Beauty and Bentley

For a while now I've been intrigued by the idea of a menstrual cup and I've slowly been making changes to my lifestyle in an effort to be more eco-friendly (click here to read my simple tips for being more eco-friendly) so I finally decided to bite the bullet and give a menstrual cup a go.

To give you a little bit of insight, the average woman throws away over 11,000 disposable menstrual products in a lifetime, most of which will end up in landfill making tampons/pads a big problem for the environment.

Benefits of a Menstrual Cup

Budget-friendly
Re-useable - One cup will last you years with proper care
Can be worn for up to 12 hours meaning you only need to empty your cup twice a day
Environmentally friendly
No irritation to the skin/body - no toxins, bleaches chemicals or fibres being placed inside the body
Some woman even claim to experience a reduction in cramps

So what is it actually like to use a menstrual cup?

The menstrual cup I bought is from the brand OrganiCup and I picked it up from Body Kind for £15.00. Okay, so your OrganiCup comes in cardboard box packaging that folds out and tells you everything you need to know about using the product and the cup itself is inside a cotton drawstring bag which you can use to store your OrganiCup when you're not on your period. The packaging and branding has a very eco-conscious feel.

The first time I tried out the cup it did take a few attempts to get it placed correctly, you'll know it's inserted correctly when you're not able to feel it. The cup works with gentle suction that creates a seal when the cup is properly inserted it will 'pop' open fully and collect your menstrual blood. To insert the cup there are two main options on how to fold the cup, I would suggest trying out both to see what works best for you. I've also read that many woman cut the stem shorter on their menstrual cup to give a more comfortable fit which I will probably do in a few months time when I'm more comfortable using my cup.

 The very first time I tried out the cup I couldn't feel it but throughout the evening I did feel aware of it and had some feelings very similar to cramps but I'm unsure if this because of the cup of not. For the rest of my cycle, I continued to use the cup and only had one night where there was a very minor leak, each time I emptied the cup it did take a couple of times to reinsert it but this is just one of those things that takes practice before you master it. The downsides to this product are that you do need-to be more 'hands on' than you would using a tampon or pad and some people may feel squeamish about tipping out their own blood into the toilet but for me personally, these downsides are far outweighed by the positives. I obviously love the fact that this method is so much better for the environment but my second favourite thing is that you can go about your day and not need to worry about changing tampons etc, once it's in your set for the next 12 hours which is amazing! 

I do think it'll take me another few months before I'm 100% comfortable using the OrganiCup but I also think I'm converted, I think these are a great idea and should be talked about amongst woman far more, a few years ago I would never have even thought there could be another option other than tampons and pads to deal with your period and I hope to see more changes in the future and more woman making the switch.

Would you ever consider a menstrual cup?

If you already use one what kind/brand do you have?