We tried period cups so you don’t have to be afraid of them anymore

Hey, it's web chick Carwen here!

Periods are a thing.

And whether you're a pad or tampon kind of gal, period cups are creeping into the mainstream of sanitary products and I want to put their reputation to the test!

*If you don’t want to read about periods- you should probably click away now*

It’s a simple concept really: A product to replace throwaway products such as tampons and pads, to cut down our impact on the environment, and ultimately, save a sh*t tonne of money in the long run.

Here’s the maths:
The typical female uses around 20 sanitary products per period, which means a crazy 240 a year! This can mean one person alone, chucks out around 9600 products in their lifetime.

RELATED: Doctor likens period pain to a heart attack

And those tampons that you’re using for about 8 hours at most? Take 2,000 YEARS to decompose in our landfills. Yup- that means that one pad will last longer than you on our precious planet!

We tried out one local New Zealand brand, HelloCup, to see what it was like to replace our trusty tampons with a little plastic cup.

First of all: they’re cute. These cups are colourful and the packaging, as well as practical, doesn’t give away what’s inside! With a colour range of orange, blue, pink and purple, they're much cuter than the plain white products I'm used to

The second thing: They’re pretty easy to use!

This brand, in particular, has really clear instructions on how to use it! Included is an instruction manual (that you’ll actually want to read) with exactly what you need to know and the website is full of advice if you're really struggling.

You do obviously see the blood. But once I got past that, there weren't really any downfalls for me.

In terms of price, it’s pretty bloody good.

We spend on average, at least $2,000 throughout our lifetime on pads and tampons each, so the $49 it costs for one cup really doesn’t compare, and has me thinking up all the things I could spend that $1,951 saving on...

Overall, I found they were easy to use and nowhere near as messy as expected.

Once you get the hang of it, they're easy to use and when it’s in, I basically forgot about my period all together!

If you want to try something new, or want to help your impact on the environment, a period cup could be the perfect choice for you!