Review – Ruby Cup

I was lucky enough to be sent a Ruby Cup to review – thank you very much

It came in a pink post envelope, with the cup, pouch and instruction sheet.

The cup is a nice soft silicone.  It’s “squishyness” is about comparable to the Fleurcup.  The stem is about the same size as the tube stems, but the walls of the tube are a lot thicker, giving a very sturdy stem.  It has a series of raised bums on the stem for extra grip.  I found this stem to have a good amount of grip because it felt so solid, yet it’s flexible enough that it was not uncomfortable to wear without the stem trimmed.  If I really thought about it, I was aware of the stem sometimes, but definitely not as much as a Mooncup/Keeper’s stem.  The stem being hollow however, did manage to collect some blood, but that rinsed out without problem.  I find this stem definitely more comfortable and easier to grip than most of the other tube/rounded stems.  My favourite stem design is still the tab stem however.

I’ve tried so many cups now that it’s hard to compare them against each other for things like feel and ease of insertion removal…. but I found this cup inserted without trouble, popped open cleanly without trouble, was removed without trouble and cleaned without trouble   The airholes on the cup rinsed clean without holding onto any blood, as did the inside writing (the words “Ruby Cup” and measring lines are in raised writing inside the cup)

The cup shape is very similar to the Fleurcup – with the exception being the stem of course.  There are also a few other differences between the cup – the Fleurcup’s base grip lines are different (more pronounced and not complete rings), and the Ruby Cup has a slightly different rim, with there being an extra “bump” (Tiny ridge) where the Fleurcup’s is smooth.

All in all, I was quite happy with this cup.

Mami Cup

http://www.coppetta-mestruale.com

Country of origin: Italy
Composition: Silicone
Sizes: 2.  “M” and “L”
Dimensions:  M = 40mm diameter, 50mm long without stem, 72mm long including stem,  25ml capacity to rim, 20ml capacity to airholes. L = 45mm diameter, 57mm long without stem, 75mm long including stem,  35ml capacity to rim, 29ml capacity to airholes.
Capacity:  Unknown
Stem: Unsure (filled tube or tab)
Measuring Lines: Unknown
Cost (RRP):  €19.90
Guarantee: ?
Been around since: 2012?
Other Details: Very similar domain name to the “Copita” cup, whose domain is http://www.copitamenstrual.cl.  But they are very different in shape, so they are not the same company.

FreeSiya “Smart Cup28″

 

FreeSiya “Smart Cup28″

http://www.smartcup28.com

Country of origin: Philippines
Composition: Silicone
Sizes: 2 sizes (come shipped together in the one pack – can’t buy separately)
Dimensions:  Unknown
Capacity:  Unknown
Stem: Long loop
Measuring Lines: Unknown
Cost (RRP):  500 Philippine pesos (for a pack of 2)
Guarantee: 6 month
Been around since: The website says “the new way to go in 2011″, so presumably it’s been around since 2011 some time.  However their site currently says they have no stock as they are waiting for a new shipment due end of February – since it’s August 2012 when I’m writing this, it doesn’t appear they are available for sale, they may never actually have been available for sale, as “February” could be 2011 or 2012.
Other Details: This site contains a lot of misleading information and some content copied from other sites.  I personally would not trust or respect a company doing so.  Their reviews section contains reviews they have taken from the internet that are reviewing other brands of menstrual cup – they say at the top that this is the case and that all menstrual cups are basically the same.  They show a picture on the front page showing that menstrual cups are approved by the FDA, but make no claims that their cup is approved by the FDA (all cups need to be approved, just because one has been approved does not automatically mean all menstrual cups are).  Their picture guide on how to fold the cup shows cups that do not look like theirs, so I suspect those images have been taken from other sources.  They use the Mooncup’s video guide on folding.  They also reproduce the entire post here (http://menstrual-cups.livejournal.com/1243131.html) in their FAQ.  Without even bothering to remove the personal comments that make it obvious it’s someone’s blog post rather than an online article.  Their contact e-mail address is an @yahoo one….  ’nuff said

However if you look up the “BB personal care” they say is the company behind it, you see the same woman from the cp28 site in shown in pictures on this website  – https://sites.google.com/site/biotroffcom/home, and both addresses are in Cagayan de Oro.

