I just got an email informing me that the Lunette is now FDA approved. :)


~M

I've been using my old school Lunette (back when they made just one size) for a few years now and I spot with it. I'm wondering if it's because the silicone is quite soft and squishy. Has anyone else had spotting/leaking end with a switch to a stiffer cup?

Thanks!

I'm so very excited about my cup and getting through my first cycle! I want to tell everyone they should be using a cup, it's blowing my mind how awesome it is!
( Conversation starter! )

Hi everyone,

I decided to take a couple pictures of my cups in comparison to each other.

( Pictures )

( Cut for babbling about my experiences )

( More babbling, this time about my favorite cup )

I just wanted to thank everyone in this community for all the information and opinions available! I haven't used my LJ account in 4 years and had to reset my forgotten password so I could get on here and share how happy I am!
I was looking into cups after getting so sick of cloth pad laundry and this is by far the best and most informative source with so many of you wonderful women. After browsing around for hours and hours, I finally decided on a larger size Lunette (Selene, because it's pretty blue!) and I was able to find a link to a site that sent them to the US.
I'm not even done with my first cycle using the cup, but I am so hooked. With all the insight available on here, I was able to get things worked out within hours. Got it in perfect the first time, not so perfect the second time, and after about 5 minutes of trial and error the third time, figured out how to fold and the angle to insert to get it in there just right!
It's so great! I was a little nervous because I was out and about and active all day the first day, but other than that one tweak (which I was at home for, much easier to deal with) things went awesome.
Thank you every one!

Finally realised after 2 leaky cycles that my low cervix must have been either sitting on the rim of my cup or hanging outside of the rim slightly.  Even though I did a finger sweep each time, I must have missed it sometimes (how??). 

I made a real effort this month to position my cup properly and it now sits much higher than before and I've only had leaks when it's been full.   Also have been able to use the Large Lunette this cycle, the higher position makes it way less uncomfortable.

( Read more... )

Can anyone tell me why the Lunette leaks less when it is inside out?  I tried that yesterday and while it still leaked, it was minimal.  I thought I had found my solution!  However, without the stem and with only a very slick bottom to grab for removal...not a good solution for me... way too much stress trying to get it out.  I just wonder why being inside-out made such a big change?

I have been trying to perfect my cup use for months and frankly I am ready to be done with them.  The leakage is insane.  I have tried different brands, different sizes, different inserting techniques, inserting it high, low, angled up, angled down, pointed toward tail bone etc etc etc.  I have remained diligent and to no avail.  If my flow is light, no problem, it collects nicely in the cup, no leaks,  If it is only slightly more than light, it leaks more than it collects.  I did have better luck with the instead, but if I have to wear pads and keep checking constantly, then really, what is the point?  ;'-(   I have read every apge of this forum and others... no answer in sight.

Hi! (and sorry for the long post)

I'm a 21 year old Israeli virgin. I first came across menstrual cups a year ago while reading an article in the news paper about families in the big cities, who live their lives as environment friendly as possible. It said that one of the women was cloth diapering her baby and was using something reusable for her period, that she had to empty and wash.

Hhhmm… interesting I thought. I never liked pads and tampons but didn't know better. Not long before that day I was wondering, if it was possible to invent something you could put inside the vagina that would only hold back the flow rather than absorb it and create a perfect seal. I assumed that for it to stay in place it had to be shaped like a cup… and then it could collect the flow. I didn't know that what I was "inventing" already existed for about 70 years!

So I researched on the internet for "reusable tampons" (yes… I know, it sounds gross) because I didn't know it was called cups, and found the MCUK first (it's the only cup you can buy here). I was instantly hooked!! My dream came true!! I kept looking for as much information about them as possible. I couldn't find anything bad about this product.

A week later I bought a small MCUK and was a bit intimidated because of the size (six month later I became a proud user of a large lunette without any size problems). I used the C fold and it once poped open right at the entrance… try telling me about pain!! After a few attempts, I finally had success.

