It’s time we learn to take care of our period properly. Goodbye tampons. Ladies, meet the Diva Cup.

Do you know what’s in your tampon? Neither do we. By law, the FDA doesn’t require the ingredients of tampons to be listed anywhere on the package, inside or out. And, although it seems like a no-brainer, no feminine product is required to be sterilized.

Not only do we not know what is actually in our tampons, they don’t even work well. Sixty percent of women experience leaks regularly when using tampons or pads during their period. Gross! Turns out the leaky side effect isn’t us doing something wrong, it’s the unreliable products we’re using. Thankfully, there is another reliable, clean and effective option, and it’s called the Diva Cup.

What The Heck Is A Diva Cup?

The Diva Cup is a bell shaped cup designed to fit inside your vagina and catch your menstrual waste. You might be thinking “that’s gross” and initially I agreed with you. The Diva Cup sounded a little too hippie at first, but I was fed up with dreading the cumbersome period maintenance while balancing my everyday activities–so I gave it a try.

The Diva Cup is made with medical grade silicon and it’s latex-free–so you don’t have to worry about any weird chemical leaching or getting the dreaded toxic shock syndrome. It isn’t clunky or uncomfortable because the soft silicon material softens from your body heat and forms perfectly to your inner alls. And above all, it really works! The Diva Cup promises (and delivers) 12 hours of leak free protection. Just take it out 2-3 times daily, rinse, and reinsert–and that’s it!

By using the Diva Cup you also significantly reduce waste. In the United States alone, 12 billion disposable pads and tampons are thrown out each year! The Diva Cup will probably save you about $150 a year by not using disposable products.  Also, it’s safe: The Diva Cup is the only reusable menstrual cup approved for sale by Canada’s governmental health department, Health Canada.

Shopping For A Diva Cup

Since the first time I used it, I’ve been completely hooked. All the discomfort from a tampon or pad is gone, replaced with the feeling of nothing. The Diva Cup is truly invisible and unnoticeable.  You can keep it in for a full day of work or activity and clean it ever 8-12 hours. And when you are done, you just boil the cup to sanitize.

Shopping for a Diva Cup is simple: there are two sizes 1, pre-childbirth and 2 post-childbirth. That’s it–no gimmicky marketing tactics, simple and to the point. You can pick them up at your local Whole Foods, or order one online.

As a culture, we should be able to talk and teach women about our period–it’s something we all go through. And the Diva Cup has literally changed my, and all girlfriends, lives.

Do you use the Diva Cup? Tell us in the comments below!

Related on EcoSalon:

4 Things I’ve Learned From My Period

7 Tips To Soothe Menstrual Cramps

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