right? Usually most pads have side guards (or flow guards) and anti-leak lines to prevent any accidental flows over the edge.
Adore’s Active Days has side guards, and they work pretty well. The absorption was fast enough such that none of the blood flowed over the top/bottom of the pad. Check out the video below!
I’ll summarise my verdict at the end of the article so do read on! The next bit will be on Adore Dreamy Nights, the overnight version at 33cm.
Adore Dreamy Nights 33cm
The Adore Dreamy Nights looks exactly the same as the Active Days, just a little bit longer.
Comfort
The thickness of Dreamy Nights is the same as that of Active Days, so the only difference is the extra flap at the bottom to secure the pad to your undies. The 33cm is as soft as the 24cm, which I love!
Absorbency
For a pad that you’ll be wearing to sleep, it’s absolutely necessary for it to be able to absorb blood really quick especially if you’re a side-sleeper. With Adore Dreamy Nights, it does look trustworthy enough!
The Dreamy Nights took around 15 seconds to absorb 7ml of blood aimed at the center. I’ve seen better performing pads like the Sofy Extra Dry but there’s always a trade-off! The Dreamy Nights is not too bad for overnight use, considering that it’s really thin and cottony soft.
There was a lot of blood transferred on to the tissue paper for this one – probably because all the blood was concentrated in the middle. You’ll want to make sure not to squish it while sleeping!
Leakage Protection
When it comes to sleeping, it’s always a risk to wear a new pad to sleep if you’re the type to move around a lot while asleep. Let’s see how the Adore Dreamy Night holds up for overnight use!
Luckily for everyone, the Adore Dreamy Nights does seem to have just sufficient protection against leakages from the sides. For back-sleepers however, I’m not sure if the pad will hold up! There doesn’t appear to be anything on the pad obstructive enough to prevent overflowing to the back. I’m also a little skeptical on whether the side guards are able to contain all the blood; after all I’m a side-sleeper myself!
Verdict
Adore Active Days 24cm
Comfort: 5/5
Absorption: 3/5
Leakage Protection: 3/5
Adore Dreamy Nights 33cm
Comfort: 5/5
Absorption: 3/5
Leakage Protection: 3/5
Adore Dreamy Nights won the “Best Sanitary Pad for Overnight Use” category for the Cleo Body Awards in 2016, so I suppose it must be something!
I’m a huge fan of the material used but I’m not too sure if such a thin pad is able to hold up during my occasionally heavy flows. Do note that this is just my opinion so do try it out for yourself if you’re curious! 🙂
For those who wish to purchase the range of Adore pads, you may get them at Watsons or Sheng Siong Singapore and they’re retailing at these prices:
Adore Comfort All Days 13 pcs – S$4.90 (a set of 3 types of pads)
Adore Active Days Ultra Slim 16 pcs, 24cm – S$5.85
Adore Mini Ultra Slim 18 pcs, 19cm – S$5.40
Adore Dreamy Nights 8 pcs, 33cm – S$4.65
Check out our other pad reviews here! You can also find out where to get the cheapest pads in Singapore here.
Hi, Can help me check if this Adore brand has longer size than 33 cm, eg: 35 cm or 40 cm?
The maximum length they have is 33cm!
[…] Adore Sanitary Pads (review) […]
Adore is good. Like the width. Adore is possibly the only Singapore brand with cotton top layer, because girls haven’t caught onto the abrasive nature of synthetic fiber top layer. Don’t like Adore’s (standard) multiple-plastic-stickers annoyance that fly everywhere every time we tear open a new pad. Why should consumers deal with more than ONE plastic strip? This kind of unthoughtful backward product design is why I order all my cotton-top pads from Korea.
Hi Jia Jun,
Need your advice on mini pads for weak bladder.
I am a matured active person with some bladder weakness. When I hachoo, sometimes I wet my panty.
I have been using Tena Ladies Discreet mini pad with wings for several years and very happy with the high water absorbency.
However,for the past 5-6 months, I am unable to find stock of this product and I was told that this product was discontinued.
I had tested a few other priducts from the big 4 but they are unsuitable for weak bladder due to the long length and bulky thickness.
Do you know of other smaller brands or imported brands that are effective for the same purpose?
Sharing the details of Tena Ladies Discreet Mini (2 dot) pads:
Width- approx 5.5cm (side to side in the middle)
Length- approx 21cm (end to end)
Thickness – approx half the thickness of a day pad.
Water absorbency-effective.
Appreciate your advice.
Thank you.
Edith
Hi Edith,
I’m afraid we’re not sure which brands would perform best for the same purpose as we didn’t try them out personally! That said, I went to search online and found an e-commerce platform that sells the same variant of pads that you’re looking at: https://www.thegoldenconcepts.com/products/tena-lady-discreet-mini-wings?variant=13608774140000&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIq5PUwIaX4AIVDQYqCh0augj8EAQYASABEgLQGPD_BwE
Hope this helps!
In the past few years sanitary pads are not made the way they used to make them. A dramatic change in the design I noticed. This is in Canada but could be in USA and other countries in the world.
I noticed that pads have a strange plasticky smell like how a baby’s peed-in diaper would smell!! Is this from the new chemicals they are using to make women’s napkins? This is quite embarrassing because just the warmth of my body makes the smell come out even if I have no menstruation or pee in the pad, so I think companies should stop this immediately.
Am I the only one who notices this? I tried googling but got nothing about it, just that chemicals in pads are causing cancer.
Sanitary pads in the past never smelled like this. I want to find a more natural pad and liner.