The C fold is my favorite fold, it never disappoints me! I prefer having the whole rim inside me at the same time while inserting only half of the cup and letting it pop open then. After that I push it gently in the right position, my suuuper low cervix sitting inside the cup.

For those of you who have troubles getting the C fold to pop open: Try to push the still C shaped base/ low middle section of the cup with your thumb and middle finger from the top and the bottom of the "C". It works wonders for me with the large lunette.

Removal: I prefer the gentle rocking from side to side while pulling down and letting one side of the rim out at a time. Never had problems with it with both cups. At the beginning I use to push the cup back to a C fold, because of thinking the rim part was too big to get out. But it ended every time in spilling blood over my hand and pain when getting the rim out. I recommend relaxing and rocking the open cup out.

To prevent the light leaking stains some of you have: I stir with a finger a few times around the cup on heavy days, until there is no residual blood on the walls in my vagina (it was suggested here before).

Leaking when the cup is not full: Never happened to me! But I read here many posts about this problem.  Possible answer: Not having a good seal + being in a position that allows the blood to reach the holes (like lying down ect.). I noticed that when I fill my cup with water above the holes and touch a hole with my finger, water comes through the hole and runs down my finger. In a real case it is the vagina wall "touching" the hole + not having a good seal. Please comment on this, so I know what you think about my "theory".

I could go on and on in my excitement about cups. I've told literally every woman I know about cups and bought a MCUK for my younger sister. But sadly my friends still don't share this excitement.

Thank you, all of you!!! You have been an awesome help in my one year journey with cups, that will continue until I hit menopause.*grin*

Hi :)

I'm a 15 year old girl from Germany.
After using the small Lunette with a trimmed stem (was too long before) for several cycles I really regret to say that I hate this stupid thing I tried the Origami Fold and the Punch Down Fold (with the punched part facing down) and it always leaks (especially after physical activities like cycling to school) and I have no idea what's wrong. Tampons always dry me out and I have to change them very often. It's so annoying!
I always use cloth pads as a back-up, but sometimes it even leaks through the pads and I can't ever trust the cup as I never know when it is going to randomly start gushing. That's especially inconvenient at school... And my fingers are all messy when I take it out...looks like a murder scene! I hoped that it could be left in for 9 hours without emptying it; I have to check it every hour on my heaviest days. Overnight there is blood everywhere even if I have a pad because it fills up and leaks in a way that a tampon never did. My flow is very irregular due to stress, sometimes I'd have to change a super tampon every two hours during the heaviest days, sometimes there's next to nothing. Sometimes there's no period for three or four months, sometimes I've got it twice a month.

The cup always opens successfully and it is never filled to capacity when it leaks, it's not even half-full. The holes are not clogged before I re-insert it.
I think that the cervix is pointing into the cup and the cup sits low in my vag, but I'm not sure. My fingers are very short (although I think that my vag might be on the short side as well)
Sometimes the very short stem sticks out and I simply cannot make it go any further up. Other times it migrates so far up I can barely get it out again. What is going on?


I really want to get the hang of my Lunette. Do you have any idea what the problem is? I'm sure that it isn't slow leak of residual blood that got into the vag when I removed and cleaned my cup. Do I need a different cup? That would be annoyinf because I'm a student... I'm always short of money And I actually don't want to get a cup with less capacity because my flow's sometimes pretty heavy.

Hi, first post so bear with me. 

