Thursday, 31 August 2017

Review: Mooncup Reusable Menstrual Cup

Oh Glow Blog Mooncup Review sex positive eco friendly sustainable environmentalism periods

The Mooncup was my first foray into eco-friendly menstruation; and back then (I’m talking circa 2007), the idea of bleeding into the same cup for years was pretty radical. And, if I’m honest, marginally unpleasant. I liked the earth-friendly aspect, but the size comparison between the Mooncup and the various feminine hands gracing the product photography was a bit daunting. Tampons are roughly the same diameter as a finger, and this thing was like the hollow created by a loosely-held fist. Seventeen-year-old me had been brainwashed by the misinformation that smaller and tighter vaginas are better, and that you can irreparably stretch your vagina through penetrative activity of any kind. I was very dubious about inserting something so large. The environment would have to wait.

A couple of years later I was at university, and on a strict budget. Tampons were almost R50 for a box that wouldn’t even last a full two cycles (ah, those were the good days – now it’s even more expensive to have the privilege of not leaving a trail of carnage everywhere you go), and I started reconsidering menstrual cups. It was still a big investment to make, yet at that point I was fairly invested in the imported UK-branded Mooncup as opposed to the cheaper South African alternatives that had recently emerged onto the market. The Mooncup was the one that I had researched and considered, and it was the brand with which I had built an imaginary relationship. So it was the investment I made, and at that point it was a sickening amount of money. That was in 2009, and had I known that I would still be using my Mooncup to this day, I would have laid my cash down sooner and more gladly.
Oh Glow Blog Mooncup Review sex positive eco friendly sustainable environmentalism periods

The Mooncup is a little silicone blood-goblet that comes in two sizes: A for After Childbirth, and B for Before Childbirth. Size B is of a slightly smaller diameter, although the size difference is only a few millimetres. Each cup has with convenient measurement guidelines and is perforated by four tiny holes that help facilitate a seal that prevents leakage. The silicone is flexible enough to be folded lengthways and inserted, yet also maintains enough structural integrity to hold its shape. Because it is made from a non-absorbent, body-safe material, the risk of developing Toxic Shock Syndrome is lower than with tampons. Also, there’s no chance of drying out your delicate vaginal tissues or leaving traces of bleached fibres behind.

In fact, this was my dominant first impression of the Mooncup. After the initial adjustment period (what feels comfortable? How does one insert it without it popping open unexpectedly and causing me a surprising bolt of pain?), I found it fascinating to be able to see the separation between blood and other vaginal fluid within the little cup. All of that gets absorbed during tampon use, leaving the vaginal canal dry. Not exactly ideal. If you’re not squeamish, it’s definitely a way to better understand your body. You start to learn that it’s easier to insert the cup while standing, but remove it in a squat. You figure out that it’s better to dump blood as far back into the toilet bowl as possible, because its viscosity will take a few flushes to properly dissipate and that’s just not ideal in a public restroom. Eventually, you might even get brave enough to trim the annoying 'removal stem' off entirely, because you don’t use it anyway. You sail past the sanitary aisle in supermarkets, gleefully congratulating yourself on your investment. Menstrual cups are the best.

Except when you spill. If you don’t empty the cup timeously, the resulting overflow can compromise the seal and create a rather grisly accident. To be honest, sometimes I don’t even know why the seal breaks – it can happen seemingly at a whim, even when the cup is almost empty. It’s a bit frustrating at times. Also, the four holes which create the seal are prone to clogging with uterus detritus. Ditto measurement levels and the apparently superfluous branding on the inside of the cup. It just means you need to spend a bit more time making sure everything is clean. At least the holes are easy to get to – filling the cup with water, covering the top with your palm and then squeezing creates a pressurised stream that forces any detritus out. In recent iterations of the Mooncup, the holes have been made vertically rather than in mine, where they are horizontal and prone to collecting gunk. I only discovered this upon buying one for a friend, who was initially sceptical but became a menstrual cup convert and ended up telling her friends to invest as well. Her cup seemed to be made from a clearer, paler silicone, but other than the holes the design seems mostly unchanged.
Oh Glow Blog Mooncup Review sex positive eco friendly sustainable environmentalism periods

On the subject of the colouration, I much prefer the paler tones of the more recent cup. The Mooncup website claims that tonal variation of the silicone will occur, but even when I got mine it was a dull yellowish colour that is a bit unappealing. Eight years later and it was, understandably, a bit stained. But don't be alarmed! You can help refresh your cup with a hydrogen peroxide soak -- it's quite safe, just make sure you rinse and dry the cup thoroughly afterwards.

