Hippyshopper review: The Mooncup

After reading Leila's "Can you have a plastic-free period?" article here on Dollymix, I decided to bite the bullet and finally get myself kitted out with a hippy-sounding Mooncup. How did I fare? Keep reading to find out!

About six years ago in a toilet at Glastonbury festival I spotted, amongst all the graffiti and band stickers, an advert for the Mooncup. I was strangely intrigued by the concept of a plastic cup taking over the duties usually performed to great effect by tampons, but in the end I wrote it off as one hippy move too far. But over the years I read more about them, and I found myself ever more drawn to the idea of a cotton-free, waste-free period. Eventually, I decided to get one, only to find myself put off by some bad reviews from people who found them painful and leaky.

But then came the the big push to get women to stop flushing their tampons down the loo, and since I now spend an absolute fortune on eco-friendly organic cotton tampons, I finally decided to bite the bullet and swap cotton for silicone (not plastic as I'd thought). The "Can you have a plastic-free period?" article on Dollymix and the accompanying comments finally convinced me that it was the right thing to do, not least because the many positive reviews all pointed out the health and financial benefits of using one.

Previously, I'd seen the high price of the Mooncup (£20 - though it was more when I first starting looking) as a bit of a barrier to entry (so to speak) since it was a lot to fork out on something that might prove useless. But looking back at the money I've spent on tampons over the six years since I first saw the advert, I realise that the Mooncup is cheap in comparison. And so I made my way up the hill to my local eco-shop - It's a Green Thing - and bought one!

Now the important part: how did I get on? Well, after boiling it up in a saucepan, I took myself off to the privacy of the privy and was fully fitted out in a matter of moments. It really was easy - you just fold it in half and insert it pretty much as you would a Lil-let. It sits lower than a tampon, which seems strange at first, but which makes no difference to comfort. In fact, I couldn't feel it at all and I suspect that anyone who says they feel pain wearing it hasn't chopped the stalk off (which the instructions clearly tell you to do!). Some people have had problems with leaking on heavy days (though trying a different size may cure that) and the leaflet does suggest you use "washable pads" on very heavy days (it also very politely calls into question the state of your pelvic floor, which made me chuckle).

Taking it out feels strange at first, but it's not difficult, and cleaning it really isn't a problem either. You just tip the fluid down the pan and give it a rinse under the tap. If you're in a public loo, you can either just empty and reinsert, or use bottled water - which is still got to be better than dealing with public sanitation bins. If you're not squeamish, you're likely to find the whole process strangely interesting rather than revolting.

So, after just a few days, I'm entirely converted. In fact, I'm a little sad that I didn't get one of these things years ago. And I hate to think that many people are missing out on using one thanks to a general squeamishness and a pre-conception that dealing with them is somehow more difficult that dealing with bleached cotton attached to string - it really isn't. Many people are convinced they make period pain less intense (though I can't vouch for that as I didn't start using mine till after that part was over with) and others really appreciate the fact that you aren't left unnaturally dry from the over-absorbent cotton. There's also no association with Toxic Shock Syndrome, you won't be clogging up the seas with dirty tampons, and you won't be adding any more rubbish to landfill sites. Plus, you'll be saving yourself a lot of money every month. Go on, do it! Get yourself a Mooncup - you really won't regret it.

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