Unboxing My Menstrual Cup - the Freedom Cups

Freedom Cup size Grande

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It was a while ago when I came across menstrual cup commercials on Facebook, the Diva Cup. I did not really think of to give it a try until I realised that it might help to soothe my discomfort during menstrual cycle. My menses usually last for at least six days, in order to become "completely clean". I have rashes on my skin everytime when my period is ending. I believe that is due to friction while I am wearing pad. Before my rashes completely gone, my next cycle is about to start and thus the problem will still recurring until, probably when I am having my menopause? That will be a lot more years to go.

Out of curiosity, I did online research about menstrual cups such as browsing U.S. eBay and Amazon, local online marketplace such as Lazada, Qoo10, Watson, Guardian, watching related YouTube videos and blog reviews. Most of the information I found is about Diva Cups, which is selling at about SGD50 on Lazada. Watson and Guardian do not carry menstrual cups. (Hmm, who will carry a product which has no recurring sales?)

When I am about to stop researching, I came across mothership.sg which this blog post talked about another brand, the Freedom Cups. I was excited because finally I have found a local company that sells cups! What excited me more was this company is not profit making, it is a non-profit organization which donates a free cup to women from underprivileged community by selling a cup. I told myself: Hey, why not try this out and at the same time contribute something back to the society?

Putting something into my body does frighten me a fair bit. Since blog and YouTube reviews, and the FAQs on Freedom Cups website are giving "assurance" that the cup will not get lost inside my body where I might end up seeing a surgeon to remove it, I decided to give it a try for these few reasons:

1. I hope to be as mobile as I can during my menses, including when I am sleeping.

2. I will not waste any pad anymore when my period is approaching. I have the habit of wearing a pad when I am outside, to prevent any "unforeseen circumstances".

3. Create lesser trash since I have to change my pad every 4 hours, before it is completely soiled. This is for personal hygiene factors. I have light to moderate flow.

4. I hope that rashes will go away forever.

I always wish our environment can be better. The above #2 and #3 made me feel guilty all these years and they are something can definitely be eliminated. As claimed by Freedom Cups, a menstrual cup is a small cup made of medical-grade silicone that is inserted much like a tampon and sits at the base of the cervix collecting menstrual fluid. One cup can serve a woman up to 15 years. 15 YEARS?! Wow man, this is very encouraging, for my wallet and the better world! Without further ado, I added Grande to my shopping cart. There are two sizes, Mini and Grande. They do not really different a lot thus I prefer the bigger one. I am a lazy person, I hope my cup can hold more fluid and I only need to change only two times a day :) I also believe that I can feel more relieved when I am outside with a bigger cup. I do not wish to create mess in the public toilet. I am a kind of person who is only comfortable with own washroom.

After paying SGD33 for my cup and SGD2 for postage, I patiently waited for its arrival. Since I ordered it when I was having my period, I can only start to use it for my next cycle. It reached me slightly after a calendar week and my husband was the one who collected it from mailbox. 

I can not wait. I want to practice inserting and removing it before my next cycle, I want to prepare for it since reviews and instructions are telling that this needs a little bit of practicing and understanding our own body. 

I will be blogging a review after I have used it in my subsequent cycles. Bravo!

This is the shell fold recommended in the instruction booklet.

This is the shell fold recommended in the instruction booklet.

The adorable pouch.