10 reasons why the menstrual cup has been a revolution in my life.

Unless you are living under a rock, you heard about the cup.

From your friends talking about it, you saw them peeking from the pharmacy shelves, you read about in an article on some trend magazine.

The truth is that we are a couple of days away from saying hello to 2020 but still, for some cryptic reason, the period is a tabu’.

I heard so many different names around the world for it.

From the Italian le mie cose (my stuff) to the Mexican Andres el que te visita cada mes (Andrew the one that visits you every month), to the American that time of the month.

Your period has more names than the characters in Sailor Moon, and probably, you still hide your tampon or pad up to your sleeves when you go to the toilet at your office, just like when you were 14 at school.

Not that the cups available on the market have less fantasy with their names.

Among the most famous ones, there are DivaCup, ClariCup, Lunette (which is the model I use), Dutchess, Lena, Ziggy.

They sound a little bit like the nicknames of the Spice Girls in the ’90s: Ziggy Spice, Clari Spice, aren’t they?

So two years ago, tired of literally flushing my money away while contaminating the planet, I decided to give it a try. These are my ten reasons why once I tried it, I got married to it.

Reason number 1: it is going to last longer than your favorite bra (sigh).

Yes, girl: a cup can last even ten years if you take care of it.

Ten years is a lot, your body change, and you are going to have still approx one-hundred periods in the meanwhile.

By having a cup, you can forget about the boring “I need to go to buy tampons to the pharmacy” thing.

Reason number 2: no more pads&tampons contamination from your side.

As I said before, ten years means 120 periods, more or less.

Calculating an average of four tampons a day plus one night-time pad, you are saving the planet from an army invasion of 3000 disposable sanitary wastes (calculating on 5 tampons x 5 days x 12 months x 10 years). A woman will have an average of 40 years of periods along with her life, once a month. It means more or less 2400 days of using sanitary products.

Girl. 

In Britain, 6% of the beach litter is caused by used tampons and pads arriving there with toilet flushes.

You may want to start considering giving them up for a cup.

Reason number 3: you are going to save money. A discreet amount of ding-ding.

A cup, legal and with medical-grade silicon, costs about 20$. Now, calculating that a box of 36 tampons costs 7$, and a woman will have an average of 456 periods during her life, using 20 tampons per period (if she’s lucky), that makes 9.120 tampons in total.

At 36 tampons per box, 253 boxes x $7 equal to an astonishing $1,773.33.

Close to 2000$ down the drain, versus the 20$ of the cup staying with you for the next ten years.

Reason number 4: you can carry it wherever you go.

Usually, the cup comes with a lovely little cotton bag to carry it in your purse or wherever you want.
And a container where you will be able to sterilize it before and after the use.

To do so, you boil it when your period starts and when it finishes just before putting it away).
From the outside, no one would be able to tell what’s inside the little bag.

And as it is flexible, it is not going to occupy a lot of space. I tried to put it in a clutch, and it fits.

Reason number 5: out there there is a cup just for you.

Every cup, just as every woman, comes in different shapes, colors, measures, and kind.

There are Small, Medium, Large sizes, there are blue, pink, green, violet ones, you will find your perfect one, as much as I did.

I suggest checking the various options and considerate your age, the volume of liquids, if you delivered or not, and then go for it.

Reason number 6: it is comfortable.

I have been asked several times how does it feel to have a cup inside of me, or if I can feel it during the day, or if it is uncomfortable.

The truth is that in all this time, I never had a discomforting moment with it.

Most of the time, if it not for the period cramps, I would probably even forget about wearing it.

Reason number 7: you are going to “unload” just a couple of times a day.

I am perfectly aware that there are women out there having floods during their periods.

I have been talking with several friends of mine using it, and the average timing of a cup goes from 6 to 12 hours, without leaking.

You could go to work, come back home, and the only two times you would empty it would be when you wake up and when you come back home.

How do I wash it while being away from home?

 I have elaborated my strategy based upon carrying with me my reusable bottle of water and using it to wash the cup.

But still, it happened maybe once or twice in my life.

On airplanes, I have been able to fly from Mexico to Indonesia through Amsterdam for a 41 hours’ flight.

I just emptied it during the layover in Amsterdam and then once in Malaysia and the last one arriving at the hotel in Jakarta.

My period is not a flood, but that time was officially my crash test for my cup, and it passed without any stain on the curriculum. No pun intended.

Or actually yes.

Reason number 8: say bye to cramps.

One thing that bothered me all of my life, where the terrible and acute cramps I suffered.

I started using tampons when I was twelve, due to my gymnastic career, and yes, I did suffer a lot.

Since I switched to the cup, I must admit that my cramps diminished drastically over the months, to be equal to none nowadays.

Reason number 9: no more leaking.

You won’t see your cup flying across the office like a UFO. Don’t worry.

By working as a plug, and closing your papaya from dripping and leaking, the cup, up to today, has been the less messy system I have to control unwanted and wild leaks.

If positioned correctly, it will protect you from leaks and so you will be able to work, exercise, swim, jump, dance, sleep, without any problem.

If positioned correctly, it will protect you from leaks, so you will be able to work, exercise, swim, jump, dance, sleep without any problem.

And no, it is not going to get lost inside of you: stop worrying about that.

To take it out, relax and press the tail of the cup and pull it out.

Reason number 10: no more toxic things inside of you.

We are delicate down there, and most tampons and pads are filled and made with toxic materials. 

“Most diapers and sanitary pads contain volatile organic compounds and phthalates and with this continued, long-term exposure a significant amount of these harmful chemicals could be absorbed.”.

EHN.org

The cup is made of surgical silicone.

If properly sterilized and taken care of is going to last up to 10 years and also, is going to be the cleanest solution for your days.

In conclusion, two years of testing a product every single month for a week straight is a lot.

I have told you all about my own experience and reasons and why I switched to it to never come back to other disposable solutions.

Just give it a try and stop worrying too much.

The worst thing that can happen to you is that you realize that you should have bought it months ago.

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