Something for the ladies: About the Mooncup! ~ Mariella

I’ve been procrastinating about writing this post for a while but, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. Today I will be chatting to you about the Mooncup. Please be warned: If you do not want to know, step away from the blog!

For anyone who is unsure of what a Mooncup is, it is a reusable menstrual cup, around 5 cm long and made from soft medical grade silicone. It sits a little lower than a tampon and collects menstrual fluid. It took me about five months to accumulate the courage to try my Mooncup once I’d finally mustered the momentum to buy it. But after calculating that I would use in excess of 10 000 tampons throughout my lifetime which would all take about six months to biodegrade, sanitary towels taking infinitely longer as they contain plastic, opposed to one or two mooncups, I made my choice. Did you know that around five million sea birds and about 100 000 marine mammals die per annum from swallowing plastic? I also considered the toxins I was exposing my body to on a monthly basis, Chlorine bleach, rayon, dioxon, associated with cancer, and let’s not underestimate the dreaded lurk of toxic shock syndrome hovering overhead should you forget to change tampons timeously! But now that I’d bought the thing, I had to use it! 

When I opened the box my first thoughts were, ‘Maybe they have it in a smaller size, and are those volume lines on the side?’ I was really rather intimidated! They expected it to fit and fill up! I can remember the first day I started using it as if it were yesterday!

After struggling to insert it correctly for what felt like eons, I had a far more extensive knowledge of my own inner workings than I’d banked on ever needing. It took a while! Emptying it and reinserting it in a public bathroom for the first time later that day was another matter all together! I turned my cubicle into what looked like a crime scene! Thank goodness I’m not squeamish! Then I had to smuggle my way past anyone else in the bathrooms to the taps and hope they didn’t look at my hands! It was rough going but I persisted in the name of environmental and physical health and I triumphed at the end of the day! I am now a very contented Mooncup user and would advocate it to any woman. No more oops’s and running out of tampons and pads, no more chuck away mentality. You do have a more intimate relationship with your menstrual cycle but if you’ve ever caught yourself thinking, ‘Mmm I wonder how much blood I really lose every month’, you will finally know! 

Here’s some advice I’d wished someone had given me:

-Make sure you choose a day when you know you’ll be home.
-The idea is to fold it into a much smaller thingie and then have it pop open in the right place, sealing the area off. But sometimes it doesn’t seal so you have to try again. And sometimes no matter how hard you try it doesn’t seem to seal, don’t despair, you’ll get it right with time. 
-A little tug will make sure its liquid tight and twirling the end of it around and around a few times in your fingers once it’s inserted will help you ascertain if all is snug in there!
- A friend once said she felt as if she were sucking her insides out every time she removed it! When it’s time to empty it, press your finger against the side of the cup to release the suction and it will come out easier. 

It really does become part of your life, and saves you money quicker than you think. Check out Mooncup’s Website, the music video is classic!

http://www.mooncup.co.uk/