FemmyCycle

http://www.femmycycle.eu

Country of origin: Europe
Composition: Silicone
Sizes: One
Dimensions:  Unknown
Capacity:  Unknown
Stem: Ring
Measuring Lines: no
Cost (RRP):  Eur 39,90 (for a pack of 2)
Guarantee: ?
Been around since: It will apparently start being available for sale from around Sept 2012
Other Details: This cup is shaped more like a wine goblet, and has a “lid” type feature. While inserted it works like a funnel, so the blood can flow through the smaller hole into the cup, which helps stop the blood leaking out of the cup while the wearer is lying down.  This “lid” part is pulled up to allow the cup to be emptied.

The other Menstrual cup wikipedia “book”

I forgot to post pictures of the other “book” (again, using that term lightly) I bought to check on (see the first one here) – which I bought because a few of us were concerned that with the claim the information came from “free sources online” that our content may have been used without permission… but it’s exactly the same as the first – a complete and utter waste of money, and a total scam.  Again it’s just printed and bound wikipedia pages – no editing, nothing.  Which is apparently all Hephaestus Books does.  At least they had the decency to charge less than the other “book” for it though.

Again they make the claim:

“Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book is a collaboration focused on Feminine hygiene.”

Which is apparently bullshit speak for “we’ve printed some vaguely relevant wikipedia pages to scam people into parting with their money – haha suckers!”

http://www.amazon.ca/Feminine-Hygiene-Including-Vulvovaginal-Pantyliner/dp/1243296844

So, like with the other book, I used that as a reason for a refund, as it was not as described.  The “book” does not say it is only using wikipedia, so it’s misleading consumers into thinking there is more to this “book” than there is – and consumers have the right to demand a refund.

So there you go.

Ruby Cup

http://www.ruby-cup.com

This cup seems to be mostly marketed towards women in developing countries, rather than being a commercial site, although you can purchase the cup for yourself.

Country of origin: The 3 founders of the company live in Kenya, but it does not say where the cup is made.
Composition: Silicone?
Sizes: 1
Dimensions: Unknown  (roughly the same size as a large Lunette)
Capacity:  Unknown
Stem: Ball
Measuring Lines: yes, 5ml, 10ml, 15ml (on the inside)
Cost (RRP):  € 27,95
Guarantee:
Been around since: Late 2011? – They have a news item from Dec 2011 saying they won a design prize in Denmark, and say they expected to “hit the market” (in Kenya) in Jan 2012.

Copita

http://www.copitamenstrual.cl

(Site translated into English here)

A  new brand of cup, I believe it is Spanish.  It appears to be one size only, with a capacity of 35mls (making it comparable with the large size cups).  Quite a different shape to this cup!  The website says copyright 2010, but I wasn’t aware of them until a few months ago, and they don’t appear to have any “proper” online shopping, you have to just e-mail them to be able to buy it – which suggests they are still quite new, or not really looking for online sales (maybe only really selling in local stores)

The website doesn’t seem to give any other information.  So not sure what it’s made from (I’d presume silicone), if there are more sizes or what it’s price is.

Lunette Coloured cups available in Australia

Well it seems us Aussies have even more choice now, with the coloured Lunette cups being available in early march for sale in Australia!

Also, they have been able to do a price reduction, dropping the retail price from around $57-$60 to around $49-$55.

Diva Cup has TGA approval

I found out, via being spammed by someone calling themselves the Australia distributor (and having to contact Divacup to check it was legit)… that Divacup is now TGA approved and can be bought and sold within Australia.

So that’s great news!

The RRP is $49.95 (excluding GST which some sellers will have to add on)… making it much (potentially) cheaper than the Keeper, Lunette and JuJu (which are the only other cups available for sale in Aus)

Menstrual Cup Book

“Menstrual Cup” by Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, John McBrewster (Ed.)

Background story – (see more here) This book concerned many of us who have websites about reusable menstrual products, because of it’s description claiming “Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.“  As we feared some of our websites may have been copied and put into this book. So I bought a copy, so that we could see for sure if any of our work was in the book.  Long story short – it wasn’t.

When the book  (using the term “book” lightly) says “the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from wikipedia and other free sources online“ – they actually mean just wikipedia.  As in, essentially they have pressed the print screen button on their browser, printed off some pages from wikipedia and then bound it to make a “book”.  (apparently wikipedia basically has a button you can press that will make you a copy of the site for your printing and exploiting pleasure – hence “books” like this.

