Mooncup review 2014: 10 year user

I am currently setting up a rucksack business. To help fund myself in the coming months, I get a small cut of Mooncups bought through this blog. So if you're thinking of getting one for yourself or a friend, please do buy one through this link. Thank you! I've used a Mooncup for 10 years. I'm happy to take questions via blog comments, Google+ or Skype if you want to talk. Email me here.

I'm a fan of the adage that when something isn't working try the opposite. For me, it isn't working if you're not a fan of it. If you're thinking: "periods are just crap. There's nothing which could make them better" then think again. For me these days it's the moods, spots and restriction on variety of sex that remain annoying. With a Mooncup the actual bleeding bit of the period is no longer the problem. And that makes a massive impact over the course of a decade. Hence my Mooncup review 2014.

It's different. Really different The Mooncup really is a revolution in user thinking. Looking at the standard tampon and sanitary towel, you've really got to give it to the Mooncup makers. They didn't just come up with a better tampon. The makers of the Mooncup came up with a pretty robust opposite to the tampon/nappy market. Rather than a cotton wool, bleached, single use, string mechanism filtering system, they came up with a silicon, neutral, multiple use (I've had some Mooncups for years) string-free storage system.

You carry around, fill, empty and clean one silicon cup rather than lugging bulky cotton wool items around with you, searching for bins and having strings hanging out of your body or rustling plastic sanitary towels in your pants.

The only downside Relearning. You'll spend two months feeling like you're 14 years old again, learning how to deal with periods. We can't do anything about this. It's like anything new. You're going to learn to feel when it's full, removing it, pouring the contents in the toilet or sink, folding it and putting it back up there again.

Do you remember learning to use tampons? It'll be like that except you know your own body better these days. Persevere and you'll be using something much better for your body's health, bank balance and the environment.

A downside with ultimate upsides You pay £26.00 including delivery in the UK (£30.14 global) upfront. That's the entire cost of this splendidly engineered little thing brought right to your door. It can be difficult to pay out £26.00 for period stuff at once when you'd normally pay between £3 and £10 a go on the tampon run. But let's remember: once you've paid it, that's it. That's it forever if you remember to take it with you.

I've bought four Mooncups over the last 10 years. This is purely because I have no discipline in noticing when I have my period and I forget to bring mine with me at times when I'm travelling. So in 10 years I've spent £104 on periods. That's £10.40 per year or £0.86 a month on periods. And that's me being forgetful. I'm a bit more grown up now and I'm much better at looking after stuff. So I'm aiming not to buy another for a decade.

And note, every time I lost or forgot my Mooncup I didn't return to tampons. I bought a new Mooncup because it makes my quality of life notably better. So if you're up for it, it'll actually save you money as well as make the monotonous task of having a period much more bearable.

Life with a Mooncup In the last 10 years I've got used to carrying something which is small enough to fit in my palm around with me. There's no packaging. When I am surprised - which I am every month - to find that I'm bleeding I grab, rinse, ram it into my vagina and that's it. It forms an internal vacuum so the blood goes straight in.

There's no rubbish. No cotton wool. No bins. How do know when it's done? However many hours later I can feel when the vacuum is no longer as strong because it is full. Then, I empty it into the toilet or sink, rinse it out and put it back in again. No bins, no nappies, no STRINGS and no rustling coming from any pants.

I can tell you the mindset of a Mooncup user is totally different. Periods are not a first aid response to bleeding by soaking up, uncomfortably stuffing and plugging which costs money and is generally a fucking nightmare. Instead, periods are a manageable, quick and easy process which remain annoyingly persistent but can be almost completely ignored.

It might be hard to imagine your period becoming an "alright" thing rather than something irritating, so if you fancy a chat about it, I'm happy to talk it through over Skype or Google+. I'm open to all questions before and after you've bought one. Just let me know via my about.com page.

Which size? Even I still get confused on this. There are two sizes and here's how it works. If you've had a baby or you're older than 30 use size A - the pink one. If you're younger use a B - the green one. A is bigger, B is smaller. But the sizes aren't hugely different so don't worry about it too much. Here's the Mooncup website with the two options for you to see.

Reminder of the cost They cost £26.00 including delivery in UK (£30.14 global) upfront and you use one for years. Remember: No more bins, wrapping up, last minute buying of tampons and towels which take up space, clog up your vagina and the planet. Have a go here. Let me know what you think and feel free to get in touch with questions.

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