More Cup Photos
People asked me to take some comparison photos of the MeLuna, and since I also got the Yuuki cup since taking photos, I figured I’d go on a bit of a photo spree.
see many more pics by clicking –> Read more »
Cup pictures from MeLuna
I e-mailed MeLuna and asked if they had any pictures of the coloured cups. They replied back straight away, and sent me several pictures! Including pictures of the cups next to tampons, which is a great visual reference for people who have never seen a cup in real life. They are also sending me samples, so I will be able to include the MeLuna in some photos with other cups! So here they are.
This shows the stem types available
(Ring, Classic stem, ball and no stem)
Shows the colours available
Fleurcup
Country of origin: France
Composition: Medical Grade Silicone
Sizes: Small & Large
Dimensions: Small = 41mm diameter, 47mm long without stem (23mm stem length) Large = 46mm diameter, 52mm long without stem 18mm stem length)
Capacity: Small = 20mls to holes 25ml to the rim. Large = 29ml to holes and 35ml to rim
Stem: Flat tab
Measuring Lines: No
Cost (RRP): € 26.99 [Currency Converter]
Guarantee: None
Been around since: Unknown (early 2009?)
Other Details: Comes in clear, pink, purple, orange and black. The website has great animated images of the folds
MeLuna
Country of origin: Germany
Composition: FDA approved TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) Which is apparently a (BPA-free) plastic that is used to make medical equipment such as catheters, as well as other products such as baby bottle teats and some vibrators. It may also be the same material as Insteads disposable cups are made from.
Sizes: S (small) and L (large) (With an XL coming out shortly)
Dimensions: S = 40mm diameter, 46mm long with ball end, or 55mm long with stem (40mm body and 15mm stem) L = 45mm diameter, 51mm long with ball end, or 62.5mm long with stem (45.5 body and 17mm stem)
Capacity: S = 11mls to holes 16ml to the rim. L = 17ml to holes and 22ml to rim
Stem: Flat tab, ball, ring or no stem
Measuring Lines: No
Cost (RRP): € 12.00 [Currency Converter]
Guarantee: Unknown
Been around since: Early June 2009
Other Details: Colours available: red, pink, blue, green and purple. With the website mentioning glittered and gold and silver options as special editions, and a poll offering options of various colours, including black. First cup manufacturer to offer the additional ball/ring or no stem options
Coloured Cups
I thought I’d do a post about coloured cups, as I know some women are really enticed by colours. There are some great coloured cups on the market – which shows the cup manufacturers are thinking about their customers needs for visual appeal too.
LadyCup – Offers translucent Pink, Blue, Purple, Orange, Yellow and Green
Miacup – Offers an opaque (non-see through) purply-pink as their standard colour cup.
Lunette - Offers translucent blue “Selene”
MeLuna - offers red, pink, blue, green and purple. With the website mentioning glittered and gold and silver options as special editions, and a poll offering options of various colours, including black.
Fleurcup – offers pink, purple, orange and black
Lady Cup – My Thoughts
The sample they sent is a proper cup – no hole punched in! So that was very nice of them. First impressions were “ohh wow – it’s bendy!” It was a softer feeling silicone to the other cups, so a lot more flexible. However, I later found out that the cup they sent me as a sample was made with a thinner silicone than the cups they normally sell. So I got another sample, the smaller size this time, and the silicone on that is as the ones they sell. Which is still softer/ more flexible (squishier) than the other cups. I was surprised at the 2 rows of holes, and the fact the holes are quite large. Its also the plainest cup, with no writing or markings inside or out – except the small bumps on the bottom to help grip (where some of the other cups have lines/ridges). Because there are no ridges on the outside of the cup, it is much more comfortable for insertion. Not that any of the cups are “uncomfortable”, but it’s a noticeable difference.
It does look a little more “budget” than the other cups – as several people have commented on (I don’t think it looks “cheap” but if you were to line them all up and ask someone which was the cheapest, I’m sure they would pick lady Cup) – with the lack of writing and the lack of the ridge near the rim… In my opinion the writing on the cups is pointless though…you generally know what cup it is without it having to tell you – most people only have one (and even me with my lot of samples can tell them apart without having to read any of them) and without writing it’s easier to clean… and the lack of ridge makes the cup more comfortable to insert. So I think the plainness is actually a bonus, and I’d prefer a plain cup over some of the others.
Testing it out - Folding it and inserting it was easier than the other cups. The thinner sample cup was incredibly easy to keep folded due to its softer silicone, but the tradeoff for that was it didn’t pop open easily once inside. The softness of the silicone in that thinner sample cup meant it didn’t want to pop out violently like the others. I was able to get it to open, but it took a bit of poking and about 5 “stirs” (putting my finger to the rim and moving around, pushing the vaginal wall out to let the cup open) to get it to open properly. When I e-mailed the Lady Cup people to give them my thoughts on it, that is when they told me that the sample I received was the thinner silicone, so I asked for another sample, which they generously did. Which I had no problems getting to pop open. The silicone on the proper cup is less flexible than the thinner sample, so has the same “pop” that the other cups do, but it is still soft and easily folded.