I almost wish they had ripped off websites like mine, at lest then the poor people who paid for this piece of excrement would have had something actually usable and informative. (please note, that’s not an invitation to copy my stuff :Þ)

Now, given that wikipedia articles are subject to a creative commons license (they can be freely redistributed, even commercially) and that anything that uses them must also be likewise free for people to redistribute – and this is stated in the license at the front and back of this book.  I could scan the entire book and make it available freely for anyone who wants to download it, but frankly there is no point as it’s all just on wikipedia, and 90% of it is utter rubbish you’d not be interested in anyway.   Which is a shame, I can’t even make this book useful (or get my money’s worth) by being able to freely distribute it among others…. it’s not even worth the time to scan it!  URGH!  So what I’ll do is just link to the wikipedia articles they used.  Infact that’s more useful than this “book” because wikipedia is updated frequently.

So…..  The in depth look.

It’s very thin…. I’m sure I’ve seen Woman’s Weekly magazines that are thicker.  Though they made the font miniscule to save on pages, so I suppose there’s something good to be said about not wasting as many trees to bring this bound pile of uselessness to the unsuspecting customers.

The chapters (aka “wikipedia pages they printed out”) are as follows (an apologies from here on in, my camera isn’t high enough resolution to really show enough detail, but trust me, you’re not missing much):

• Menstrual Cup
• Vagina
• Menstruation
• Tampon
• Sanitary napkin
• Thermoplastic Elastomer
• Diaphragm (contraceptive)
• Latex
• Silicone
• Endometriosis
• Adenomyosis
• Food and Drug Administration
• Toxic Shock Syndrome

Then we have “references”

• Article sources and contributors
• Image sources, Licenses and contributors

Then the Licensing information (which is just saying it’s free to distribute under the creative commons license and a whole page of copy and paste of what that actually means).

The inside cover is a bit interesting… (easily the most interesting thing in here really….)

As it shows not only are the people whose names are on the front of the book not “authors” (no, really?), and it’s the only part of the book someone actually took the time to type onto a keyboard instead of just printing off the web…. but it shows how crap the actual publisher is.  You can click that image for a larger one you can read, but here’s some highlights (bolding is my own):

“all parts of this book are extracted from wikipedia”

(so what about the other “free sources online” they claimed?)

“you can get detailed informations about the authors of this collection of articles at the end of this book.  The editors (Ed.) of this book are no authors.  They have not modified or extended the original texts”

(in actual fact there is no information about the editors in the book at all)

It says the information was gathered by volunteers and that “nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by people with the expertise required to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information.  Some information in this book may be misleading or wrong.”

It also says it’s printed in USA, UK and Germany, and specifically says not in Mauritius (which is where the VDM publishing house that’s responsible for publishing this load of steaming horse poo is from)…. wonder why they felt the need to say that?….

So… anyway… what follows is just page after page of printed out wikipedia articles.  Some of which are vaguely related to menstrual cups (like the page on pads and tampons)… some really not relevant at all.  Not even grouped into logical sections… not even alphabetically….  quite the hodge podge!

What makes me laugh is that on a couple of the pages, they still keep in the “see also” links from wikipedia.  Of course since it’s a book, and you can’t have a hyperlink in a printed book, and those articles you could “see also” don’t appear in this “book”, so it’s completely stupid and irrelevant.

(Graphic pic of a vulva there, just FYI)

Nice one, genius!   Or should I say geniuses, since it apparently took 3 people to collect all this highly useful information!… Which says a lot about their editorial skills really, as I’m sure I could train a monkey to press ctrl+P on a wikipedia page, and apparently it took 3 of them to do much the same…

… moving on…

Now I guess including the articles on Thermoplastic Elastomer, Latex and Silicone are being “thorough”, but really…. without actually introducing people to why you’re including those pages in this book, it just looks like half a science text book got mistakenly bound in with a feminine hygiene book.

(that last one is another “see also” page)

So this is how they did the article sources….  they basically took the wikipedia page, and then listed all the contributors to that page.  Fair enough I guess, since you have to credit the people who wrote it, even if what they wrote could have been deleted by someone else.  Looks a bit silly though….

Except….. Look Ma!  I’m famous!!!

(sorry, camera flash)

Images sources are likewise just the wikipedia url of the image and the name of the person who uploaded it if wiki had that information.  I checked, there was nothing I could see that wasn’t from wikipedia.  Not that the photos were anything spectacular anyway.

So… there you have it…. wow… that’s certainly worth $50 isn’t it!

Menstrual Cup book

There is a (very pricey) book about menstrual cups on the market.  It’s description claiming “Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.“  Which is causing some concern among people like myself who run websites where this information may be taken from.

