After ripping apart, as well as menstruating on, hundreds of tampons, we can tell you, first, that many of these cotton wads are identical or nearly so, and second, that small details—such as the shape of an applicator or the composition of the wrapper—make some tampons much more pleasant to use than others. Among applicator tampons, we like Tampax Pearl and Tampax Pure (an organic choice) best. O.B. Pro Comfort and O.B. Organic tampons are our favorite applicator-free options.
We aren’t sure of everything that’s in most tampons, including some that we recommend. Really. That’s because tampon makers aren’t required to disclose this information. Still, there’s no significant evidence to suggest that tampons you can buy in the US contain anything harmful (except in rare cases of allergies) or that organic tampons, which are made with organic rather than conventional cotton, are better for your health.
A note of disclosure: The author of this guide has a past professional relationship with a tampon company.
Our pick
The Pearl tampon’s foolproof, non-compact plastic applicator, long braided string, and sturdy, reusable wrapper pleased our testers.
This organic version of the Pearl tampons has the same highly rated plastic applicator and wrapper.
Testers who tried all absorbencies of both Tampax Pearl and its new, near-identical organic version, Tampax Pure, preferred these applicator tampons to all the other brands they used. They praised the standard-size applicators, the relatively long and thick braided strings, and the uniquely sturdy, easy-to-open wrappers that made disposal of used tampons a breeze.
Cost per tampon (regular absorbency)1
Tampax Pearl: 19¢, pack of 50
Tampax Pure: 38¢, pack of 16
Our pick
Easy to unwrap and insert, the Pro Comfort tampons shed fewer fibers than most applicator-free (aka “digital”) tampons, testers found.
As easy to unwrap and insert as Pro Comfort tampons, the O.B. Organic version is less expensive than most of its organic applicator-free competitors.
While one tester referred to the O.B. Pro Comfort as “the Porsche of tampons,” what really makes this applicator-free tampon stand out is its ease of unwrapping and its competitive pricing. Testers liked the organic version just as much. The O.B. tampons we like best cost on average 25 percent less than other leading applicator-free tampons.
Cost per tampon (regular absorbency)
O.B. Pro Comfort: 16¢, pack of 40
O.B. Organic: 25¢, pack of 24
