Mooncup: This will change your life

I guess I should say that if you're a boy, you shouldn't be reading this.  But I'm not going to - if you're a boy and you're reading this, share it with your female friends, your mum, your sisters, cousins, whatever.  Every girl should know about this, so keep on reading, and then click the little share button at the bottom :)

If you're a girl, and you're thinking this is gross, or something along those lines, I beg you to keep reading.  This product changed the way I see that time of the month and, without sounding too cheesy, it liberated me from having to worry about when it might happen, where I might be, whether I was prepared etc.  It's well worth reading about and if the physical, emotional or environmental benefits don't sway you, the monetary benefits might... you will save SO MUCH money.

So what's a Mooncup?  

The Mooncup is a type of menstrual cup, an alternative to disposable products like sanitary pads and tampons.  There are a few different brands, but I found Mooncup to have the most information online, and the easiest to find in shops.  The information in this post can, of course, be extrapolated to other brands of menstrual cup - Diva, Luna, etc.

The Mooncup is a reusable menstrual cup made from medical grade silicone, and collects blood rather than absorbing it as a pad or tampon would.  Then you take it out, rinse it and pop it back in and carry on with your life.

To put it simply, it sits 'up there' and catches menstrual blood.  It's reusable and has a ton of benefits.

Menstrual cups have been around since the 1930's, but were made from latex at the time.  Extensive research was carried out, a hypo-allergenic alternative was found, and the Mooncup was launched in 2002

The Benefits!

I'm going to split this up into a couple of sections, because the list is way too long just to write out and expect anyone to be able to make sense of it.  So first up...

Convenience:

The Mooncup holds THREE TIMES AS MUCH as a tampon or pad.  Three times!

It can be worn for up to 12 HOURS at a time, and just needs to be rinsed out and reinserted.

It can be worn overnight, whilst swimming, travelling, exercising or while you're sitting around on tumblr and watching YouTube videos.  Trust me on that last one, I definitely know.

It's discreet - It has no string - you can wear a bikini in confidence! And it comes in a little bag to keep it in for the rest of the month.

Health Benefits:

It's made from medical grade silicone, which is latex-free, hypo-allergenic and contains no dyes, BPA, phthalates, plastic, bleaches or toxins. 

It's non-absorbant, so it won't cause dryness and doesn't mess up your natural pH levels (35% of the fluid absorbed by tampons is your body's natural moisture)

It has measurement markings, so you can tell your doctor how much blood you're losing, especially helpful in PCOS, Menorrhagia, Endometriosis etc.

The risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) is greatly reduced.

Environmental Benefits:

The mooncup completely reduces the amount of waste you produce.   On average, one woman uses 22 tampons or pads during each period. That's over 11000 disposable sanitary products in a lifetime!
In the UK, 4.3 BILLION disposable sanitary products are disposed of every single year.

The waste from this is enormous - not just the products themselves, but the packaging, the applicators, backing strips, and the boxes they come in - they all end up either in landfills or in the sea.  Do you reeeeeally want your used sanitary products being chucked into the sea?  Didn't think so.

With the mooncup, you buy one, and it lasts upto 10 years.  That's around 2650 sanitary products that you've not used and thrown away. 

Money!

The other benefit of one Mooncup lasting 10 years, is that you'll only repurchase it on average about 3-5 times. (unless someone flushes yours down the toilet, which happened to me.)

The Mooncup costs £20, so that's a total of between £60-£100 for your lifetime.

Tampons cost about £1.50 for 20 - given that the average woman uses approx 22 per month, and accounting for buying multiple boxes of different absorbencies that's about £3 per month.

That's £36 a year. £360 in 10 years. The average age of starting is 11 and the average age of menopause is 51. That's 40 years, or £1440.  Pads are generally more expensive, also.

Sizing

The mooncup is available in two sizes - A and B.  The sizes are based on pelvic floor tone, and not menstrual flow.  This varies based on age and whether you have had children, and the easiest way to see which size you are is by looking at the table below:

By looking at the table I can see that, because I am under 30 and have had no children, I am a size B.

But how do I use it??

Each Mooncup comes with an instruction guide, with diagrams showing how to use the cup.  The Mooncup website also has a comprehensive Advice Centre and FAQ section, for any questions on usage. 

Basically, you open up the bag and recoil in horror at the thought of this thing getting anywhere near 'up there'.  Then you open up the instructions and see that it's meant to be folded.  You start breathing again, and practice the different folds.

There are two main folding techniques which I will insert below (no pun intended).  I, personally, prefer the second one as it is more comfortable to me, but everyone's preference will vary and you need to try both to see which works best for you.

The mooncup is designed to be worn much lower than a tampon, but again this will vary from person to person.

But how will I get it out??

The Mooncup has a stem at the base, it looks scarily uncomfortable at first, but fear not! It can be trimmed to the size that best fits your body.  Personally, I close to get rid of the entire stem as I found it a bit irritating.

If you choose to keep the stem, all you do to remove the cup is give it a gentle pull to break the seal that formed when you inserted it, and then gently pull it out.

If, like me, you removed the whole stem, you just reach the base of the cup, pinch the sides to break the seal, and gently pull it out.

It can take a while to get the angles right, but if you practice beforehand, you'll get used to it pretty quickly.

Once you've removed it, just give it a rinse under a tap, or with some bottled water, or wipe it with some tissue.  Then pop it back in and go about your life!

But won't I feel it??

Because the Mooncup is made from a soft silicone material, you can't feel it once it's inserted (unless the stem is too long).  It's flexible and changes shape with your body.

Ok, I get it, but is there an instructional video??

Yes!! And it has subtitles in case you want your privacy!!

I would do a Pros and Cons for this, but there are honestly no Cons that I can think of.

I've been using mine for about 3 years now, and it has given me a freedom that I love.

Instead of constantly worrying about leaking, or being near a toilet to change whatever I was using before, I can now go out on heavy days and not worry about what I'm wearing and how far I am from a toilet.

I have gone from changing every 30 mins-1 hour to every 4-6 hours on my heavier days.  I can now go to work on those days, and not have to leave every half an hour to check or change.  It's incredible!

The Mooncup is available worldwide from the Mooncup website, or if you're in the UK, you can also pick it up from Boots.

If you've tried the Mooncup and want to share your opinion, please comment below!
Likewise, if you have any questions, or I've missed anything, comment below and I'll answer your questions.

Rach xo

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