You have to ask yourself, why would you pay upwards of $50 (I’ve seen it for sale on Australian sites for over $100) for a book whose contents were taken from wikipedia and other webpages?….  I look at the part of the cover, where it says “High quality content from wikipedia articles” and just laugh.  That’s some “high quality” authoring there… (and what’s with the feet photo and superfluous tag words on the front cover?)

The news of this book, and potential copyright theft has caused one cup resource, the “cup charts” Livejournal site to close down, stating that they don’t want their hard work to be stolen for someone else’s profit.  In case you’re not aware, website contents, like books, are considered copyrighted to the person who wrote them.  This is automatic copyright, not something the author needs to specifically apply.  Copying parts of a website, or someone’s images, without their permission, is a breech of copyright.  So we’re concerned that the “free sources online” may be our webpages and blogs, which are not actually free to take stuff from.

We don’t know yet if any of our intellectual property has been stolen,  and without looking at the book, there’s probably no way to tell. I’ve contacted the publisher, and I’ve purchased a copy of the book, which I’ll be able to review when it arrives (which will take a few weeks, as it’s coming from overseas). It will be interesting to see what fills the 96 pages of this book!  and if it’s worth paying such a huge price for information they gathered (stole?) from the internet.

(If you need me, I’ll be printing off 96 pages from wikipedia, binding them into a “high quality” book and selling them for the bargain price of $50 per edition.  Buy now for Christmas!)

Updated the Cup charts

I need to  updated the size-comparison-charts.  Please check back later

Coloured Cups – are they safe?

Mooncup (UK) recently blogged about why their cup will never be coloured.

http://www.mooncup.co.uk/about-us/news/all-news/coloured-menstrual-cups.html

“Call us boring(!), but we’re not willing to compromise our ethical status for a non-essential additive with a dubious health and ethical history.”

Which sparked some discussion on the topic here: http://menstrual-cups.livejournal.com/2742047.html, given that part of their reasoning included the use of non-vegan things as food colours (despite the fact cups aren’t consumed and some of their examples aren’t actually used as food colours anyway)

JuJu has the following in their FAQ:
http://www.juju.com.au/pages/FAQs.html#coloured-cup

“Does JuJu come in any other colour?

At this point in time, JuJu is only available in a clear/semi-opaque colour. Until such time as we are able to gain an accurate understanding of the effects of the addition of dyes on our bodies, we have chosen to manufacture JuJu without any colour additives.”

But it is an interesting topic..  I have e-mailed the cup companies (Iriscup, CupLee, Ladycup Lunette, MeLuna, Miacup, and Shecup) to ask them about the colours  and see what they have to say on the matter, and I’ll update this post when I’ve heard back from any   In the meantime, feel free to discuss!

– edit —

I’ve heard back from a couple of the cup companies.

MeLuna

They of course said the colours are safe   but sent me several pdf files of their test results, which shows the testing of both the colours (first file) and the general cup material.  Interestingly, I believe it’s saying that the plastic the cups are made from was tested on animals (presumably as part of checking the plastic is safe for use with people), as is referenced in the last file.  I’d never thought about that being a component of testing, and I wonder if the other cups have been likewise tested.

Meluna_Masterbatches_Safety sheet – Info on the colours – they are food safe (though that doesn’t mean they are “food colours” like you’d use to make a cake blue)

THERMOLAST_M_englisch – Information on the plastic material the cups are made from (from the manufacturer I presume)

TM4MED_ISO10993-5 -Seems to be a certificate of a testing where the material was left in contact with the equivalent of human tissue and checked to see if it was reactive (it shows no reaction, whereas latex showed reactions).

TM4MED_USP661 – Information on a few tests that were run (I admit, I don’t really understand most of it heh)

TM4MED_USPVI – Test result certificate

———————————————————————————————

LadyCup

Said they would get back to me in a few days

———————————————————————————————

Lunette

Said they will issue a public statement on it, and that they would contact me again in a few days – which they did, saying they have forwarded my e-mail to their head office.  They say they realise it’s an important issue, so they are gathering information from their experts and will get back to me.

———————————————————————————————

Secret Cup company (who are bringing out the new cup)

Said that as far as they know, the colours they are polling people on (see this post) plus clear and grey are the only colours that are already tested and approved by FDA… and that other colours (like purples and whatnot) would need to go through the process of testing and approval.

Need votes! Choose 3 colours for a new cup!

