Jul 17, 2013

adventures in going natural -lady biz edition

so remember way back when

when i was all like

"i'm quitting deodorant!"

"just kidding - i'm going the natural route!"

welp i'm proud to say it's been close to 2 months

and my pits are fine.

for those of you wondering, i'm using a crystal deodorant stick now

and it works fine - i think my body has adjusted to it (which took a week or so)

my pits are dry and smell free


so on the topic of going natural/green

i wanted to share another personal hygiene alternative

if i happen to have any male readers, i suggest turning back

this is lady biz.

you've been warned.

ok.

ladies.

i didn't really think of ever sharing this

but it's changed my outlook.

it's changed my whole life as a woman.

and i only recently discovered it in the past year.

i felt betrayed by other females for not letting me in on this

but i'm kind of assuming maybe many of you don't know about this either.

let's talk about our periods, shall we?

thinking back to when i first got mine

i laugh

i had the smallest little evidence of a first period ever.

but dammit i was a woman now!

and that required me to wear diaper.

my mom showed me pads and she showed me tampons.

and in the most awkward conversation, she told me how to use a tampon.

"hell to the no!" were my first thoughts.

so i wore a pad - which was absorbent enough for a toddler who's been hitting the bottle non stop

and these pads basically went from belly button to ass crack.

nothing was escaping these bad boys.

at some point in my early womanhood, though, i was blessed with a heavier flow.

one wrong move of my torso and i was going to leak onto my panties - or worse - onto my pants!

i finally figured out the elusive tampon.

and with that came less worries of how i moved

still, like all women, i had my fair share of months where i would be caught somewhere without a spare in my purse

and i would have to survey every friend and foe for some sort of absorbent device

and let me tell you

many of these times i was handed the off-brand tampon

not that i wasn't grateful, but i wanted to yell at these women because there is a DEFINITE difference in name brand tampon and the store brand.

i NEEDED plastic applicators and tightly spun cotton.  cardboard applicators and extra absorbency off brand tampons are like the size of a mac truck.

as i've gotten older, i've also learned that the plastic applicators and cotton we use and dispose of monthly takes a toll on our environment and also our hoo-has.

the cotton is not just 100% cotton (unless yours says so)

it is comprised of fragrance, absorbent chemicals, and are bleached to be that super white that you're used to

and that bleaching and fragrance process can give your lady biz some issues

and plastic products do nothing for our dependence on petroleum 

i won't get into all of the details here- but do yourself a favor and use the google machine to find out what's in your tampon.

so what's a girl to do?

i had been aware of "the diva cup"  for some time after learning about the less than greenness of tampons



the diva cup is a funnel shaped cup

you inset into your hoo-ha

and is reusable (for a year)

it is made of a medical grade silicone

you empty the cup as needed, and wash the cup with a mild soap

the two sizes are pre and post child birth/over age 30 (seriously, so my hoo-ha gets larger after age 30 even if i don't have kids?  i feel like it's all downhill from here)

i had reallllly wanted to try this, but was worried i wouldn't like it

and at $40 it seemed like quite the investment.

logically, if i liked it, $40 was nothing compared to the $8-12 i spent on tampons each month over the course of a year.

also, the only place i was able to find the diva cup was at a local health food store and on amazon

so about a year ago i'm at work and flo is knocking on the door

i had to run to rite aid on lunch break

and as out of habit sometimes - i searched to see if maybe they carried the diva cup thinking maybe this month was the month i'd spend $40.

they didn't

but they had softcups




they weren't reusable, but they were $8 for a box (not any more expensive than what i was about to spend on tampons)

and i thought this could be my gateway to see if i like this method before plunking down $40

the softcup looks like a giant shallow condom

the outer rim is flexible and you just pinch each side to fold it up and insert

there was a bit of a learning curve - you have to insert far enough back to allow the lip of the cup to rest on a bone ridge inside

but i wore a panty liner until i figured that out

i experience 0 leaks

and as awkward as this thing looks i never feel it

this is probably tmi, but we're already talking periods, sooo...

when i go to the bathroom i don't even mess with it - if it's a little full it drains kind of automatically, i may have to readjust it to make sure it won't leak - kind of push it back in - which means i try and wash my hands before i go potty and obviously after.

my favorite part, and be warned, i love bodily functions, is being able to actually SEE my period.  when you do remove the cup to empty it, you can examine your period - you can tell if you have a lot of clots and the color

at the end of the day - or after i shower - i insert a new cup

i've been using softcups for a year now, and am ready to invest in a diva cup - or - a reusable softcup that i found exists (on amazon)

if you're looking to green up your period, i can't recommend the softcup enough - at least as a trial period (see what i did there...)until you move on to something reusable.

the only snag i've run in to is that i can only find softcups online and at rite aid - i've checked all of the other drug stores and box stores and NOBODY carries them here!  and i can only find the reusable softcup online - and diva cups can only be found online or specialty stores.

so i'm assuming there's not a large market of ladies using these cups, but i swear by them

ok, sorry for talking about my period.

on with your day.


 

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