Conventional tampons and pads are made from bleached cotton. You can read about all the toxins here. From dioxins causing cancer in animals to TSS or toxic shock syndrome. Its just not good and down right scary stuff. Bleach in your hoo hoo anyone? But lucky for you there are lots of other natural options out there! Can I get a woot woot? Awesome.
One step in the right direction is to switch from plastic (DISLIKE!) applicators to paper. The next step would be to stop using main stream products and switch to more natural ones. You can get unbleached products easily now days but be prepared to pay a higher price than your already high priced toxic options. Paper tampon applicators and paper packaging is a step in the right direction. But it's still disposable and you will need to buy products each month.
I have to admit that the price tag was what prevented me from trying The Diva Cup. Why pay $30-$40 for something when I can just pay $5 for unbleached tampons? Well there are a few reasons why its worth it. First of all my investment will pay itself off within 3-4 months. And second I no longer will be tossing my monthly waste into any landfill. As an added bonus each Diva Cup comes with a cute little fabric bag. Yes its the little things in life that make me happy.
It took me about 2 periods to get this thing down to a skill. You simply take this bad boy, fold it up and insert it. Sounds simple huh? Well its really that simple. Sorta.....
Taking it out and cleaning it is a WHOLE new project. Make sure you use a bathroom near a sink. Now days newer houses have bathrooms that are bigger than my bedroom. My house is from the 1960's and is rather small so I have no problems what so ever. Just remember this when you go looking for a bathroom to change it. I have a routine when I change it.
1. Squat and go treasure hunting for it.
2. Pull it out slowly and empty it into the toilet.
3. Wipe your hoo hoo area well so you can get on the move.
4. Waddle over to the sink and wash it out. I use a natural soap and hand wash it good making sure I rinse it very well.
5. Waddle back to the toilet.
6. Insert Diva Cup
7. Flush and pull clothes up
8. Wash hands very very (did I say very?) very well.
9. Done!
The Diva Cup has their own instructions as well.
"The Diva Cup is latex free and is made from top quality silicone, a material that has been used in health care applications for over 50 years. This silicone is not the same type of material used in breast implants. No chlorine, dyes, colorings or additives of any kind are used." This information plus more is found here.
There are two different models to choose from.
Model 1. Pink and purple box is for women under 30 who have never delivered a baby vaginally or cesarean.
Model 2.Blue and purple box is for women over 30 and/or have delivered a baby vaginally or cesarean.
Two sizes because you don't want any leakage. Everyone of us has had a experience where we have leaked and were mortified. Get the right size to prevent this.
Cleaning-I clean my Diva Cup any time I change it. I use a natural liquid soap (Meyers) and wash it for a good minute or two and then rinse it very well. When I'm done using it for the month I simply put it in its pretty bag and put it in the medicine cabinet. For a good chuckle head on over to The Crunchy Chicken and read her comments about how to clean The Diva Cup.
IMPORTANT-If you have a heavy flow period in the first days of your period then you will want to change it late at night or early in the morning. Heck or both! I am one of those people and usually get up in the middle of the night to change it. Otherwise when you wake up the next morning and will find yourself running to the bathroom as fast as you can. Its not fun, trust me. If you have a low flow then no need to follow this step.
My review-After using The Diva Cup for 3 months how I can honestly say I will never ever purchase pads/tampons ever again. This is hands down the best product I have ever used. Ive tried making my own tampons from sea sponges...fail. Ive tried crocheting my own organic cotton tampons....epic fail. I purchased organic cotton tampons/pads.......went broke in the process and not to mention the guilt trip I gave myself. No longer do I have to feel bad about my period and its ecological impact. Now go buy one and give it a try!
You can find The Diva Cup online here, here , here or here.
Head on over to your local natural or organic store. My local Whole Foods carries them for $40. Yikes! But keep an eye out for sales because you want to keep your hard earned dollars in your own state to keep them workers working!!
Azure Standard has them for only $19.75 (as of May 1st 2012...check prices for yourself to see current price). They are 35% off this week. If your new to Azure Standard go sign up for free and call their customer service to see if your near a pick up location.
Note-The Diva Cup did not send me this product or pay me to review it. I paid for The Diva Cup out of my own pocket and these are my personal thoughts on this product. I also am not getting any advertising credit from any of the web sites you find in this post.
Also note-Sorry to my friends and family. A little too up close and personal with my hoo hoo. My apologies lol.
4 comments:
So glad you liked it. You're going to save a ton of money!
lol- waddle to the toilet is so true!! i think i calculated that i saved so far something like 300$ since buying my diva cup. LOVE love :)
I've been using SoftCup and have been told by many to try a Diva Cup. I actually have one in my bathroom cabinet, but haven't broken it out of the box. Thanks for sharing TMI-that's the only way we can figure it out!
I tried the DivaCup first and while i did like getting away from tampons it just wasn't as comfortable as I heard. (cramping, poky, feeling of heaviness in abdomen) After a bit of research I decided to try the LadyCup, its a few cm's shorter. Major difference in feel. though smaller in girth and length it handles my PCOS heavy flow (i call it shark week) with zero leakage. You can just google * menstrual cup comparison chart* to see what the sizes really are.
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