As I’ve mentioned before, a company has contacted me to seek my thoughts and opinions on a new menstrual cup they are producing.  They are now at the colour stage and they have sent me a picture of 6 FDA approved colours they have come up with, and want to know which 3 of these colours they should choose for the initial launch of their cup. (So the other colours may be available later, I guess it depends on how much demand there is for them)

(taking into consideration that your monitor may display these colours slightly differently to how they may appear in real life)

So, in order to keep all the results in the one place, I’ve set the polls up on my blog.  I’ve got 2 polls…. the first is voting for all the colours you like best (so you can pick them all if you like them all).  The second poll is asking if you could only pick 1 colour, what would that one be (so you get only one choice).  Feel free to offer any comments here or the blog post, as I’ll be providing the company the link to both.

So please put your votes in, to help this company bring out new coloured cups in the colours we pick.  (Before you ask, I don’t know if they plan to bring out a clear one in addition to the colours, but I will ask)

I’m not sure how true to life these colours are, as I only have the photo to go by, not an actual sample of the cups in these colours…. but the aqua to me looks gorgeous!  The blue looks lovely, the lilac looks more like a baby blue to me…. It will be interesting to see what colours are more popular, and I can’t wait to see them in real life!

MeLuna changes their Small cups

Now they are apparently longer than their smalls were before and the shape has changed.  Check this post for pictures and more info

 

http://menstrual-cups.livejournal.com/2744356.html

Another new cup on it’s way!

I’ve been sworn to secrecy   so I can’t tell you anything about it…  but I’ve been contacted by a company who are bringing out a menstrual cup soon, and wanted to get some opinions on it.

So that’s very exciting!

I won’t be able to tell you anything about it until they are available for sale.. (and it’s still on it’s way to me, so even I haven’t see it yet) – but just so you know – we’ll be having yet another cup option coming soon!  – very exciting!!!!!!

New Limited Edition lady Cup Colours!

Plum (Ohh…. I may have to buy this one!), Guava and Strawberry!

http://www.ladycup.eu

Lunette slogans

I just saw a link on facebook to this page of slogans explained
http://www.lunette.com/index.php?id=63

Lunette Cynthia!

My Cynthia arrived today.  The one I won in the tagging competition on facebook back on 8th March.  It was posted on 7th June (according to the shipping label)… So not sure why they waited so long to post them out? – they said they were posting out when they official launched at the beginning of April.  but they could have said something earlier if they weren’t going to get them out by then… (several people on facebook were asking where they were), so we weren’t all sitting around waiting.  I was wondering if they were stuck at customs or something…

Speaking of… good thing I’m not shy about menstrual stuff – The package came with a “make your periods greener” sticker on it, and the customs form has “lunette menstrual cup” written on it…  the least discreet menstrual cup I’ve ever received it must be said (and I’ve been sent one or two!)…. but then I suppose the first cup Lunette sent me had no customs form on it at all so it was opened by customs.  Wish I was a fly on the wall that day!  lol  Personally I don’t care if the people at the post office see, but from several years of selling cloth pads and being in the reusable menstrual cup community, discreet labelling does come up, so I feel sorry for anyone who does get embarrassed.. since if they labelled it as just a “Lunette cup” and without the period sticker, it would be nice and discreet while still being perfectly fine for a customs declaration.

But anyway… it was free… we shouldn’t complain   Onto the pics!

pretty!

The pouch is a lot nicer than the original Lunette pouches I must say – I hadn’t seen the newer ones myself, only photos, but the original pouches they shipped with when they first came out were quite stiff satin, this is nice and soft… and, you know… purple… which is excellent!   Also it’s got no branding on it, so it could be useful for a makeup pouch or something if you’ve already got other pouches to use, which is nice (I’m all for dual purpose).

As I’d come to expect, the cup is a disappointingly less purple colour than I’d anticipated…  which is a shame, I so dearly wanted a really *purple* Lunette.  I live in hope that they will one day revise the colour recipe and make it like the darker colour in the pouch (or better yet, the same colour as the Ladycup purple)… and I’ll buy one then.

I do like the colour better in person than it appears in the official pics I’ve seen of it…  It’s definitely a more pinkish/reddish tone though… I’m going to think of it as “rose”… it sort of reminds me a bit of weak black currant juice.  If I wasn’t expecting it to be “purple”, I wouldn’t be disappointed.  It’s not a bad colour.

