*Disclaimer* this post is mainly useful for menstruating people. Honestly, I believe this is one of the most underrated products out there. Seriously, why isn’t everyone talking about this thing all the time?

I didn’t really know much about the mooncup at all, until one day a friend told me she’d changed over to using it during her period, and it had changed her life. So this month, I decided to try it out for myself on my zero waste mission. Before I even talk about using this product, let’s look at 7 great things about these little guys.

1. They’re reusable.
On average a woman will use and throw away 11,000 sanitary items in her life.
ELEVEN THOUSAND. PER WOMAN. Terrible for landfills (or the ocean, because inevitably at some point a woman will find herself in a loo with no sanitary bin and no other choice) and terrible for bank accounts (tampon tax I’m looking at you). I know the idea of reusing a sanitary product seems disgusting, as my own friends have proclaimed to me. IT’S REALLY NOT. Honest. If you think of your period as dirty and disgusting and something you should shy away from talking about, that’s because you’ve been told that’s what you should believe, not because it’s true. Yes, periods are messy and painful and all kinds of annoying, but they aren’t shameful. Of course a company selling you tampons is going to tell you how dirty your period is, so you’ll think their product is the only thing that can make you clean. Honestly, it’s really not that bad. When you take it out rinse it with warm water and it’s as good as new. Trust me. Super easy, super good.

2. They’re cheaper.
Mooncups last for years, one mooncup costs £21.99. One box of tampons can be up to a fiver, that means you start saving money after 4 months. Show that ridiculous tampon tax who’s boss by ALMOST NEVER paying for menstrual products. Yeah. Take that.

3. You can’t run out.
Have you even been in the most random place and your period has suddenly started? It’s midnight on a Saturday and even the 24 hour supermarkets are closed. You somehow have nothing in the house because at the end of your last period you assured yourself you had tons of time to restock for the next one and then you didn’t. You frantically stuff toilet paper down there until morning comes and you have to waddle down to the shops when they finally open and sort yourself out. With the mooncup, this scenario becomes a thing of the past. Unexpected period? No problem! Because you only need one mooncup, it’s always there. When my mooncup arrived I felt the glorious freedom of never having to worry about stocking up on tampons again. It felt pretty darn good.

4. No more sneaky tampon tactics.
Trying to secretly extract a tampon from your bag and run to the loo with it concealed in your hand or pocket is ridiculous, and I’ve seen countless women do it. No more being unable to find your tampon and therefore taking your entire bag to the bathroom when it’s totally unnecessary. Once it’s in in the morning you just have to take yourself to the bathroom, take it out, rinse and put back in. Put those ninja skills to better use elsewhere because they aren’t needed at the office any more.

5. They’re SO transportable.
Carrying around one mooncup is ridiculously easy in comparison to a bunch of tampons. The mooncup is so small that it will always fit in your bag, meaning you can keep it on you and always be prepared, instead of lugging round a box of tampons or a load of pads. Each mooncup also comes in a small drawstring bag, which is itself reusable and made by Supreme Creations. This means you don’t need to worry about it falling out of your bag either (Not that you should ever be embarrassed by the fact that you have these items on you. Not at all! But sometimes people still are and that’s ok too!) because no one’s going to know what it is anyway. Discretion and ease rolled into one.

6. They’re better for you.
Mooncups are made of soft, medical grade silicone, so they’re completely latex free and hypoallergenic whilst also containing no dyes, BPA, toxins or bleaches, so a win for natural beauty fans. Also, whilst tampons and pads absorb liquid, mooncups just contain and then are cleaned out. Because of the absorption tampons and pads can caused both dryness and irritation, the mooncup doesn’t have this problem. It also claims to collect three times as much as a tampon, which means you don’t have to change them as often.

7. They help you actually know your body much better.
Through the process of using a mooncup you will come to learn a lot more about your own anatomy and how your body is unique to you. It’s actually very easy to not know that much about ourselves and how we function, but it’s so important to understand and know your own body, and the mooncup will definitely help you here. Get to know yourself, but in a way that’s actually very useful and interesting!

So yeah, they’re pretty great. But what are they like to use? (Potential TMI coming up next)

Honestly, they do take some getting used to. On the mooncup website itself they say it often takes around 3 cycles worth of use for women to get fully comfortable with them and then they are happy users for many years. Getting it in and out is often the biggest adjustment, and there are two main things that I think once you get the hang of, you’ll be a pro.

The first is to RELAX: If you get stressed and tense up it’s going to be impossible and/or painful to get this thing in and out, and it’s easy to tense up subconsciously. Take a few deep breaths before you try and move it, and be kind to yourself. It’s normal to need a little practice, just as it is with anything, so don’t be upset if you don’t get it first try. You will get it! Just stick with it and keep practising. Don’t rush yourself, at the beginning put it in and take it out when you aren’t in a rush and are in a stress free environment, then over time you’ll be able to do it wherever you want.

The second is to READ UP. Definitely read all the information that comes with the mooncup, it is necessary. Beyond that, the reason I’m writing this post is because I found is extremely useful to read forums and other women’s experiences with this product, I realised I wasn’t alone in my moments of frustration and I found useful solutions. Mooncup has a list of FAQs on their website that can be particularly useful, as well as an advice forum. It was in these forums that I found a whole load of folding methods beyond the two that come on the leaflet, it may sounds silly but this was one of the most important discoveries in my mooncup adventure. You need to fold the mooncup in order to put it in, and some do when removing it too, so finding the best fold is very handy. Just know you aren’t alone, and your experiences are more normal than you think.

That’s it in a nutshell. These are a great sustainable option, and great for women. They’re also a Brighton based company and are cruelty free. They tick all the boxes whilst also being cheaper, better for you and easier than other products. If you do anything to try and go cruelty or waste free, then do this! You will never go back.

Until next time, stay magic y’all.