Overall, I think menstrual cups should be used by anyone with a period -- it's good for the environment, and is an investment that will save you money for years. My cup paid for itself in just over a year; and that was when a pack of 40 tampons was R45. I've saved so much money not buying disposable tampons or pads, and my Mooncup is still going strong.

However, I realise that it's not for everybody. If you are squeamish, this is probably not for you. If you only ever use tampons with an applicator, this is definitely not for you. For some people, having the lining of their organs leave their body in a spectacularly messy and painful display is an ugly experience that borders on traumatic, and I completely understand the need to distance oneself from the grisly nature of it all.

However, if you can handle it and want to try a sustainable and cost-effective way of managing your period, I strongly suggest switching to a menstrual cup. I can vouch for the Mooncup, but there are even cheaper alternatives out there. Go forth and have your periods sustainably!


Thursday, 17 August 2017

Better The Devil You Know...

Image source

So hi there. A few of you may recall my earlier post about the Implanon chip and the terrible side effects I suffered through until I could get it removed. Well here I am with a follow-up, for interest’s sake. Because hormonal changes take ages to make themselves known and felt.

I switched back to Nuristerate immediately after the chip was removed. I thought it would fix everything instantly, but I was just being hopeful. The general rule is that it takes your body six months to adapt to a new hormonal birth control (did you know that? I didn’t). So I suffered through fluctuating moods and insane cramps, and more for a long time after that.

I’ve been on Nuristerate again for eight months now. And the side effects of Implanon have finally, mostly, dissipated. I still get fairly bad PMS, but it seems to have gone back to the regular once a month cycle. Cramps have also calmed down a lot. I get bad ones sometimes, but not all the time, and not nearly as bad as they were. And the best part is, I no longer trigger cramps when I orgasm.

Yes, that was a side effect. Possibly the worst one. Whenever I’d masturbate at a certain time of the month, and if I orgasmed, it would trigger horrific cramps that would keep me down for an hour or more at a time. It sort of fed a fear in me, so that every time I had me-time, I would be nervous and anxious, and would feel the cramps rising. Which as you can imagine, is not exactly ideal for your own pleasure time. It kinda puts a (ahem) cramp in things. It only occurred to me the other day when I masturbated that I no longer feel that fear. It’s because for a few months now, it hasn’t happened. It was still happening for about four or five months after I had removed the Implanon. I remember wondering if it may be a permanent side effect (eeeek). But it wasn’t. Thank all upper deities.

I was relieved that I never had a sexual partner during those months, because I figured it would be a little awkward to explain why after some great sex I had to curl up in a ball with a hot water bottle and breathe to myself for an hour. How do you begin to get a guy to understand something like that? It kinda opens up thoughts of how people without uteruses see contraceptives, and how it is the woman’s “job” to worry about hormonal birth control. I'd try to picture explaining that to a guy, and could only imagine that he would just think it silly that I did that to myself in the first place.

Then I started wondering why we do do that to ourselves. My reasoning behind switching to Implanon was based on the negative side effects of Nuristerate. I had been on the injection for years, and unbeknownst to me, it had formed cysts in my ovaries. The cysts started to burst after a nurse slipped up and didn’t give me a full dose, causing my progesterone levels to drop. The pain was excruciating. So I switched BC methods, to avoid another incident. And only got even worse side effects for my troubles.

Honestly, it all just makes me wonder if I would ever actually go through with full sterilisation. I’m very tempted to, but just gotta get up the courage. The things we go through just to not become pregnant are insane. Yes, I would love to have sex whenever I feel like it. There’s nothing wrong with that. And no, I definitely never ever want to be pregnant. Nothing wrong with that either. And I wouldn’t trust a condom to protect me fully; I’d need another barrier. Why do we have such a stigma against sterilisation? I’m a 26-year-old female with no children, with 98% certainty I will never want children, and a 170% certainty I will never want to be pregnant. And yet, despite all this certainty it is up to someone else to decide that it is a bad idea for me to undergo tube-tying. Someone older, someone wiser, and frankly someone masculine. I just think it is nonsense. Instead of just undergoing tubal litigation, I have to go through all these experiences -- bursting cysts, cramping orgasms, constant PMS, two-week long periods, increasingly painful cramps. Is there no way to escape this hormonal fallout?

What do our readers think? If any of you have some wisdom to offer, experiences to share, or just glitter to throw, please comment below.

Saturday, 12 August 2017

Review: Satisfyer Pro Penguin

Satisfyer penguin review Oh Glow Blog sex toy sex positive south africa


Recently, we were lucky enough to have received two Satisfyer products in exchange for our honest review! The Satisfyer range is a line of suction-based toys that provide sensations comparatively new to the sex toy world, working with gentle pulses of air to create sensations that claim to be pleasantly unfamiliar to the average vibrator user. We were both incredibly excited to receive our products. Thanks, Satisfyer!

When I opened the box, my first thought was “Oooooh, pretty! Wait, what? How the - ?”

Yep. I’ve never experienced a suction toy before, and when I saw the Penguin, it was a bit confusing. My body is used to vibration, and working with a completely different kind of stimulation means that you need to change your tactics, as it were. But don’t be daunted; after a very quick Google session, I learned that it’s ridiculously easy to use. So, review cut short (spoiler alert): it has rapidly become one of my favourites in my toy drawer.
Satisfyer penguin review Oh Glow Blog sex toy sex positive south africa

I suppose I can describe it as providing the closest simulation of oral sex that I currently have. But that wouldn’t really be right. It’s more what I often fantasize oral sex to be. It’s a machine, after all. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s just start at the beginning. The Penguin looks just like that: a sort of cartoony hourglass ABS plastic penguin shape with a silicone nozzle. Which, handily enough, is detachable for better cleaning. Yay, easy cleanup! However, the toy is also completely waterproof, and doesn’t need lubricant in order to function. This was quite a big deal for me, because I find that lube is more or less a necessity in my own play activites. Because you don't need additional lubricant, the Penguin is really great for bath-time (jussaying). It charges via USB, so you don’t have to rely on batteries and you can pretty much charge it anywhere. Also, the charger is magnetic! So it doesn’t give you slight anxiety when using it underwater or during clean-up. And you feel fancy. It has two buttons, one to turn on and off, and one to adjust settings. It has eleven vibration settings -- yes, eleven. All power settings; no patterns. I’ve only ever gone up to five and that gives me crazy powerful orgasms. I laid the toy against my hand to test the further settings, and the further you go, the more it becomes like a vibration and less like the pulsating suction, so that’s an adventure to look forward to!

It’s also extremely quiet! The first time I turned it on was just to see how it even worked so I had nothing against the nozzle, and it made this terrible loud noise similar to a tiny Kreepy Krawly having been dragged out of the water. It was a bit alarming. Fortunately, the moment it was laid against my palm it become dead quiet. Whenever I use it, it produces even less sound than any of my vibrators. This is pretty reassurring because I live with housemates and like my privacy.

Satisfyer penguin review Oh Glow Blog sex toy sex positive south africaIt also boasts that it is hands-free, so I had to put that claim to the test. Surprisingly, it can be, yes. I started off using it with my hands, but then discovered that if I closed my legs and it laid between my thighs, it felt even better and became complete hands-free. Cunningly, it is shaped perfectly for that position, so whether you have a thigh gap or are like me and have thighs of the Amazons, it will still sit snugly and perfectly without any help whatsoever.  Feel free to challenge me on that, but I'm certain that anyone will be able to find a placement that will make it work. I was also very impressed with how easily it can be placed on your clit and doesn’t get dislodged. I found I can move quite a bit with it, without losing position. This is something that I did not expect at all. In terms of shape and functionality, it’s a very well designed toy! My only issue with it is that the nozzle has the tendency to pop out from time to time. It's not enough for me to find it problematic, but is definitely something  to be aware of. Don't lose the nozzle, friends. You will be very sad not to have this sensation in your life.

So yes, basically the Penguin blows me away (hehehe, pun intended). I tend to love my external toys and this one is amazing. Whether you’re just looking for a quickie, or settling in to have a nice long session of me-time, it’s a fabulous one to invest in. And if you're used to vibrators and looking for a new kind of stimulation, this will definitely be a departure from the norm. Treat yoself.

Thanks again to Satisfyer for providing us with this toy! Check them out at the links below.

