Diva Review: The Diva Cup

Gentlemen… this one is not for you. We’ll be discussing matters you’d rather know nothing about. I can’t even suggest you forward this to your spouse – she might take it the wrong way.

Ladies – for the duration of our “childbearing years” with varying degrees of regularity we all have to deal with our monthly cycle and all the joy it encompasses.

This monthly joy typically involves an arsenal of bleached feminine hygiene products. I’ve attempted to do some research on the health implications of using bleached tampons inside of our body and if there is information out there I’ve been unable to find it. Switching to unbleached and recycled tampons is no doubt an improvement.

I recently discovered a product called the Diva Cup and while this solution has it’s drawbacks, in my view it’s benefits are outstanding.  The Diva Cup is a small cylindrical silicon cup.  It reminds me a little bit of diaphragm’s I’ve seen (never tried one, so can’t speak to that).

Benefits

Safe, medical grade silicon is known to be non toxic to our bodies.

Correctly placed the Diva Cup is more comfortable than tampons.

No need to keep buying tampons or pads.

No need to carry extra supplies when you travel or are out and about.

Nothing gross to wrap or hide in the wastebasket.

Heavier flow just needs to be emptied more often, no additional products!

No “rip cord” dangling around. Nadda… Nothing… Fabulous! How gross is the rip cord. This reason alone will prevent me from ever going back to the old way!

With the caveat below – no bulky pad. Nadda… Nothing… Fabulous.

Less odor. Seriously! Smelled fresher, felt fresher.

Did I mention how comfortable it was.

What You Need To Know

The Diva Cup is not for the faint of heart. If you would not be comfortable inserting a applicator free tampon chances are you won’t be comfortable with this. It’s only a little bit more involved, but let’s just say there is only one way in.

It did take me a little time to learn how to tell if the Diva Cup was correctly situated. Users will quickly learn that if it doesn’t feel right, it’s not in correctly.  This is not a matter of leakage, rather it will feel a little uncomfortable if it’s not placed correctly.

You will need be rinsing out your cup, again not for the squeamish.

You MUST rotate the Cup one full circle – it says so in the instructions. When you do, it is leek free, comfortable and a delight. If you don’t – you might have a leek. It’s like screwing a lid on a jar… if you don’t turn it all the way the liquid won’t stay where you need it to stay.

You will want to wash the cup with a non toxic safe soap – The Diva Wash is a plant based, petroleum based option.

Environmentally Speaking

If you are looking for an environmental reason to make the switch consider the fact that in the US alone over 55.9 million women are using feminine hygiene products. These products need to be manufactured, disposed of and purchased over and over again. That’s 55.9 million women every month!

Conclusion
There is a learning curve to using this product. I’d suggest the first few times using a panty liner in the event that you have any leakage. Having said that my obligation to The Diva Cup will end when this giveaway is over and I won’t be going back to my old ways!  The Diva Cup is just so much better, so much more comfortable, and you can use it over and over again.

It’s not perfect, but if you took away the environmental benefits and ignored that it’s likely safer than tampons and only judged it as which method was superior – I would pick the Diva Cup.

Move past any squeamishness. Take the time to read the instructions and make the switch!

CLICK HERE to input your zip/postal code to find a retailer near you.

Congratulations to Heather S!  You’ve won the Diva Cup and full size Diva Wash!

HOW TO ENTER:

There are a few ways you can enter, leave separate comments for each entry.

Mandatory:

Become an Email Subscriber to PND using the form in the sidebar.
– The subscription must be confirmed. You will receive and email that you must reply to for your entry to be valid.
– Already a confirmed Subscriber. Complete any one of the additional entries options – Leave a comment letting Diva know you’re subscriber name and the entry option you selected.

Additional Entries

1. Go to The Diva Cup and tell PND what size you would be or share something you learned.

2. Stumble, Digg, Kirsty or Technorati favorite this post. Leave a comment with your name and the link.

3. Follow @purenaturaldiva (use link on the sidebar) & Diva Cup on twitter. Leave your twittername in a separate comment.

4. Become a Fan of Pure Natural Diva & Diva Cup on Facebook. Post this giveaway as an update, leave your FB Name or Name with a copy of your update in a separate comment. One entry for each.

5. Tweet this giveaway. Copy and paste “Diva Giveaway: Win The Diva Cup http://bit.ly/8kJga, Ladies this is for you! @purenaturaldiva”. Then come back and leave the direct link to your tweet (go to your twitter account, click on the words when your tweet was sent (ie. 5 seconds ago) and copy and paste that link in comments.

6. Write a post on your blog linking to my blog and to the – Good for two entries. Leave this comment twice so you get both entries!

This giveaway will run through midnight on Feb 13, 2010 PDT.  The  winner will be announced in the PND newsletter  Feb 15, 2010. Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries.  Winner will have 24 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen.

Giveaway is open to residents of the U.S & Canada.

alt=”MckLinky Blog Hop” longdesc=”http://www.mcklinky.com” />

target=”_blank”>Click here to see the entire Blog Hop List….

Welcome! New here? Subscribe to our weekly Newsletter. Thanks for visiting!

Diva Review: The Diva Cup