Lunapads Blog

Name: Melissa

Age: 20

How did you hear about reusable menstrual products?
Searching the web.

Please describe your monthly needs:
4 days heavy flow, 3 days medium flow, 3 days light flow.

If you are currently using disposable products, which ones do you use, and for what needs?
Super tampons for 4 days, regular tampons 3 days, light tampons 2 days, pantyliners for backup.

Why do you want to switch to reusable menstrual products?
I want to switch because I hate using both disposable tampons and pads. The tampons hurt me and the pads always smell. Because of this I always hate it when I get my period and its so expensive to keep re-buying, and now that I have a baby I need to find a way to save money, and I feel that the tampons and pads are to much of a waste.

Anything else you’d like to share about yourself?
Im a full time mom with 1 baby, love arts&crafts

Based on your own experience, what message do you have for other women who might be thinking about reusable menstrual products?
I support them all the way!

Recommendations for this crafty mom!

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Name: Avigayil

What is your age? 24

How did you hear about reusable menstrual products?

Lunapads.

Please describe your monthly needs:

Unpredictable. Usually my period starts early, despite being on birth control, and it starts with shedding which is so annoying. That can go on for 2 days. Other times it just starts heavy for 2 days, then light for the rest. I have severe cramps the first 3 days, and I toss and turn all night.. sleep, whats that?

If you are currently using disposable products, which ones do you use, and for what needs?

I currently only use disposable products for swimming. I really hate staying out of the pool when I have my period, and tampons just work for that. However, I haven’t done that for 4 months now. . . I just hate the waste and worry about what they do to my body!

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Name: Jen

How did you hear about reusable menstrual products?

Twitter, actually. @Greenzebra604

Please describe your monthly needs:

3 days light flow, light daily discharge throughout the month.

If you are currently using disposable products, which ones do you use, and for what needs?

Thin pads overnight for three days and pantyliners throughout the rest of the month (such a fuss and always had to make sure no leakage over the sides)!!

What reusable menstrual products do you currently use?
Maxi or long pads for overnights.

Why do you want to switch to reusable menstrual products?

I want to switch because considering that there are four women in my family and we all get our cycles intermixed or what not (everyone gets it about at the same time) we use a lot!! The amount of money we spend on pads is ridiculous and reusable products would save a lot of money and less grumpy moments (stressful time of the month after all!)

Based on your own experience, what message do you have for other women who might be thinking about reusable menstrual products?

Definitely more convenient and easy to use!!

Our recommendations for this interested newbie!

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I was 11 years old when I took my first ride on the crimson wave – and along with being nervous and not totally sure about what changes my body was going through I had to wear an uncomfortable, bulky, scratchy disposable pad. I just accepted this as my fate for the rest of my child bearing years, because I wasn’t aware of any alternatives besides tampons and I wasn’t ready to go there yet.

It wasn’t until high school that I felt comfortable trying tampons. I was beginning to really hate missing out on swimming at the beach at least 3 weeks out of the 3 months of summer. So I started using tampons and it wasn’t half as bad as I expected. However, I hated that dry pulling feeling when removing a tampon on the last days of my cycle. Ugh! But again, I accepted what I thought was my fate. It wasn’t until recently that I learned tampons not only absorb menstrual fluids, but natural vaginal fluids as well. Thus, the dry feeling. And tampons can even leave bleached cotton fibers behind. Yuck!

Enter The DivaCup.

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Hi, everyone! Just wanted to share this great testimonial sent in to us from Barb B. in Wisconsin. I hope Barb’s story inspires those who feel discouraged by not having immediate success with The DivaCup.

Figuring out how to successfully use a menstrual cup takes time, patience and gentle perseverance – not getting it right away is not unusual, and certainly nothing to beat yourself up over. Sometimes what stands in the way is simply a matter of technique; other times it’s deeper or more complex. Let’s talk about it!

* What advice or words of encouragement do you have for those new to using a menstrual cup? Read Barb’s testimonial after the jump, and share your tips in a comment below! *

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Now that I’ve noticed a change in comfort and attitude from switching to Lunapads, I figured I’d share some deets about wearing Lunapads, Liner Inserts and Lunapanties:

1. I was a little nervous to take my Lunapad to the public washroom for the first time – how do you carry them discretely? I couldn’t lug my entire schoolbag. Then I realized that my purple little moon pad bag looked just like a makeup bag!
2. To put the pad on, you just snap the wings together around your underwear and slip the liner under the ribbon (called ric rac bands) at the top and bottom. Out of habit with other tags, I put the tag at the back, even though the pads are symmetrical. They are much easier to put on than disposables: no paper to peel off, no sticky stuff, no wings getting caught along the sides.
3. I found I could adjust how far forward or back the pad was by simply tugging it, not unpeeling and re-attaching the whole thing.
4. As a newbie, I found it a little easier to snap the pad to my underwear first, then put on my underwear when I was getting dressed.
5. I had the maxi pads, which, by my unofficial estimation, are about an inch longer than the “regular” sized disposable pads.

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Ever since I started working at Lunapads, I had actually been looking forward to that time of the month. Too bad it was the cramps that first let me know I was on my period. Yes, unfortunately, I am one of those women who get cramps. So I can’t say that I heart my period. I heart my Advil. And my heating pad.

After reading some inspiring testimonials from other Lunagals that switching from disposable pads to Lunapads changed their attitudes, I was hopeful.  I was not disappointed.

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Name: Lara
Age: 42
I’m a college teacher and professional bellydancer.

How did you hear about Lunapads?
Internet search for non-toxic menstrual products.

Please describe your monthly needs:
Approximately 3-4 days & 2 nights average flow, 2-3 days & 3 nights light flow.

What reusable menstrual products do you currently use?
The DivaCup for days/overnight + Lunapads some days

Why did you make the switch?
After being treated for stage3 cervical cells, I looked for all-cotton, non-toxic menstrual products. But I was still concerned about the extra cost, hard-to-find products and amount of garbage every month.  I found Lunapads on the internet, started with pads/pantyliners and loved them! A friend recommended The DivaCup and I love it. I’ve never looked back!

Advice for others?
Your body & the environment will thank you -do it!

Are you ready for a Period Makeover? To apply, simply fill out an application, telling us about your monthly needs. Selected applicants will receive a Lunapads.com gift certificate!

Of the many excellent people Suzanne and I met on a recent trip to Las Vegas for the ABC Kids Expo trade show, Karen Wells, co-host (along with the fabulous Erica Matteson) of Pregnancy Place Radio, was a standout. Karen and Erica are doulas with a thriving practice and a keen interest in women’s health and natural products that they have charismatically taken to the airwaves. They thoughtfully interviewed a ton of the many manufacturers represented at the show, ourselves included (click here to hear it!)

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Jeannette wrote to us as a concerned mom who hopes that Lunapads will help her daughter have a happier period. Read on for their story, and our picks:

This is actually not for me, but for my 10 year old daughter.  She started menstruating recently and it really upsets her.  We are looking for something that is natural, environmentally friendly and won’t irritate her skin.  Also, regular pads can be loud and embarrassing.  I want her to feel like a goddess and not a slave to plastic!

Her period is 3 days heavy, 3 nights heavy, and 2 days light.  She is currently using Always overnights.  No matter what, she leaks through, and often out of the back of her undies and onto her bed.  We are too paranoid this early into her period to go lighter than overnights at any stage in her cycle.  Mine was very unpredictable when I was a kid, so we err on the side of caution.

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