I took one photo taken bright light (in shade) in the middle of the day – the other at the end of the day when the sun was down… so you could get an idea of the colour in different light conditions.

 

Fleurcup, Ladycup, MeLuna (old style), Miacup, Lunette Cynthia

It also came with some stickers… I think I’ll pop these into the local shopping centre toilets – over the tampon ads

Some of them I am left scratching my head over though… like “your lover will lick this idea a lot” – is that supposed to be like? I assume so… surely?….  or do they mean lick?  That’s a bit saucy!  Thank goodness they say “lick this idea“…. if they’d left that word out… dear, me!    but why would my lover (over anyone else) like the idea?  If I had a female lover, we could maybe share the cup… that could be convenient I suppose… but My “lover” (who is a man) doesn’t really care that much about cups to be perfectly honest, so I can’t say he’d “like” it.. other than a “hmm, that’s nice dear” (just like I don’t take much of an interest in the socks, undies and other things he buys that don’t relate to me)… and the majority of menfolk people talk about with regard to exposure to all things menstrual seem to want to avoid it… so they definitely wouldn’t “like” it… so the whole thing (licking aside) leaves me a bit baffled, but we’ll move on.

“get some silicone” – also seems a bit weird to me… I mean…. surely I’m not the only one who is silently adding the obvious  “in you” on the end of that?  lol  We’re talking about a product that’s going into an intimate part of a female anatomy, I don’t know if a sticker that can be taken in a slightly crass way is really the right way to go…  Now… see, what they should do is make it a pic with a woman who has cups instead of boobs (get it…  not your usual silicone chest!)…  Something like this:

Except that’s using a Miacup, but it was the only non-transparent cup I happened to have a photo of that was the right angle to make the pic!  (image from Zigf – edited by me – image may not be used without permission!)

I do however like the “it’s a lot simpler than your other cup size”  – if you’ve ever tried to go bra shopping for a nice pretty DD or E cup bra in a department store than only stocks those sizes in a beige, granny “over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder” scaffolding styles in anything larger than a D…. you’ll appreciate the sentiment in that one!  In fact, I think I may stick that sticker on the front of my bra drawer!

MeLuna Glitter cup

I asked MeLuna for a sample of their softer (preferably a glitter!) cups… since I really wanted a comparison with their original ones.

To be honest, I didn’t like the stiffness of their original cups, and I would not buy one myself, or really recommend them to others (especially newcomers to cups) because of that… but I knew they had brought out a softer version and updated the ring/tab/ball ends, so I wanted to see how these improvements had gone.

I didn’t get any reply back from my e-mail.  Which I was a bit surprised about, since they originally were really good with offering samples to me (I think they asked me if I wanted some, without me having to ask them).

Anyway, Feminine Wear came to my rescue (again ) and we did a little trade and she sent me one of the blue glitter cups to try.

I love it!

I don’t know why the pouch is so long…. but it is a gorgeous soft purple suede sort of thing.  The first lot of samples I got from them had a blue (shorter) similar bag… I’m thrilled this is purple   I really like the material they use, it seems a lot more fancy and plush than the satin or cotton bags other companies use.  And it has a double drawstring (where you pull both sides to close it, rather than just one), which is awesome.

I don’t know what size the original purple one is (on the right)… A small I think. I could measure it to check, but I can’t be bothered   But the new glitter one is a Large.  It’s narrower than the larger cups of other brands. The stem is much thicker than before, being about as thick as a tube stem, but solid.  This might be thick enough to be irritating for those who don’t like stems, so it is good that the MeLuna comes with different stem options.  When I first put it in, I can definitely feel the stem… and it’s… weird lol… It’s not physically uncomfortable, but I’m definitely aware of it being there, and while it’s ok if I’m sitting down/not moving, when I walk I can feel it… but after a while I wasn’t aware of it.  Either I got used to it, or it moved into a better spot… not sure.

A casual comparison (eg just putting the 2 together and going by looks rather than actual measurements) of that and the Lunette show about the same width at the rim, but the MeLuna is narrower in the body of the cup, and overall a little shorter than Lunette.  I don’t have a large Diva, which is another narrow cup, to compare it to.

As for the material.  This one is more like the silicone of the other cups.  In fact I’d never know it wasn’t silicone.  It’s about the same squishyness as the Lunette.  So unlike the old style cups, this folds easily, and doesn’t unfold with a sudden pop like I found the other ones did.  The material is a great improvement

Blue, pink and silver aren’t my most favourite colours (I’ll always pick a purple cup over anything else), but I tell you, if they came out with a purple glitter cup, I might just have to get one!  The glitter feels smooth, it doesn’t feel rough to touch… and it’s pretty fancy – cup bling!!

