Meet the Mooncup (Other Tampons)

Member Name: LittleEwok

Product:	Other Tampons
Date:	22/01/05 (1052 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good for you (no TSS or stray fibres etc), Good for the environment (no clogging up oceans or landfill sites), Good for your wallet

Disadvantages: Bit gross at first, Some people think theyre a bit freaky...and you are a freak for using them!

I asked Dooyoo to add a category for this product, but they seem to be moving a little slowly, so I thought I’d just post it here instead, although technically a Mooncup isn’t a tampon. I apologise if this review is in the wrong place, also apologise in advance to any blokes who are grossed out by this review ;-)

So what is the Mooncup?

The Mooncup is a little rubber article you can buy from Mooncup.co.uk. it’s a menstrual cup about two inches long and made of soft silicone rubber, with a thin end for easy removal. It is worn internally and forms a seal with your vaginal walls. It holds an ounce of liquid, which is on average a third of your period.

Um…what do you do with it?

After trimming the end to a suitable length, you insert it as you would a tampon. As with a tampon, if it is correctly in place you don’t feel it. As it holds so much liquid, you don’t need to change it nearly as often as you would with a sanitary towel or a tampon, I find with me, it needs changing about half as often as a tampon would, and I have fairly heavy periods. When you remove it you simply wash it out and reuse it, and when your period is finished, you can boil or sterilise it ready for next “moon”.

My and my Mooncup

I got my Mooncup six months ago and I’m well impressed with it. At first I was a bit reluctant, thinking I’d just spent another twenty quid on a fad product. I got it after a recommendation from two friends, who were absolutely RAVING about it. I visited the website and decided to give it a try. After three unsuccessful tries at buying it over the internet (the product may be great but the website aint!), I ordered it over the phone instead. You can also pay by posting a cheque or postal order to the Mooncup people. It comes in two sizes, one for women who haven’t given birth, and one for women who have.

It comes in a nice little white box and has its own cute little drawstring bag, and it comes with lots of little nice stickers (which after you have tried this product, believe me you WILL be sticking everywhere).

I found inserting it a little scary and difficult at first, it looks a bit large, but once the narrow end is trimmed to the correct length, its really ok, and easy to put in and remove. You do have to be careful on removal not to spill the, um, contents.

Up until a while ago I was taking a contraceptive injection, and since I’ve come off it I’ve found my periods seem to be a lot heavier and last longer, so the Mooncup is a total life-saver, before it I was changing tampons every hour on the hour. With this I found I could leave it MUCH longer than tampons and even towels, and overnight without waking up with messy sheets (sorry lads, but some of the women might know what I’m talking about here). Washing it out is a bit gross at first, but once you get past the “ick” factor its actually much better than either sanitary towels or tampons, because there is no smell (sorry again guys). If your going on a night out, its really easy to change it just before you leave, and not worry about it all night! Remember it holds a third of one period so there’s no need to be washing it out in a public restroom. You can go to the toilet with it in also. The cost factor is another big plus with the Mooncup…it costs £17.99...You would probably spend that in a few months on sanitary products! The best part is, supposedly the Mooncup lasts for ten years with proper care, I’ve spoken to a few other women who have them and have had them for a long time…imagine saving on ten years worth of tampons and towels!

So…why its better

We are becoming more and more aware of what we are putting into our bodies these days…we might go for organic food, even organic beauty products if we can afford it…but we don’t really think about what we put…there, do we? Regular brands of tampons contain bleach to make them look nice and white, note to mention weed killer and pesticides used to keep the cotton growing. Do you really want to be putting THAT where your delicate bits are? Sanitary towels are an option, but I’ve never liked them, even the slim ones make you feel like you’re wearing a nappy, and also they can get a bit smelly (sorry again blokies).

I switched to Natracare tampons a long time ago…these are a brand of tampons with no chemical bleaches and pesticides used, organic, basically. But they are marginally more expensive (not great for us studenty people), and much harder to get hold of, AND I still had problems with my now heavy periods (damn the contraceptive injection). At one point I was using two tampons AND a towel at a time, not good for me or the environment. This thing lasts me ages, as I mentioned before, it can be left a good eight or ten hours when your in bed or on a night out, with no worries at all. There is no leakages, so long as you remember to change it at sensible intervals.

We have all heard about the risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome, and whether you use organic tampons or not, this is still a risk. There are no known cases of this with menstrual cups, of which the Mooncup is just one brand. Also, it is quite possible for little wads of cotton to come off a tampon and get stuck inside you (this has happened to me). I don’t know what this does for your health but certainly nothing good…all in all I feel a Mooncup is a healthier choice, if you can stand the ick factor. it’s just a sterile little rubber thing, as long as you keep it clean (I boil mine, though there are other ways to clean it), its much healthier, and its also safe for women who are allergic to rubber.

There is also an obvious environmental benefit to be had by using one of these. Most of us flush our tampons, and even if we don’t they end up on landfill sites…the other alternative is that they end up jammed in some poor dolphins throat or clogging up our beaches. Its unbelievable the mess sanitary products can make, and I think its about time women started to think about where that little wad of cotton goes. With this, there aint much to flush, the waste from your house is massively reduced…we have had to spend a few hundred on our pipes being unblocked…the culprit was used tampons.

Cost is obviously a great factor with this thing also. Especially if you have heavy periods, the cost of being a woman can really mount up. You would spend 17.99 on sanitary products in six months…less if you are as unfortunate as me with the heavy periods thing.

As I’ve mentioned, on a night out the Mooncup is a great thing. You can happily carry a dainty little handbag, and not have to reply to the dreaded idiot male question of “Why are you taking your bag to the bathroom with you?”. Obviously cleaning this thing out in a public toilet would not be an easy thing, but its not really a necessary one either, I find a Mooncup will easily last a night out without changing, and this is coming from someone who has incredibly heavy periods.

The only down point of the Mooncup is the initial ick-factor. To be fair, this is considerable at first, but you get over it real quickly. A lot of women feel they couldn’t do this, but I know several girly-girls (and I mean the girliest girls you will ever meet), who have gotten over their fear. I mean, its only blood isn’t it? Unfortunately its part of being a woman and just something you get used to…remember how grossed out you felt the first time you had to use a sanitary towel or a tampon? You got over it, and I feel its worth getting over for all the advantages above.

Conclusion

All in all, I think the Mooncup deserves five stars. I was gonna deduct one for the yuck factor, but as you get over it pretty quick I decided not to. Not only are sanitary products destroying our beaches, they can also be destructive to our bodies, should we choose to use tampons. I try to make it part of my life to tread as lightly on the earth as I can, and I feel this one little product makes a massive difference…I don’t know how much sanitary waste one woman produces during her lifetime, but I’m guessing its rather considerable. This eliminates all the waste in one go. I love my Mooncup…I know it’s a bit of a hippy thing, but I’m glad that its not only better for me and the planet, but its also better for my wallet too! Give it a try, it just might surprise you!

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