Warning: I am told this post could be misconstrued or that some may find it uncomfortable to read. I am sharing this post anyway, because I think we need to be able to talk openly about menstruation. Skip this post if talking about periods makes you squeamish.

TLDR: It was a success, I am not going back to pads

This story begins when a friend was scandalised by my menstrual cups. I’d ordered the cups to his home in New York because I could not get them in Israel (Amazon does not ship to Israel and does not operate in Israel. And the brand I wanted to purchase was not available on Alibaba, an online retailer in Israel).

Unaware of what was in the box, he opened it and was quite taken aback by the product. The initial shock gave way to curiosity but that was quickly overtaken by discomfort and he decided that he wanted no part in it and ignored the purple and pink boxes with the bell-shaped soft silicone cups in them.

It was funny at first but the more I thought about it I realised it spoke about how menstruation and menstrual products are still taboo topics even within the educated and seemingly liberal society I am part of. Would he have been just as uncomfortable had I ordered pads or even say, condoms? I do not know.

That incident and the general lack of conversation about reusable menstrual products got me talking about my experience with the menstrual cup to my friends, then my parents and now I want to tell anyone who is reading this post.

I learnt a great deal about my body and menstruation thanks to the menstrual cup (more on this below). That learning has been my greatest take away from this experience. And I believe it is an experience every girl should have.

There are other reasons to use the cup. The cup does not contribute to a landfill somewhere and it is cheaper in the long run. At $25 a piece, a menstrual cup can last for nearly 10 years if used with care.

Most importantly, I felt very comfortable handing myself during the period. I did not have any menstrual cramps when I used the cup, making the period already a lot more bearable than the hundreds of other times I have been on my period. It was liberating that I was not hating my period for a change and that the discharge was nothing revolting in nature.

Using the cup has brought me a step closer to embracing my period as a normal bodily function and not looking at it as a disgusting monthly annoyance that I need to suffer through.

I am sure some of you have questions, here are some FAQs:

How big is the cup?

The Diva Cup is 5.7cm long and its diameter is 4.5cm. It is a very flexible and soft cup. It may look big at first and I did wonder if I would insert it given its size, but once I found the right angle and right fold, insertion was easy peasy.

How do you know which size is right for you?

I did not know which size would be right for me. One could measure how high their cervix is and choose a cup accordingly. The cervix drops or rises during the period, so it advisable to measure the cervix during the period.

I just bought both the sizes. As it turns out, the small seemed just right when I was not on my period and the size two was what I finally ended up using.

Is it hard to insert?

As I said, inserting the cup was the easiest part of the process for me. In the beginning I was not sure if the cup had opened up completely upon insertion. On those days alone I used a panty liner for back up.

Can you feel it?

No. I could not feel the cup once it was inside. Even the stem of the cup did not protrude at any time. I went to sleep with it, I spent long days outside while I was using it, never did I have an uncomfortable moment.

How long can you leave it inside?

Up to 12 hours. Yes, 12 hours. I may have left it inside on one day for 13 hours. Nothing went wrong. I never leaked. It was a blessing at night. All my life I have been worried about staining the bed while asleep. I had my first ever night of carefree sleep as a menstruating woman while using the cup.

It is hard to remove it?

In the beginning, yes. The cup essentially forms a vacuum seal with the walls of the vaginal canal. To take it out, this seal needs to be broken by punching down on the side of the cup. Initially it is hard to find the right technique, this may take a couple of months. But once you know how to break that seal, the rest is easy. You just need to pull it out and empty it into the toilet.

Does it smell?

No! This has been one of the greatest plus points of the cup. It does not smell. Because the blood never leaves the vaginal canal to mix with sweat and other bacteria it does not smell as intensly as it does on a pad. That was my personal experience, but this may vary, I guess. The menstrual cup made me feel very fresh and dry, in fact.

Can you insert the same cup back in?

Yes. Just empty, rinse it off and it is ready to be inserted. I washed it with a vaginal wash every other day, but it is not necessary.

How to sterilise it?

Once my period ended I just dropped it into a pan of boiling water for about 5-7 minutes. Wiped it dry and put it back in its drawstring pouch.

What did you learn while using the cup?

A lot about the anatomy. Because no one ever talks about periods and entire chapters on sexual reproduction are skipped by teachers in middle school, we grow up without any idea about our bodies and how things work. I could also observe the amount of blood lost during the cycle. That was never something I could monitor while using a pad.

Is it icky?

I will confess that seeing about 10ml of blood and mucus in the cup was not a pleasurable sight at first. But the more I used the cup, I began looking at the contents of the cup more clinically than I ever had before. The first time is always a new and weird experience.

Yes, it is icky. But isn’t wiping your bottom after potty icky? Aren’t all of these normal bodily functions? There is no reason to feel more squeamish about the period than taking a dump. We will overcome this feeling with continued use.

That is the point of the cup for me: To make me feel intimate with the period in such a way that I no more feel repulsed by it.

_{Full Disclosure: This is not a paid review}

Here is a post on how the menstrual cup has come in handy on multiple occasions.

Here is a post on the size of the cup and how to insert and remove the cup.