Lunette’s new purple cup – not so purple?

I, like many others, am still waiting to receive the free Cynthia I won from their facebook picture tagging competition, so I still haven’t seen one in person, but the new photos of it are out, and I must say I’m disappointed that it’s not actually purple.

I’m not sure what colour you’d call it… it’s more a wine sort of colour…  Given how many people pick their cups based on colour, I hope nobody gets disappointed buying one expecting it to be “purple”, when it’s not.

Not saying that the colour is unattractive…. it’s not appealing to me, but I’m sure it’s appealing to someone, but I know that being the absolute purple fan I am… (and being a fan of the Lunette) I was **really** looking forward to this cup being a lovely purple, more like the Lady Cup… but instead it seems to be a dusty pinkish-red

I also wish they had called it Artemis instead of Cynthia… Supposedly it was because they thought Cynthia would be easier to pronounce… but the orange cup, Aine, I’d think is much harder to pronounce, if you’re not familiar with the language… many of us have no idea how you pronounce that!  I asked hubby, who is a linguist, and it took him 5 mins and he *thinks* it’s sort of “ah-nuh”…. whereas a layman like me, looking at it, I’d have said “ay-n”… so there you go lol

But back to colour…. So if you’re thinking about buying a Cynthia, just be aware that it is *not* what most people would consider to be purple.

Shows the Blue (Selene), Green (Diana), Orange (Aine) and “purple” (Cynthia)

Now if only it was the same purple as their purple t-shirts, I’d be the happiest woman alive!    (they should bring out a pink like their pink shirt too!)

Pictures from http://www.facebook.com/Lunettecup

As it’s difficult to tell colours on a computer screen, due to lots of variables, probably the best comparison picture is something like this – courtesy of Feminine Wear’s Flickr page.  It shows pink and purple cups, so you can get an idea of what the colour is like.

Pink MeLuna, Pink Fleurcup, “purple” Lunette, Miacup, Lilac Ladycup, Purple MeLuna  – Photo from www.femininewear.co.uk

Miacup Giveaway

Miacup will be having a random giveaway once thy reach 600 likes on facebook

http://www.facebook.com/miacup

New Femmecup pictures

My new Femmecup arrived yesterday – woo!

The bag is a white cotton, a little stiff (though still easy to close, so nowhere near as stiff as the denim MPower bag) .. it feels kinda starchy, so I think it will soften when washed for the first time (as fabric tends to do)

The cup is crystal clear, very flexible, and looks quite different to the old cup.  I like the new look!  And I like that they kept the spiral, which starts at the base of the cup and goes up the stem…

The stem…. is now different!  It’s a solid, thin tube…about 4mm wide, and a lot shorter than the previous tube stem.  Which IMHO will make it a lot more comfortable than the tube stems (I’m really not a fan of tube stems)

The airholes are quite large, so there should be no problem with cleaning.  Interestingly, there is no branding on the cup now.  The  old cup had the website in raised letters on the inside as well as measuring lines and amounts on the inside.  This has just the measuring lines (and amounts)

I love the feel of the new silicone.  The old silicone was a very “plastic” feeling one…  This one is completely different, and IMHO nicer.  The rim is stiffer than the bottom, as you’d expect, so it feels sturdy at the rim, but the base is really flexible (not in a bad way, just an observation).  I’d say overall its the most “squishy”/flexible of all the cups I have.  The original Femmecup was pretty soft/flexible/squishy anyway, but this is slightly moreso

New Lunette Colours!

The other day, Lunette unveiled their 2 new colours, PURPLE (woot!) and “Coral”.  They have also released the new names for these 2 cups.  Following the Goddess tradition, these cups are Cynthia (purple) and Áine (coral).

From Lunette
(http://www.facebook.com/Lunettecup)

“New purple Lunette is called Cynthia!
Goddess Artemis was also known as Cynthia. This Greek Goddess of the moon, hunt and the night sky was later connected to Selene and Diana so she is continuing our chain of Moon Goddesses. Cynthia is an important symbol for young independent and unmarried woman. A flower sacred to Cynthia was Amaranth, with a deep purple color that inspired us to create this beautiful purple cup.”

.

