Vionell

Vionell is an intimate-care brand for women, sold in Germany under its own name and owned by Combe, the privately held American personal-care company behind Vagisil and Just For Men [5]. Its range covers daily intimate washes, an intimate deodorant spray, an oat-based soothing ointment and a hydrating gel. The company says the brand was introduced in the United States 50 years ago [1].

Vionell is the German face of a wider international product family. On the brand's website, vionell.de appears as the Germany entry in a country selector that otherwise leads to Vagisil sites in North America, Europe and Australasia and to Benzal in Mexico. The brand is active, with a current product line sold through German drugstores, supermarkets and online pharmacies.

The Vionell name itself tells only part of the story. The brand's German site states that it was introduced in the United States half a century ago, without naming a year or the American product it began as. Its links to the Vagisil site network fill in the context. According to Wikipedia, Combe launched Vagisil in 1974, an over-the-counter cream for vulvar itching and irritation, in the same year it opened its first manufacturing plant in Rantoul, Illinois [8]. Read together, these point to a brand that traces its roots to that American launch, while carrying a different name in Germany.

The Vionell name is documented on the German market at least since 2014, when the consumer magazine ÖKO-TEST reviewed one of its wash lotions [11]. When or why the German name was chosen is not publicly documented, and no source states outright that Vionell was renamed from Vagisil.

Vionell's website names Combe in the legal notice on its contact page, and the German consumer magazine ÖKO-TEST lists the supplier of a Vionell wash as Combe Europa [10]. Several German online pharmacies, however, name a different company, Pharma Netzwerk PNW GmbH of Bornheim-Walberberg, as the manufacturer or provider of Vionell products [13]. Those listings do not describe the company as an owner, and the brand itself names only Combe; Pharma Netzwerk PNW GmbH is more plausibly a German distribution or supply partner.

Combe Incorporated was founded in New York in 1949 by Ivan Combe and is based in White Plains, New York [9]. The company is privately owned and sells its products in around 100 countries. Its history includes originating Clearasil in 1950 before selling it in 1961, launching Vagisil in 1974 and introducing the men's hair colour line Just For Men in 1987. Later deals include the acquisition of J.B. Williams in 2002 and of the lubricant brand Astroglide in 2023. Besides Vagisil and Just For Men, its portfolio includes Sea-Bond, Grecian Formula, Brylcreem, Aqua Velva and Cepacol.

Vionell presents itself as part of a family business led by a woman. Keech Combe Shetty was appointed board chair of the Personal Care Products Council in 2020, according to the Combe Wikipedia article.

Vionell frames its work around a single aim: that every product should genuinely work, so that women feel fresh, comfortable and confident each day. Its German tagline translates as "Tested by experts. Trusted by women." The brand lists four core values, describing itself as passionate, trustworthy, unique and innovative, and calls itself a pioneer in body care for women.

Much of the brand's messaging centres on who makes the products. According to the company, its formulas are developed by a team of women scientists and range from therapeutic treatments to everyday care. The brand also says its products are tested by gynaecologists and dermatologists [1] and made with a mix of cosmetic, medicinal and plant-based ingredients. Its English-language overview mentions company-owned facilities and labs, ISO-certified plants and production sites registered with the US Food and Drug Administration, though it does not say where they are. The company describes product development as a three-stage process covering formulation, consumer safety testing and manufacturing, with checks on raw materials on the way in and finished products on the way out.

A recurring theme is the difference between the vulva and the rest of the body. Vionell's FAQ argues that the outer intimate area has an acidic pH that supports the body's natural defences, and that general body washes and soaps, with a much higher pH, can upset that balance. While the inner vagina cleans itself, the brand notes, the vulva does not. All Vionell washes are balanced at pH 4.5 to 5.5, according to the company. The brand also cites a figure that 80 percent of women regularly use an ordinary body wash on their whole body, which it presents as the reason for a dedicated intimate wash. On odour, its FAQ explains that the vulva has sweat glands much like the armpit, and that sweat bacteria, menstrual blood, urine and semen can all contribute to external odour.

The brand states that none of its products has been tested on animals [4]. No third-party cruelty-free certification is documented.

The German range is small, with seven products grouped into three needs: cleansing and freshness, itch relief and dryness relief.

The cleansing line makes up most of it. The pH-Balance Waschlotion is described by the company as making a clinically proven contribution to maintaining a healthy pH [7]. The Ultra Fresh Intim-Waschlotion and the Intim Deo-Spray, a dry-wash spray for use on the go, are each said to protect against odour for up to 24 hours. Two scented washes, Frühling Flieder (spring lilac) and Weißer Jasmin (white jasmine), round out the category.

For itch relief, the Intim-Pflege Salbe is an oat-based ointment intended to calm irritated skin in the intimate area. A pharmacy product sheet describes it as fragrance-free and pH-neutral, with natural oat extract to soothe irritation after shaving, friction from tight clothing or sport, and dryness [12]. Its listed ingredients include shea butter and colloidal oatmeal. For dryness, the Intim-Hydro-Gel is a lubricant that the company says feels like the body's own natural moisture.

Across the range, the brand highlights aloe, calendula, chamomile, glycerin, hyaluronic acid, lactic acid, oatmeal, shea butter and vitamin E as key ingredients, alongside gentle cleansing agents. Vionell says its fragrances follow the standards of the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) and that it uses only mild preservatives shown to be gentle on vulvar skin. It also says independent expert panels and internal safety specialists review its ingredients, and that it keeps a list of substances it deliberately avoids.

The brand's own account of mild formulas has not always matched independent lab results. The German consumer magazine ÖKO-TEST has assessed the Vionell pH-Balance Soft & Sensitive wash lotion at least twice.

In its October 2014 issue, the magazine rated the wash "ungenügend" (insufficient), placing it ninth of eleven products. The main criticism concerned the preservative methylisothiazolinone, a known contact allergen, which was present just below the legal limit of 100 mg/kg. The test also faulted an artificial musk fragrance and PEG compounds [11].

ÖKO-TEST reviewed the same product again in a 2021 test of 20 intimate washes, published in its yearbook for 2022. The wash again received an overall rating of "ungenügend", with its ingredients rated "mangelhaft" (poor) [11]. The magazine's general verdict was that only two of the washes in that test scored "very good", and that almost all others contained at least one ingredient it criticised [10].

Vionell is a mass-market brand. In Germany it is sold through drugstore chains such as dm, Rossmann and Müller, through supermarkets including Kaufland, REWE and Edeka, and through online pharmacies.

Vionell is active. Its German website carries a current seven-product range with links to retailers, and its products are listed by online pharmacies. The most recent independent assessment of the brand is ÖKO-TEST's 2021 intimate-wash test.