August 31, 2022

Eve Wellness: The hormonal support brand saying enough is enough

The media has painted hormonal people as a force to be reckoned with. Emotional irrational psychos with an unquenchable sweet tooth. Yet the reality for many who experience periods is much worse. 

Not only are those with periods going through hormonal changes that rise and fall within the hour, but on top of this they are expected to keep quiet, don’t make a fuss, take some painkillers and go to work. 

Yet society's stigmatisation surrounding periods is beginning to lift, and those both on and off hormonal birth control are finally starting to say, enough is enough. 

One player in the space is Eve Wellness, a hormonal support supplement company with the aim of helping people gain education around their own genetic and hormonal make-up. Eve Wellness has a goal of helping people in the space say no fucking thanks to the seemingly never ending side effects of periods and birth control. 

“It’s both surprising and not surprising that we put
up with period pain and hormonal issues, thanks in
large part to our communities and the media.”

That’s Beatrice Thorne, Business Manager and part of the founding team at Eve Wellness. 

After an extensive hormone journey of her own, and experiencing firsthand the shame and stigma that surrounds these topics in our society, Thorne was inspired to create offerings to shed light on menstrual and reproductive health issues.

Beatrice Thorne

In 2018, the newly launched Eve Wellness ran a survey where over 14,000 women responded about their hormones, sharing insights about their health. A whopping 87% of those surveyed reported experiencing signs of hormone imbalance on a regular basis. 

From there the team knew the way forward, and created an at-home hormone testing facilitated by Eve’s purpose-built laboratory, and a line of science-based supplements. 

Eve now was clear on their mission to end the taboo about sex, stress & periods by working to chip away at the stigma that forces us to suffer in silence. 

Are you, youyou know, on your period...

The media has a massive responsibility when it comes to how women on their period are displayed. As Thorne also points out, our own upbringings also play a large role in how we talk and act about sex, stress and periods.

“We grew up in families where dad might say, ‘be careful of your mother, she’s premenstrual.’ As children, we learned very early on from our own homes, from the media, movies, from everything that we were consuming. And the general consensus was when you get older, you have periods and it turns you into a crazy person,” she says.

She points out that this hyperbolic representation of a woman downing Ben and Jerrys with a hot water bottle crying over Grey's Anatomy has only increased the likelihood that people will be hesitant to express their concerns to those around them. 

“The new standard now of bringing these conversations to light has made many people stand up and say ‘you know what, I don’t want to put up with feeling like crap for a week, every month just because I’m told that I should. Actually, I deserve more.’”

For Thorne, the destigmatisation is happening - being largely spurred on by things such as the #MeToo movement and a greater worldwide demand for gender equality. 

“The destigmatisation that has been happening recently hasn’t been down to just one thing, but a combination of a whole load of different factors. 

“In general, there’s a real mindset shift happening at the moment, across all areas of feminism, which is leading to some pretty powerful revolutions in so many different areas, including what we’re trying to achieve here,” she says.

Eve's at-home testing kit

Eve’s pillars include education and awareness, and the brand achieves this by being part of the growing conversation, including Thorne recently being a guest speaker at The Period Place’s panel, The Period Party. 

“With everything that we do, we’re aiming to chip away and open up these types of conversations and end the stigma surrounding having periods and being hormonal. A lot of people have never considered their period as being anything other than this annoying thing that we try to avoid, but it doesn’t have to be like that,” she says. 

Stress, Sex andand Snake Oil

What sets Eve Wellness apart from others in the space is its focus on supplying products that are scientifically backed and created by their team of qualified scientists. 

“We’ve taken a science lead approach by having our lab creating products that are born out of the data that comes in from these at-home testing kits. From there we are able to see the results from real people, and combine that data with scientific literature and research. From there we ensure that we always use dosages of the nutrients and herbs that are scientifically backed from that research,” says Thorne. 

Supplements within the Eve Wellness range, from L-R: Eve Chill Pills, Eve Period Pal, Eve Queen V & Morning Person

As Thorne admits, there is a lot of ‘snake oil’ out there in the supplement health and wellness space. 

“We’re working to ensure that we’re putting products out there that are actually going to work for people, and going to make a difference rather than just something to waste money on,” she says. 

A far cry from the ever increasing plethora of gummy vitamins for adults, Eve Wellness supplements are credibly backed and a sub brand of the popular BePure company. Yet the kits and the pills are just one side of it, looking ahead the brand aims to focus more on  awareness and education about society as a whole. 

“We want to invite as many people into this conversation as we can, and then give them really awesome tools and resources and information to empower themselves with knowledge. This means they’re going out there and having conversations that matter, and demanding more for their own health and wellness,” say Thorne. 

Eve Wellness are working to open up the door for more people to explore what’s holding them back. As Thorne expresses, ‘if you don’t have your health, what do you have?’

“We can achieve more when people are given the opportunity to thrive, and aren’t held back,” says Thorne. “We have the most brilliant, creative, smart people in New Zealand with heaps of potential, but if they’re being held back by something as basic, as their health, their period and their hormones, that’s just not fair. 

“And that’s not the makings of a society that’s going to thrive long term.”

To see how Eve Wellness can benefit you, visit their website here.