My love-hate relationship with my menstrual cup
While we first featured menstrual cups in 2016 here at Project Vanity, it wasn’t until last year that I personally started using one. The pandemic made me do it. It was such a hassle to buy my favorite pads and tampons as they’re not easily available in most supermarkets, plus I felt like I’m adding too much plastic waste whenever I bleed. That’s why I decided to get a cheap menstrual cup from BeautyMNL called Anytime. I wasn’t excited about the Bible verse in the packaging - somehow it felt like it was mildly judging me for inserting their own product into my vagina (weird) - but it was a start.
I almost rage quit the damn thing. The first round of rage came as I tried to insert it. It seemed pretty straightforward with the folding instructions, and it is easy enough to place inside. But it seemed to move around and I would get leaks. And that little tail thingy in the end? It can scrape in a manner that is maddening if it sits in the wrong angle!
The second round of rage came when it got lost inside. If you’ve ever used a menstrual cup, you know this specific fear that strikes the heart of womankind. I legit panicked for five minutes when I couldn’t fish out the cup, and thought about how to explain it should I decide to rush to the hospital. As an aside, how many women have gone to the hospital for lost menstrual cups? DM me. Seriously though it almost made me quit the whole thing. Luckily, my fingers found the tail and learned that I have to collapse the cup and break the vacuum seal so I can slide it out.
FYI: the more you pull it and contract without collapsing the cup, the more it will swim up there like the great salmon migration. It’s inevitable. I wish that was written in the instructions in red, capital, bold letters.
It’s been a year though and I’m still a menstrual cup convert. Menstruation is such an unpleasant, monthly experience what with the pain, the mood swings, the acne, the blood. It’s all so unfair because it can stop us in our tracks - something that men will spend the rest of their lives never, ever having to experience. But menstrual cups are the most comfortable and comforting things to happen to women with periods. Let me count the ways!
We don’t have to stuff disposable plastic near our vaginas. This gets really smelly, hot, and rashy in the worst of times. Menstrual cups are typically silicone (usually part rubber, part plastic) and are less irritating to skin.
The blood smells less since it is not exposed to air, and you can just easily flush it away with no trouble.
We can swim and play sports any time we want to.
Cups can be used for years, and they end up a lot cheaper than buying pads over time. Let’s say our monthly pad budget is P80. In a year, that costs P960. Tampons are about P260 a box which can last for two months, and that’s P1,560 a year. Whereas a cup can start at around P500-700 depending on the brand! Even if you buy the fancier brands, it will still end up cheaper than disposables over the 4-6 years one can use a cup.
There’s a lot of trial and error and you may need to try several cups, but once you get the right one it is just the best thing. Currently, I am in love with the Intimina Lily Cup Collapsible Menstrual Cup since it’s the perfect size, it’s soft, and easy to use. I’ll write a few review of this next time.
SO YES, menstrual cups are worth the learning curve and initial rage. Well, I still rage about them sometimes especially on the first day of every period, but they’re still better than other accessible, non-body changing alternatives. How do you feel about menstrual cups? Let it rip!
