Thinking about switching to a menstrual cup?

I’d never given a menstrual cup any thought whatsoever, or if I had it’d be to say ‘absolutey not’. However, last week I met up with some friends and we got on to the topic of period pants and menstrual cups – if I’m honest, both of them sounded hideous ‘totally fine with my tampons thanks’ was my first response…but then after rave reviews from friends, I was intrigued.

I was due on my period the following week, so after a recommendation I ordered the ‘Organicup’. The Organicup menstrual cup plus postage was about £18 – it’s a good few months worth of tampons/pads, so it was worth the gamble. I ordered a size B; online it states ‘Size B for women who have given birth’, as I’d done it twice I wondered if I needed a B+ but there wasn’t that option. Lols.

My Organicup menstrual cup arrived a couple of days later and the next day so did good ole Aunt Flo. After reading the very well presented instructions and taking my Organicup out of its little bag off I went upstairs for an explore.

My first impression was that in it’s ‘non adjusted’ form, it’s bloody big – but the silicone is so stretchy and moveable that after holding it between fingers and thumb to create a ‘C’ shape it looked more manageable! Not having a clue what I was doing, or even knowing what angle to shoot for, I ‘C’ curled it and hoped for the best. It popped in (literally), a little suction had me confident it was where needed to be – and I washed my hands and felt all liberated as I skipped off back downstairs (after a vigorous handwash). I thought I’d be focused on it all day but it was so comfortable that I totally forgot about it which was good.

Benefits of a menstrual cup

• No rustling tampons/pads to shove up your sleeve at work as you scurry to the toilet all incognito
• No changing your tampon/pad every 4 hours, the menstrual cup lasts a whopping 12 hours
• No worried about what to wear on your lighter flow days (take the pain inserting/removing a dry tampon or wear a pad and feel the ‘dripping’)
• The impact on the environment
• The savings on your sanitary essentials monthly

As it was my first time using a cup, I did decide to wear a sanitary towel as well – just incase. I needn’t have worried though, it was fine!

After about ten hours, I decided to re-read the fancy instructions on how to ‘exit’ the cup and give it a go. I was actually more nervous about this part to be honest. I sat over the loo, took some deep breaths and pulled at the silicone cord – not knowing what pressure to apply or what might ‘fall out’ I was apprehensive but I gave the cup a short squeeze to release suction and it came out fairly easily.

I was pleased to report half a cup collected and no dirtiness, stickiness, smelliness endured like you can experience with traditional period products.

After completing a full cycle with my Organicup menstrual cup, I’m a convert. It feels more hygienic, more comfortable, less faff and also pretty smug that I won’t be delving into my purse for ‘essentials’ on a monthly basis.

Have you joined the menstrual cup revolution?