I've happily used a MCUK sz 2  for quite a while now (i'm 38 no kids) and i've started getting heavier on my first couple of days, having to wake up every 3 hours to empty, now knackered at work :(.  So I thought about getting another cup.  After much investigating and comparing sizes to what I have at the moment I went for a Lunette Selene, couple of mm bigger but the extra capacity might buy me an extra hours kip!    This is when the problems started, C fold  insertion like the MC, no problem, quite a noticeable pop open but ok,   after about 15 mins crikey! PAIN!!   It felt like somebody had hold of both my ovaries and were giving them a good squish, unbearable.  Took it out replaced it with my good old MC and all was ok, pain went away.  Has anybody else suffered this problem? I was wondering if it was the stiffness with the cup, as my MC is much more flexible & softer.  I didn't think it was the size so much as they were both so similar.  Any help greatly appreciated

I moved from a rubber Keeper to a Lunette a couple of years ago, and with both I found the same thing: I would forget about it for a day, sometimes, and a horrible smell would occur which would cling to the cup -- and my hands, which even soap would not budge!

This happened again last week, and in the past I have tried methods mentioned on here, except for the neem oil and rubbing alcohol ones, because shelling out $10 for a bottle on the offchance it would work when I would only use it for the one thing wasn't really cutting any ice with my budget.

Neither have I ever gone with peroxide, what with it not being recommended and all that.

Tea tree oil didn't work; it made it smell tea tree-y and bad smell mixed; ew.

Vinegar didn't work, although I had high hopes; it mellowed it a bit, not so funky.

Baking soda and boiling water didn't work, even being soaked for a day.

Someone mentioned leaving it out in the sun, so I washed it out well with hot water and soap and put it outside in full sun ... and, going with tradition, forgot about it. Three days later I remembered it and fetched it back.

It's a MIRACLE. Not only does it have no smell at all, but the sun bleached it back to its original translucent whiteness, as it'd been developing a distinct yellow tinge. It felt all right, not sticky or anything, but I figure if you can put silicone bakeware in the oven a bit of sun won't hurt it, right?

Hello Ladies :)
Just finished 2nd cycle using a cup.  Last month I went OCD and purchased a Large and Medium Meluna, A Large and Small Lunette and a Large Diva to go with my 1st cup, a Mooncup UK.   This cycle I used the Large Lunette, the Large Meluna and the MCUK.....


( Comparisons and a favour to ask you...read more... )

We love this forum and regularly direct our first-time-users to it. What a fantastic resource!

 If so, please contact us directly at info@mylunette.com   

Thank you so much in advance!! :p

I've started using the medium MeLuna (ball stem) a few days ago, and thanks to all the great advice I've found here (the instruction booklet was far from detailed), I've been quite successfull. I got the leaks troubleshot quite quickly, and have emptied it a few times in public toilets on my second day. I chose the MeLuna because it's local (to me), has fancy colours, and since all the rest of the info was just confusing me, I decided I might as well start with what seems to be the cheapest cup until I know what I like and don't like about it. And I'm already thinking about switching.

Things about myself:
- really low cervix (so I'm glad the M MeLuna is short)
- pretty heavy flow (I definitely need more capacity)
- 22 and no penis-in-vagina sex, so something a bit thinner would be nice.
Also, removing the MeLuna is painful, which I attribute to the thick, firm rim and to the lack of training.

Based on the size chart, I figured the small Lunette or the small Fleurcup would both be good alternatives, as they are a bit thinner, only two millimeters longer and have a greater capacity. As I'm in Europe, it won't be a problem getting either of them. I lean towards the Fleurcup because it's available in fancy colours, but that shouldn't be my main argument and, even browsing this community, I haven't found any other difference between them. I would especially like to know if one is softer than the other.

Hi, this is my first cycle using the cup (I don't know if it matters or not, but I'm also a virgin and 22 years old).  I have a small Lunette.  I posted in this community a while back, after an unsuccessful dry run, and received lots of good advice and encouragement (one of which was to not try another dry run, just wait patiently!)  Until today everything was really good.  I still haven't quite gotten the hang of everything perfectly, but I used it for three days with no real big problems.

There was one (little?) thing I had a little bit of trouble with.  On the first day I had to be really active (which was the third day using it) I had trouble with the cup tilting to the side (always the same side), which didn't cause any leaks, but the stem was poking the wall of the vagina.  It was pretty painful sometimes.  Does anyone else have to deal with this?

