Oh Hello. ladies (and gents, honestly – you guys should know about this stuff, it’s only natural and totally normal so don’t shy away from this kinda talk)! I’d had a few disasters with my quest for the perfect menstrual cup but I eventually found the perfect cup for me through a little trial and error.
The first one I tried was a Juju cup – I won it in a competition from my favourite blogger and thought it would be fine because the criteria for the sizing included “over 30”. I’m over 30 so I figured it would be fine, you know, like a one size fits all hat or something. But oh no – this thing popped open just fine but it also cut off my urethra so I couldn’t pee!! So that very quickly got sterilised and put in the cupboard where it sits to this day. It makes me wonder how many unused menstrual cups are sitting in people’s cupboards around the world…
My second attempt was a stupid online shopping mistake. You know, one of those “pay only shipping” deals. Seeing as these cups can be so expensive as an upfront cost, I thought it would be the next best way to try it out. They sent 2 sizes and I tried the smaller size this time. It seemed to work okay but I had incredible cervix pain after a few hours of use. Another unused cup sits in my cupboard now. Seriously, what am I supposed to do with them?
1 July as well as being the start of Plastic Fee July was also the Cotton On Body 5km run that I’d signed up to do with my mum. I’ll do nearly anything for a pink medal! One of the stall holders on the day was Hello. Cup and the lovely Mary Bond was on hand to talk me through my previous issues. My biggest concern was spending money on something that would join the other unused cups in my bathroom cupboard. So far my experience wasn’t hitting my waste reduction targets! Mary assured me that the Small/Medium cup was the most commonly used size and given my age, activity levels and previous history, she was sure that it would be right for me. She threw in the added bonus that if it didn’t work for any reason, that I could contact her personally to arrange to return it for recycling (yes! these are recyclable!) and a refund. I honestly had nothing to lose.
Feminine packaging with a handy little carrier bag. This little item is a life changer!
Later in the month when my period rolled around I was determined to give this a go despite my previous failures and all the dramatic articles and YouTube videos on the subject. It took a little practice and a bit of Googling but overall the experience with the Hello. Cup was life changing! I only had one leak disaster and my advice to you there is that if you think the cup hasn’t popped out properly don’t use the good old Kiwi attitude of “she’ll be right”. She won’t be right, and you should know better. Now I know to check that it’s inserted and sealed by giving the stem a little tug and making sure there are no dents around the cup. Sometimes you just have to take it out and try again to get it to fit just right. It’s totally doable and it’s not nearly as messy as you’d think. My top tip for emptying the cup in shared bathrooms when you’re not at home is to use the accessible toilet because they usually have a basin in the cubicle.
The menstrual cup does take a bit of getting used to but is way less gross than tampons and pads and actually seems to be a cleaner affair all round. No gross tampon strings covered in pee, no worrying about what sports you have on, and a much longer time between needing to empty the cup than you could get away with with other feminine hygiene products. Even on a heavy flow day I would only need to change it in the morning, early afternoon and evening.
The important thing to take away here is that there are many different cups to suit our many different types of bodies. It’s important to do a bit of research before you buy and also try to make sure that you can return it if it really won’t work for you. You can also try this quiz to see which one may be best for you to start with.
My other discovery to help with my quest to reduce period waste is reusable liners. I like to use a liner on the days just before and after my period where I’m not quite bleeding but my body is determined to ruin my pretty undies anyway! A friend put me onto Blessings by Shirley who hand makes resuable liners, pads and breast pads. You just message her with your order and which fabrics you like and she will make them up and post them to you once your payment is cleared. I didn’t make this discovery until after my period so I’m really looking forward to giving them a go on my next cycle. The advice that I was given was that they stay in place better when you’re wearing pants rather than a skirt or dress, but I’m definitely a jeans and t-shirt girl anyway so it shouldn’t be a problem for me! When you’ve used them you can simply give them a rinse or an overnight soak depending on how soiled they are, and pop them in a delicates bag with your regular laundry and air dry. Couldn’t be easier and you will save so much single use plastic from ending up in landfill.
These are just so cute! Theres a wide variety of fabrics and you can get a different pattern for each pad or liner!