“New coral Lunette is called Áine!
Áine is the Goddess of moon, love, fertility and Midsummer in Irish mythology. Aine is also a Finnish word that means “substance” and “matter”. And this cup really matters! The beautiful coral color is one of the trendiest for the upcoming season and a beautiful homage to this goddess of summer.
That is… why the coral Lunette Áine will be available for purchase on summer 2011.”

To celebrate International Women’s Day (and the new cup colours) they ran a competition where the first 60 women to tag themselves in a photo at 9am (Finnish time) would win a new purple cup.  This was posted in the morning my time, and I quickly went to check a world clock and kept that up all day, eagerly awaiting the start time!  and… I WON ONE!    WOOOOOOOOT!  I’ve said many times how I wished Lunette would make a purple cup, and I’m extremely happy they have and that I’ll be one of the first women in the world to try one.

Of course, there will be pics and much swoonage when it arrives!

New improved Femmecup

I just got an e-mail from the Femmecup makers, and they are sending me their new Femmecup to look at and review!  So that’s exciting, but for now, from their press release….the changes they have made are:

• Solid stem – not the hollow tube stem (So I imagine it’s like the Yukki stem, a filled in tube sort of thing)
• Writing on the inside has been reduced for easier cleaning
• Silicone is now clearer
• Packaging now available in French, Spanish, Swedish, German, Romanian and Russian

The spiral on the stem is still there I see   All in all, it looks good, can’t wait to try it.

New Limited Edition Lady Cup Colours!

http://www.ladycup.eu

MeLuna releases new improved stems

With several users having problems with the MeLuna stems being damaged through use, MeLuna have redesigned their cup stems.

See some photos here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/feminine-wear/4716424701/in/set-72157624315291904/

Intellectual Property Rights

On the subject of certain cup brands being considered “copies” of others… I asked Teresa from http://www.femininewear.co.uk to write up something on the recent cup happenings, since she’s more involved in it than I am… here it is:

MeLuna stems breaking

It seems there have been some reported cases of the stems being damaged or breaking with use.  This could be from users pulling the cup out with the stems, rather than using them to assist the cup coming out…

The statement from MeLuna on the Menstrual Cup Live Journal is

“If a stem rips of we will of course replace the cup. Is possible that a stem rips of if its pulled too hard and the muscles are strong. The handle is to assist you to find and remove the cup, but not to just pull it outside with the handle without removing the pressure. That can happen with other brands as well. If you have to pull hard to be able to remove your cup we recommend to choose a ball style instead. The ball is much more stable than a stem and could not be ripped off. You will not feel the ball inside.

Anyway: because we had some cases with ripped of stems we will react on these and change the stem style to be more stable during the next weeks. We will make a note than on the homepage and new photos when ready.

One again: if you have any problems: don’t hesitate to contact us by email info@meluna.eu”

http://community.livejournal.com/menstrual_cups/2179847.html

Lunette copies?

I’ve seen some speculation that the Green Donna cup is essentially an exact copy of the Lunette, but being made cheaply in China.  The Lunette company certainly thinks so, and made a statement to this fact in a menstrual cup community on Live Journal

“Hello all,

Although it’s not our policy to comment in different forums but this subject is too important for us not to comment

Some of you might already be aware of the situation with Lunette and Green Donna and the fact that Green Donna seems to be exact copy of our cup. It actually is our illegal Chinese copy and therefore we would like to know if you find out any information of the Green Donna, especially the places where it’s sold and who is selling them. The company behind Green Donna is violating our ipr-rights so this matter is really important for us. You can send an email to us to info@lunette.fi

Thanks a lot for your help!

Kind regards,
Heli from Lunette Finland office”

http://community.livejournal.com/menstrual_cups/2150799.html

Also, it seems MPower is also considered to be too similar to the Lunette, with Heli from Lunette posting this:

“Lunette was the first menstrual cup sold in South Africa and around year after we started to sell there, Mpowercup was launched. We knew that it was our cup that was the base for it and we have seen the designer even saying in the forums that “I actually copied the Lunette exactly so the size difference should be marginal”. We didn’t mind about that too much since South Africa wasn’t never a big market for us but now their cups were sold in the EU which is still our main market. Therefore we asked Teresa to stop selling them (as a importer her company is responsible for the product in the EU) because we (and our lawyers) believe that Mpowercup is violating our intellectual property rights such as our model protection.”

Read the entire statement here – http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=12568096&id=262280740292&comments or it’s reproduced here for those anti-facebookers – http://community.livejournal.com/menstrual_cups/2212344.html