The big problem came today (my fourth day).  At first, I was having trouble getting it to pop open.  I finally got it somehow, and went to class.  But I could feel it pressing harder on my insides, almost like my muscles weren't expanding enough to let it sit comfortably.  It was pretty painful.  I went to check on it, and it was riding lower than the past few days, but I couldn't get it any higher, either by pushing with my fingers or "kegeling" it.  I finally just decided to take it out and go with a pad.  Which is frustrating because even though my flow can be really light at this point in my cycle, I had hoped to use the cup until I didn't need anything anymore.  Has anyone else run into this problem?  Should I maybe buy a smaller cup for the end of my cycle?

Today was a KISS MY CUP day!

I had monster cramps yesterday but it resulted in barely a few drops in my Mooncup so I swapped it for my high capacity large Lunette this morning "just in case" -- not really expecting much of anything because it should have been a fairly light threatening on-and-off "Is it coming or not?" day.

Instead, it was a SURPRISE GUSHER!

If I still used tampons, I probably wouldn't have worn one.  Maybe just a shield.  Would I have had anything in my purse?  Or would I have been caught unprepared?

With only 90 minutes to go at my outside job, I suddenly felt a tell-tale leak.  "Oh-oh!"  I RAN to the porta-potty!  And I couldn't believe I'd filled my Lunette to overflowing.  Today wasn't supposed to be a heavy day!  (Good thing I'd worn a shield...)

The best part was that I just took out the overflowing cup, dumped it, told it "THANK YOU!" and popped it back in.

Despite my emergency trip to the plastic room, I felt SMUG satisfaction that I had everything I needed.  No detour to my purse.  No horrified panic at having to beg a student for "girl stuff."  I just took care of business and returned to work in a jiffy.

Today's experience is EXACTLY why I use cups.  They are worth their weight in gold.  Maybe more.

I was part of the group order that fee_parisienne set up through Feminine Wear via schmoomom. Schmoomom sent the cups out on the 6th, and I received my package on the 10th. From Ireland to Las Vegas, Nevada, FOUR DAYS! Amazing. The only reason I'm posting now on the 11th is that my dad ends up getting the mail when he gets home from work around 3:00a, so I had no idea until I woke up today and it was outside my door that it had arrived. :)

I love the softness of the small Lunette I ordered and absolutely can't wait to try to use it. I've been unsuccessful with cups for at least four years, and I'm hoping this will be the cup that enables me to finally convert from pads. I'm so excited to have already received it, well in advance of my next period.

The cup was packaged in a plastic sack with instructions and a storage pouch. Teresa from Feminine Wear included a little notepad (which is awesome because I always write to-do lists), and there are also two little packages of Love Hearts candy.

Thank you all SO much! I really appreciate you all for putting together this order and getting it out to us.

And for those of you who can order from Feminine Wear, it was a great experience even though I personally didn't submit the order.

( Now, a quick comparison! )

Hello all!

I have been using my lunnette since march and love it. I am just having one small issue- i can insert it perfectly each morning and then i will take it out to empty it but then when i try to reinsert it it always gives me problems and is uncomfortable. does this happen to anyone else? Somedays i just insert it in the morning, empty it and then switch to cloth pads the rest of the day because of this. Is my vagina too tired? lol I just don't get it cuz it goes in so easily the first time of the day, but if i try to reinsert it then it gets uncomfortable. any ideas???

I just got back from backpacking in Australia for 5 weeks and I'm happy to report my Lunette performed great! I brought my Lunette and Diva and decided on using my Lunette as lately it's been working better than my Diva (no idea why). I brought a few cloth pads as well as I always use cloth as backup during my period. :-)

For those of you who don't get the mylunette.com newsletter:

Environment Week Oct 11-18

Have you thought about doing something “green” for this week? Need some more wipes, wash, cloth pads?!