Website  ♡  Facebook  ♡  YouTube  ♡  Twitter

Tuesday, 1 August 2017

Review: Large/Overnight HannahPad

As part of our series of reviews of reusable menstrual products, online wellness retailer Faithful to Nature sent us the large/overnight size HannahPad in exchange for our honest review. This reusable pad is bleach- and dye-free, and a single pad may last you up to three years -- seems like a worthy investment! Switching to reusable menstrual products might seem like a great deal of unnecessary trouble and cost initially, but they pay for themselves faster than you imagine. An added benefit is that you decrease your monthly contributions to landfill waste when you switch from disposable sanitaryware to reusable alternatives, and I think that's wonderful.
 
Oh Glow Blog HannahPad review Faithful to Nature period pad
My first impression of the HannahPad was related to its size. It's really, really large -- almost the length of my forearm, in fact. Briefly, I wondered if my underwear would be up to the challenge or if I'd need to invest in a pair of high-waisted granny-style briefs. Just kidding -- I already have lots of those. My second thought was about how pretty it is. The underside is made from a synthetic-feeling fabric with a very femme flower print, which I think is cute. Even if it's not to your taste, at least you'll be consoled by the fact that you'll be bleeding on the offending object anyway.

The pad fastens to your underwear by means of a press-stud, flower-side down. It definitely feels very thick during wear, and while I only really wore pads briefly in my early teens, I can confidently say that they can't exactly be described as "barely noticeable." This trait is only exacerbated when the item in question is made from thick layers of absorbent cotton that bulk out your underwear to the point that you feel like you're wearing a nappy. Okay, I joke, but the overnight HannahPad is a little bit of an adjustment. Of course, this doesn't matter if you're just wearing it to bed, but if you suffer from incredibly heavy periods and are struggling to find an eco-alternative for daytime wear, you might want to wear sturdy bottoms like jeans or thick tights under skirts/shorts to both disguise lumps and hold the pad close to your body.

Unfortunately, keeping the pad in place was actually a concern of mine. I found that even my designated period panties (high-waisted, faded, dark in colour to hide stains, and totally worth bleeding in) weren't up to the challenge. During the night, the pad wouldn't adhere close enough to my body to prevent leaks. Certain sleeping positions with legs together made the primary collection area fold to the point of being an ineffectual barrier, and the crotch of my slightly stretched go-to menstrual uniform wasn't wide enough to really accommodate the breadth of the pad, thus compromising structural integrity. It really needs a pair of boxer briefs to do a great job, but then the press stud fastening strategy wouldn't function and the pad might wander around anyway. It's a bit of a dilemma, actually. Perhaps a nice pair of new undies that cling to the body with all the freshness only unstretched elastic can provide would be the answer here, but I'm not about to buy nice underwear just to act as a receptacle for my haemorrhaging uterus. The stake are too high for these money-spending shenanigans.
Oh Glow Blog HannahPad review Faithful to Nature period pad

One thing that really did work was the relentlessly cheerful flower-printed underside. The fabric acts as a magical artificial guardian that prevents the soaked cotton from squeezing gore into your underwear, designated period panties or not. Even after almost completely saturating the pad, the flowery fabric showed no sign of staining. Pretty cool! Alas, this doesn't help unless the pad actually stays in place for long enough to catch the fluid anyway.

Clean-up is pretty easy -- a good thorough soaking in cold water will help get the most of it out, and then you can either hand-wash or pop it in with the rest of your laundry. I still found that a few stubborn stains were visible even after coming out the wash, and because of this I'm fairly ambivalent about the choice of a lighter fabric colour for the actual splash-zone. Although the point is to allow you to see when your pad needs to be changed, I do feel that Woman-Kind had the right idea in terms of their colour scheme.

All in all, I liked the large HannahPad for its cheery design and excellent functionality. The only issue is its massive size necessitating a better placement structure. I like the option of using a pad at night because sometimes I just don't feel like using any internal menstrual collection methods, but I also sleep on my side with my knees together and it didn't work out too well. If you happen to have very heavy periods, you'll probably find this particular HannahPad to be better suited to daytime use, when you can wear supportive clothing and control your movements to avoid involuntary bunching.

Get your HannahPad in various sizes from Faithful to Nature at the links below, or just say hi to them on social media.

Website ♡ Facebook ♡ Twitter ♡ InstagramPinterest ♡ Hello Peter