Cleaning was easy – the easiest of all the cups. The blood stayed in the holes on removal – like it does in all the cups, but washed away when I rinsed the cup. I didn’t need to actually clean them at all. So it’s the easiest cleaning cup I’ve tried yet. The stem is more comfortable than the other tube stems because of the softness of the silicone, I’d probably be able to leave it untrimmed without too much complaint. Its not as frosted as the other cups, so it looks clearer.
Gear - My first one (the thinner sample) was sent in a small box surrounded with shredded paper in a packaging box… so it was very well packed. It came with an apricot coloured cotton pouch, a sachet of lubricant and 2 milton steralising tablets. The second one (the proper cup) was in the apricot bag, inside a plastic bag (as you would expect for display) in a mailing bag. The coloured cup samples were again all proper saleable products (I believe), packaged in individual boxes with the colours marked on the sides, packed into a mailing box with padding.
Personal observations – A lovely company to deal with. They actually e-mailed me to tell me of their product when they started out, so I asked for a sample which they provided. I also suggested some changes to the way things were said on their website due to some translation problems, so I’ve had a few e-mails back and forth with them. The correspondence I’ve had with them was quite positive. And, not only did they send me a sample in the first place (without a hole punched in it too), which is very much appreciated, but they also sent me a sample of their proper cups, so that I would have one of the proper products to be able to compare, and they have sent me each of their coloured cups as well! All e-mails have been very friendly and personalised to me (not your standard automatic responses), so I’ve been extremely impressed by this company.
My love of purple is fairly well known…. and while I have always been a huge fan of the Lunette because of it’s design, I have to say the new purple LadyCup has really become a favourite. Infact all the colours are great. I’m not normally a fan of orange, but the orange LadyCup is really nice too (sort of reminds me of tropical mangos or something), and the colourful bags are a nice touch, with the cup name on a tag on the side of the bags, and the ribbons matching the cup colours. They seem to put a lot of effort into little touches like that.
Update:
There has been a few problems with some of the coloured cups. It would seem that some batches are prone to splitting. The company is replacing split cups, and have sold off remaining cups from those batches as “trial” cups, only guaranteeing them to last one use (although some women get more than that). As a way to let women try cups inexpensively. I bought 2 of these “Trial” cups, and found the silicone to be lighter in colour, and also stiffer than that of the non-faulty ones I have.
I do not know if the new colour for these cups is the more transparent/lighter versions, and all cups will be this new colour or if this lighter coloured cup is only from the defective batches, and only the defective ones are this light.
“Trial” Lilac cup, “proper” Lilac cup, “Trial” Blue cup, “proper” Blue cup (small size)
Lunette and Selene
http://www.lunettecup.com
Country of origin: Finland
Lifespan: Claims will last up to 10 years
Composition: Medical Grade Silicone
Sizes: 1 & 2 (1= under 20, not had sexual intercourse. 2 = over 20/had sexual intercourse)
Dimensions: Size 1 = 4.1cm wide, 4.7cm Long, with 2.5cm stem. Size 2 = 4.6cm wide, 5.2cm long and 2cm stem
Capacity: Official capacity – Size 1 = 25mls, Size 2 = 30mls. My Test – Size 2 = 26ml to airholes, 34mls to level with rim
Stem: Flat (solid) tab
Measuring Lines: Yes (on outside) marks (though it doesn’t show what they are) 7mls and 15mls
Cost (RRP): $29.50 Euros (about $27.10 Euros at leastore/kuukuppi) [Currency Converter]
Guarantee: None (prefer to try and worth through problems than just refund)
Been around since: “Autumn” 2005
Purchase From:
http://www.lunettecup.com
http://www.kuukuppi.com / http://www.leastore.com
http://www.mylunette.com (AUS)
Limited edition blue version called the “Selene” brought out in late 2008
LadyCup (PinkCup & LadyCup Coloured)
http://www.ladycup.eu
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Lifespan: Claims will last up to 15 years
Composition:Medical Grade Silicone
Sizes:S & L (S = Women under 25/not given birth, L = Women over 25/have given birth)
Dimensions: S= “Small” – 4cm wide, 4.6cm long, 1.9cm stem. L=Large – 4.6cm wide, 5.3cm long, 1.3cm stem.
Capacity:S = 15.5ml, L = 26ml
Stem: Hollow tube
Measuring Lines: No
Cost (RRP):$24.99 Euros[Currency Converter]
Guarantee: Exchange for wrong size, 2 year on materials.
Been around since: January 2008
Other Details:Available in translucent coloured versions too. First cup company to bring in coloured cups.
A menstrual cup is form of reusable menstrual protection. It is inserted into the vagina to collect menstrual fluids. Once in place it forms a seal, preventing blood flowing out of the vagina by collecting it in its “cup” shaped reservoir. Unlike a tampon which absorbs the blood along with the vagina’s natural secretions, a menstrual cup simply holds the fluids until you remove it – so they do not dry out the vagina and do not hold the TSS risk that tampons do.
They hold around 20-30ml, which is for most women will cope with a full day without emptying, and at most perhaps you would need to empty it a few times a day for a very heavy flow. A menstrual cup will last (with proper care) for around 10 years, perhaps longer, so while the initial outlay is high, it pays for itself with savings pretty quick.
This website aims to give information on all the available reusable cups, and provide the latest news. This is a sister site to www.ecomenses.com