To celebrate Environment Week we have sussed out some special offers for you:

- www.mylunette.com have a 10% sale off everything for this week only,

- www.greenchickadee.com.au have free regular postage for sales in Australia when you spend over $20.00 during environment week

- www.radpads.com.au have a couple of pages of “October Specials” that are worth checking out

(I'm assuming "this week" means the week of the 11th (Australian time) here.)

Hello,( :my sizing calculations: )
Can someone please tell me if the 40X46 (Ladycup) vs. the 41x47 (Lunette) is really going to make that much of a difference!!

Since my menstrual hygeine is awesome now (if i do say so myself!) after converting to a Lunette 2 yrs ago, I thought I'd make an effort to improve my oral hygeine by swapping my dental floss for a packet of those new 'dental flosser toothpicks' -  the ones with the miniature bottle brush on one end and a toothpick on the other. Unfortunately my teeth are so crowded and crammed together that I couldn't use them and they just made my gums bleed.

Not one to like waste I thought...what could I use this this $4.50 pack of flosser sticks for?? And it came to me, I could use it to clean the four holes in my Lunette! It fits perfectly and scrubs them just like a proper pipe cleaner! I was previously using a bamboo BBQ stick (yes, the sort you poke meat onto). They are now part of my 'cup cleaning kit'. Ingenious!

Just thought I'd share!  :)  

How do I go about getting a Lunette in the US?  I read many reviews and I think this may be the fix to my DivaCup problems.

Hello everyone, this is actually my first post here (I usually only comment). A little backstory: My first cup was the Keeper, which didn't work out too well for me (I didn't like the thick rim or latex material), so I bought a Lunette. It worked pretty well for me, but I had leaking when I got out of bed in the morning or the middle of the night, and I wanted a spare that I actually liked. I think that problem has since been resolved (the last period I had with the Lunette was leak-free), but I'm still glad I now have a spare cup to keep in my backpack.

I decided to try the Yukki because I was intrigued by the design that was similar to the Lunette, but it seemed to be made out of a material more similar to the LadyCup. It turned out, it's a little more "rubbery" or "plasticky" like maybe a Meluna or toy, rather than the smooth, frosted texture of the Lunette (haha maybe way too much detail there). If you look closely at the pictures, you'll notice it's actually made up of a bunch of small ridges (probably different than the LadyCup or Meluna). It has more friction when it comes to folding, and I feel that it stays in place better than the Lunette (never had ANY problems leaking on the whole period I tried it for).

( Read more )

Hello!

I ordered my Lunette last week and got it today (which is amazing, considering we're in two different continents!). I boiled it before I tried it out, and I'm happy to say I successfully inserted it! I used the triangle fold and got it in the second time I tried. I can't wait to use it when I'm actually on my period, which should be some time this week or next week. I do have a couple of questions, however:

1. Are any folds smaller than the triangle fold? I didn't have any problem getting it except for a bit of a wait because I'm small (and not exactly a slip and slide right now). I'm just curious as to what folds are smallest and would be easiest for me to insert.
2. How do I know when pops open? I can't really seem to feel around the front because of my pubic bone, but it did feel like it was closed from around behind the cup. Is being able to feel the front to see if it's open necessary?
3. I'm pretty sure I got a seal this first try, because when I tried to remove it it kind of came, for lack of better word to describe what happened, rushing out. I just know that it was more than likely sealed. However, should I be right in expecting it to do this every time? If not, how can I make sure it seals? I couldn't get it to turn, so that's not an option.
4. I don't know how heavy or not my period is in comparison to how much the small Lunette's capacity holds. I used light, regular, and super tampons throughout my cycle. It never really depended on what day of my cycle it was, it just fluctuated throughout the cycle. If should need to empty my cup during school, how should I go about doing that? Will I need to rinse it out, or should I be fine reinserting? My mother recommended having feminine wipes with me; would using those to wipe off/out my cup be harmful to my vagina for a long period of time (as in, after I reinsert it)?

That's all of them. Thank you! (: