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Epic Menstrual Cup Guide: Cup Comparisons – Lorax Of Sex

This is part two of the Epic Menstrual Cup Guide. Want an overview on what cups are and an FAQ? Check out the first half of this guide.

There are a lot of menstrual cup companies and by and large they have similar products, but the FDA is slow to accept new products for sale in the USA. That’s okay though, as you can typically order them online for personal use without a problem. I’ve used a lot of different cups in my day (I can’t pinpoint when I first started using them, but it predates Gmail), and I currently own fourteen cups from at least nine different brands. All of my cups are the smallest size offered unless otherwise noted, and I will rank their “squishiness” from least to most firm. Let’s get started:

Meluna cupsMeluna is a German company which makes some of my favorite cups. They are also one of the few companies out there which makes cups out of TPE instead of silicone. My first Meluna cups were like the black one you see on the far left (I actually have three of these, but couldn’t find the other two). They are stemless, short, and small. Really small. Small enough that these are my go-to cups if I want to have sex while I’m bleeding. In that case, I make one small modification- I turn the cup inside out. Once inserted, the inside out small cup fits me almost like a cervical cap and is more or less undetectable for my partner.

NOTE: While you can use menstrual cups during sex (depending on your body/partner/cup), cups are not a form of birth control and will not prevent pregnancy or STI transmission. They are not a diaphragm or cervical cap.

My other Meluna cups are: a pair of Meluna Soft shorty-small ball-stem cups, a Meluna Classic shorty-medium ring-stem, and a Meluna Soft large ring-stem ((Yes, that’s silver glitter you see in the soft cups. Meluna makes a wide variety of colours, including glitters)). I really love that Meluna has a wide array of sizes and stems, it makes the cups really customisable to your needs. I’ve stuck with the stemless or ball stems because they’re short and inconspicuous. The ring stem seemed like a good idea, but it’s not stretchy enough to fit my finger into so doesn’t actually function like I expected. It doesn’t stab me, so that’s nice, but I probably wouldn’t buy it again. The Softs tend to be harder to open, as is common with softer cups, and I often have to massage them around to get them open all the way. Typically this doesn’t bother me, but with these it is such a problem that I tend not to use them much. The Classics don’t really have this problem, though the really wee ones do sometimes. Meluna has a new and firmer Sport version that will probably solve this, but I haven’t tried them yet. The Meluna soft is by far the most pliant cup I’ve found, and the Classics coming in at number two in the squish-ranking.

Meluna recap: 8 sizes, 3 firmnesses, 4 stem styles, wide variety of colours. TPE. Pop-open varies. Wears comfortably and some styles work really well for sex.

Lady CupsLady Cup is a company from the Czech Republic. I’ve had the one on the far right for some time (as evidenced by the previously removed stem). The other two were generously given to me by Lady Cup for this guide. Both the blue and the pink are sized Small, while the green is a Large. Despite already having the pink Small, I asked for a second Small because it had been so long since I’d used one that had a stem. Lady Cups insert and pop open easily. The rim is pretty firm while the bell is nice and soft. Despite the bulb being pretty flexible, these weigh in at number eight on my squishiness-scale due to having a strong, firm rim. They have six suction release holes placed in a staggered pattern and punched at an angle, but I’m not really sure if these design decisions make much of a practical difference. These cups have pretty strong suction and they take some squeezing to remove.

I have two major issues with the Lady Cup. First, the stems: Both the Large and the Small cups have stems that stab me right in the cunt. This is pretty easily remedied by cutting the stem down or, in my case, all the way off. Unfortunately cutting the stems off these cups leads me to problem number two- these are the slipperiest cups I’ve ever used. Without the stems there to give you purchase, these cups are incredibly hard to hold on to. Of course, you can’t actually lose a cup inside you but a stemless Lady Cup is the closest I’ve ever come to feeling like I had.

Lady Cup recap: 2 sizes, 1 firmness, 1 stem style, wide variety of colours. Silicone. Pops open very easily. Can be difficult to remove.

Lily CupsLily Cups are made by Intimina, which a health and wellness brand from the makers of LELO. While my colleagues and I might be scratching our heads about the direction that LELO is headed in, Intimina seems to be on the right track- provided you can get past all the pink.

The two cups on the left are brand new. They’re the Lily Cup Compact and they just completed an incredible Kickstarter campaign to the tune of 4000% of their goal. If that doesn’t say that folks are ready for a menstrual alternative, I don’t know what does. These are collapsable silicone cups. Yep, collapsable, like a camping cup ((Amusingly, a lot of menstrual cup companies sell storage/disinfection cups for their menstrual cups which are basically silicone camping cups with an integrated lid. Why none of them came up with this first is beyond me.)). This makes them incredibly easy to travel with if you like to carry a second cup, are expecting your blood but aren’t sure quite when, or just don’t want a cup rolling around your wherever. At first I was worried that the ribs where these cups collapse would be too thin, but then I actually TRIED to puncture them with my fingernails and couldn’t do it. They pop open easily thanks to a firm rim, insert and remove easily, and overall feel like any other cup when in place. The body of the cup being squishier makes them a little easier to grip for removal, which is nice. I’ll probably still cut the stems off on these, but they aren’t nearly as stabby as most. Squishiness ranking of three.

Lily Cup ComparisonThe other two cups are the original Lily Cups, and let me tell you- I love these. They’re really unique in design- they’re slanted, they have a spill-resistant inner lip which also forms the seal around the cervix, they have no suction release holes, and their stem is more integrated than most cups. These are also a matte textured silicone like you’d find on a Mona ((A quick aside here- I realised the other day that, after giving away both of the Mona’s I used to own, I actually need a Mona. Not as a vibrator, but because it’s the only thing I’ve found that gets up under my scapula and into my clavicle to release the pinched nerves I’m prone to getting. Fucking figures.)).See that flange there? It’s fucking genius. It cradles the cervix without generating the pulling sensation that some cups with strong suction can have. In fact, at first I thought that these cups didn’t have any suction at all! Yeah, they do. They actually have a really strong suction, strong enough that on at least one occasion squeezing the cup wasn’t enough and I had to reach up and pull down on the lip a little bit to make it release.

The other thing the original Lily Cup has that others don’t is that it’s actually shaped to match the contours of the cervix and vaginal canal. That angle makes a huge difference. Now, this might not be the case with folks who have a tilted uterus (I’d be really curious to know though!) but for me these fit beautifully and, for the first time in my life, the stems don’t stab me! Whenever I wear a large cup I’m always aware of it because the pressure against my peri-urethral sponge is unmistakable, but I literally forgot I was wearing these! Folding is a little tricky since there is a “right way up”, but the bottom of the cup (what would be parallel-ish to the floor once inserted) has a stiffer rib which makes it easier to wrangle. They roll more than fold, pop open easily thanks to that rib, and the angled shape means less spillage during retrieval. I can’t really rank these on the squishiness scale due to the completely different design and the varied thickness creating the insertion rib.

Lily Cup recaps: Compact- 2 sizes, 1 firmness, 1 stem style, one colour per size- both pink. Silicone. Pops open easily. Collapses for easily portability. Original- 2 sizes, 1 firmness, 1 stem style, one colour per size- both pink. Silicone. Pops open very easily. Can have strong suction. More anatomically shaped.

Lunette, Sckoon, Ruby, Diva CupsNext up we have the Lunette. Lunette was founded in Finland, but thanks to distribution through Planned Parenthood is getting really good exposure here in the USA. I’m stoked to have a blue one- I remember when the blue Lunettes first came out and the Menstrual Cup LiveJournal Community ((Which is STILL a fantastic resource for all things cup related)) went nutso over the “Lunette Selene”, as it was known then. The Lunette is also a matte silicone, but not in the same way as the Lily Cups. This is more like my silicone spatulas, if I had to compare it to something. Like brushed steel is to chrome. The stem is also flat, which somehow makes for less cunt stabbing, to the extent that I might actually leave the stem on this one. I only have the smaller size, but from what I can tell the size steps are similar to those of the Lady Cup. It pops open, inserts and removes easily. All in all, it’s a nice (if average) cup, and ranks at number six in squishiness- not too firm, not too soft. I’m stoked about the wider distribution in the US though, especially to a demographic which might not otherwise have heard about cups.

Lunette recap: 2 sizes, 1 firmness, 1 stem style, 5 colours. Silicone. Pops open easily. Flat stem is less pokey. Available at some Planned Parenthood locations.

Lunette, Sckoon, Ruby, Lady Cup StemsI have no idea how to pronounce the Sckoon Cup. At all. None. With a name like that you’d think it was made overseas, but this one is American made. Despite the weird name, it’s a really good cup. It’s one of two cups that I have that are more tulip-shaped, with the rim flaring outwards. This means that, like the Lily Cup, it doesn’t pull quite so strongly against my cervix. Sckoon also seems to use TARDIS technology to create their cups, as they have a capacity equal to or slightly greater than other cups in their size class (small/large) despite being noticeably smaller. Don’t ask me how.

I have mixed feelings on the stem. I love that it’s narrow, flexible, and (despite appearances) not at all pokey. Unfortunately it’s so slender that it’s also pretty stretchy. It’s not vagina-slingshot stretchy but enough so to make it less than effective for me as a retrieval method. I’m not sure about their claims of being “the softest and most advanced” cup, but otherwise? Quickly becoming one of my most used cups, with decent suction despite a squishiness rank of 4.

Sckoon recap: 2 sizes, 1 firmness, 1 stem style, 6 colours. Silicone. Pops open fairly easily. Thin stem is less-pokey. Base texture less useful than it seems.

Fleur and Sckoon cupsFleur Cup is a French company, as the name implies. I think this was my first cup, but I’m not entirely sure. Fleur and Sckoon share a similar tulip shape and flared rim, which is something you don’t find often in cups. However, Fleur is more rounded through the bulb where Sckoon tapers. My Fleur cup comes in near the top of the squish-scale at number 9, but I still turn to it on a regular basis. It has quite a bit of suction which makes it really good for those periods which are more clot-heavy, or for when I’m near the end of my period and the spotting just isn’t going away. I cut the stem off long ago but the matte texture and the ridging on the base make it easy to grip.

I recently read that Fleur has changed their firmness since I got one. I’m going to try and get a hold of one before I update this with info on the new version. From what I have learned, these newer Fleur cups are softer and now are closer to the Lunette in appearance, flat stem, and texture of the silicone. I’m not sure if they’re still making different colours- I’m seeing photos of coloured translucent Fleurs but I’m not seeing them on their site. More information when I have it.

Fleur recap: 2 sizes, 1 firmness (possibly different from older versions), 1 stem style, may come in colours. Silicone. Pops open fairly easily. Easy to grip.

Ruby CupRuby Cup is from Denmark, and although it is a larger cup I rather like it. I don’t often reach for a larger cup, but when I do its the Ruby. The shape and softness means it doesn’t cause the gotta-pee feeling all day and it still works for the occasional heavy flow. This is another cup with a silicone-spatula matte texture, although it is a little more grippy than the Lunette which makes for an easy removal. At a squish factor of 5, this is the Goldilocks of cups. Not too big, not too small, not too squishy, not too firm, even the stem is pretty non-pokey due to being rounded at the end. The suction release holes are a bit lower than on most cups, which may be an issue for folks who need a large capacity cup.

The folks at Ruby Cup also sent me their handy steriliser cup. It’s also silicone, collapses like a camping cup (and could probably double as one) but is also a really handy storage container to keep your cup clean and cat-hair free. It’s also nice if you aren’t boiling a bunch of dildos or cups and just need to sterilise one cup- drop your cup in the, er, cup, pour boiling water over it, and let it steep. Done! Don’t be like me and get the black one just because you’re a goddamn goth. I promptly lost it in the sea of black that is my home. Get something bright. You’ll thank me later.

Ruby Cup recap: 2 sizes, 1 firmness, 1 stem style, 2 colours. Silicone. Pops open easily. Rounded stem is less-pokey. Easy to grip and probably a great starter cup.

Diva, Moon, Ruby CupsI’m going to lump together these next two: the Diva Cup and the Mooncup ((The American version made by the same folks as The Keeper, not the confusingly-named Moon Cup made in the UK.)) Mostly because I honestly find these very similar, practically speaking, and also because I strongly dislike both of them. The Diva cup clocks in at a 7 of squish, while the Mooncup maxes out the scale at 10. Despite this, they both have really firm rings and a LOT of suction. The Diva cup is probably the longest cup I’ve used, and because of that it just doesn’t work for my body. When inserted, the tip of the cup is at my vaginal entrance. I didn’t even bother trimming the stem because I knew there was no point.

The Mooncup is really firm, firm enough that I have a really hard time folding it for insertion. It pops open prematurely, which hurts. It’s also really smooth which makes it impossible to grip to get it back out. Oddly enough, both of these cups feel huge when I’m using them, but the Ruby Cup is actually larger. Just goes to show how materials actually matter.

Diva Cup recap: 2 sizes, 1 firmness, 1 stem style, 1 colour. Silicone. Pops open easily. Particularly long but not a whole lot of capacity. Mooncup recap: 2 sizes, 2 firmness, 1 stem style, 1 colour. Silicone. Really firm and can pop open prematurely. Hard to fold. Very slippery.

Instead, Ladycup, RubycupOk. Last one (for now). The Instead SoftCup. I’m reluctant to call these menstrual cups, even though they are  technically a “cup” for “menstrual fluid”. That’s where the similarities end. Instead, it’s almost like a weird reverse version of an internal condom, except internal condoms are rad. It’s a 2.75″ diameter stiff ring with a plastic bag attached to it. Let’s just call it what it is. These don’t suction onto your cervix, but rather are supposed to loop under your cervix and behind your pubic bone, kinda like how a Nuva Ring fits. That doesn’t even sound comfortable to me, especially given how rigid and surprisingly not-rounded the rim is. None of that matters though for me because these don’t even fit into my vagina. My vaginal canal is too short in it’s unaroused state that it just doesn’t work ((Similarly the Nuva Ring didn’t work for me, when I briefly tried to switch to it)), and these only come in one size SO…

They claim you can wear this during sex and that your partner won’t feel it “depending on your partner” but uhh, I doubt that. Especially considering how this is supposed to seat.  Also, it’s disposable, which seems to largely defeat the purpose of menstrual cups to me. They do make a “reusable” version which has a dark-pink ring instead of a light-pink ring, but it’s still only supposed to be used for one cycle. I really wouldn’t recommend these to someone considering a menstrual cup, and I’m not sure I’d recommend them to anyone.

Softcup recap: 1 size, 1 firmness, no stem. Absolutely useless for me.

Fold comparison: Meluna Soft vs. MooncupThroughout this comparison I’ve referred to what I’ve dubbed the “Squish Factor” of cups. Basically what this means is how easily the cup folds for insertion and how much, if any, coaxing it needs to fully open. I typically do a “punch down fold” but for the purposes of illustrating what I mean I used a “U fold” in the photograph. This is the softest cup I own (the Meluna Soft) and the firmest (the Mooncup). The Meluna folds easily, nice and tiny, and takes no effort to fold and keep folded during insertion. The Mooncup takes effort, and often pops open while I’m trying to fold it. There’s a lot of space between the “loops” of the fold, and it takes some pressure to keep the fold in place during insertion.

The cups I’ve compared in this guide, from softest to firmest are:

  1. Meluna Soft
  2. Meluna Classic
  3. Lily Cup Compact
  4. Sckoon Cup
  5. Ruby Cup
  6. Lunette
  7. Diva Cup
  8. Lady Cup
  9. Fleur Cup (older version?)
  10. Mooncup (American version)

There are a LOT of other cups out there in the world, and there are a few I’d still like to try. If and when I get a chance to use them, I’ll add a third part to further expand this guide. For right now? My top recommendations are: Ruby Cup for those who need a larger/longer cup, Lunette for those who want a softer and more versatile cup, Mooncup for those who need a firm cup, Sckoon Cup for folks who still aren’t quite sure or who need capacity without bulk, and the Meluna Soft for those who need something really soft or want to do the inversion trick for sex. I also LOVE the Lily Cup and want to recommend it to everyone.

I know this was incredibly long, so thank you for reading. Have any questions I didn’t address in this guide? Feel free to comment and I’ll do my best to answer them!

 

43 Comments

  • Thanks for this informative review–it is of immense help to me. Last week, I had a 2-day ordeal of trying to remove my Lunette (small) which completely disappeared inside my body overnight as I slept (I’d put it in at bedtime)

    I hadn’t used my cup in almost 2 years because of the same issue. This time I was almost ready to get a doctor to get it out. I really…really…really want to make menstrual cups work for me. The Lunette almost does–then it disappears and it takes days to retrieve it.

  • Thanks for reviewing the Soft Cup in comparison to the rest! I tried them after I tried and failed with the Diva cup, but I could never quite get the plastic stuck properly behind my pubic bone and they kept waking me up at night as they popped out while I slept ahaha. Weirdest feeling ever! Hopefully one of the softer cups will work for me in the future; I’ve also been eyeing up the menstrual sponges to try.

  • This analysis of the cups was very informative, but the foul language? I realize we’re all adults on here, but is it REALLY necessary?

    • My writing style, and the way I refer to my own body parts, is mine. If my referring to *my own body* in terms which make me comfortable makes you uncomfortable, perhaps my writing isn’t for you.

      • The crude language just displays a level of ignorance that the rest of your post indicates you don’t have.

        • My style and choice of language on my own site are up to me. Clearly my site isn’t the right place for you. There are lots of other sex educators on the internet and a plethora of menstrual cup resources who might be better suited to your needs.

  • Thanks for this. I wanted to try a menstrual cup because I got sick of keeping track of ‘okay, do I need to buy tampons?’ but there are so many different models out there, and you can’t exactly try them on.

  • Do you think it would be safe to use the Ruby sterilizer cup with other silicone menstrual cups?

    • Definitely! As long as the cup you’re using is boiling-water sterilisable (which pretty much all except the Instead Soft-Cups are) you should be good to go!

  • Thanks for the insanely detailed post. I didn’t know all these cups existed, but have been happily using Instead’s various iterations of the Softcup for probably around 10 years as well. So I was surprised to see it get such low marks.

    You simply compress it lengthwise to insert it and let it expand around your cervix. Once it’s there, I don’t feel it and it doesn’t get in the way of much at all. I’ve asked partners if they could feel it and most couldn’t unless it was seated in an unusual way. It also doesn’t need a stem to remove, you just grab the underside of the firm ring to pull it out.

    Lots of gals get worked up about the idea of dealing with a cup in a public restroom situation. Face it, you’re going to get bloody sometimes. I simply remove the cup, dump it, pop it back in, wipe my single hand down with toilet paper, open the door and flush with my other hand and then wash up. Nobody is any the wiser. And I’m not waltzing around a restroom with a bloody cup.

    After reading complaints about residual odor with the Diva cup, I’m glad to say I can toss a Softcup after one or two cycles. It takes me about a year for me to get through a box. Having something to give a friend who’s looking for tampon when she comes over to visit is kind of nice too.

  • What would you say is the shortest cup? I have a medium Meluna, and it tends to hang out right at the entrance to my vagina my whole cycle. Mine is also the classic firmness, and it tends to pop open early and is hard to keep in my preferred folding style, which makes insertion a pain. Also, mine isn’t the shorter style that was originally made, it’s the longer style like your ring one. I agree on the ring stem, I thought I could use it very differently than I found I could, so now it pokes my poor vagina unless I wear it inside out.

    • Definitely the Meluna “shorty” in the size small. It seriously fits almost like a cervical cap. I don’t think they make it stemless anymore, you might check though. Ball stems don’t add much length though so I’d go that route if stemless isn’t an option anymore. If you’re cool with squishing around to get things fully opened, the soft is super pliable- it can be tricky to open all the way though.

      • Okay, thanks. I am curious abut the sckoon cup too, since it looks like it might be good for my heavy days. It’s also cheaper in my area.

        • I’ve never found any of the cups I use to hold smells any better/worse than others. They all will take on a bit of a bloody/metallic-iron smell after a few uses simply due to where and what they are used for. It’s not something that you can smell at a distance or anything. Simmering, steaming, or bleaching your cup between cycles should resolve this.

          A quick soak alongside a denture cleaning tablet can work wonders if you have a stubborn one (works beautifully for buttplugs too!)- just wash it off well before you re-insert when you use it next. Denture tabs tend to be minty.

  • Does anyone know a reputable place to get the Meluna cups? The link to their site is not working. Would Amazon be a safe place to do this?

      • Thanks for the links! I just ordered a MeLuna cup from the U.S. website! Easy peasy.
        Thank you so much for writing this guide. I have a Diva cup I haven’t used in ages. It was just too firm and rather than adjusting to it, I just felt more and more bruised with each cycle. This should be perfect.
        Also, love the denture tablet tip. Now I can find my Diva Cup a new home.

  • I just want to say – thank you for discussing and comparing menstrual cups, it isn’t a topic I’ve seen a lot of discussion about.

    I have used the Instead SoftCup for maybe… 10 years? I’ve been intrigued by the other cups, but until now, reading your posts on the topic, I’ve never seen anyone “dispute” or explain the placement pictures that often come along with the other cup types (not that I’ve done a lot of researching it, the Instead SoftCup works for my anatomy very well). The other cups have always seemed to me to sit lower in the vaginal opening than I would care for.

    Even short tampons tend to not fit me – largely because my cervix sits what seems like halfway down my vaginal canal when unaroused. Which may be why the SoftCup seems to work so well for me, the back of the ring fits quite a ways deeper, behind my cervix, where I still have plenty of room (tampons never were ok with going further back, ow – Instead’s ring just has to clear the cervix and then it’s out of the way), and the front of the ring fits (barely) behind my pubic bone and it all seems to kind of lay flat and I forget it’s there. I even masturbate with glass toys without noticing it is there – I thought for sure the firm ring paired with unyielding glass would be a dealbreaker before I tried it a few times.

    I’m glad to hear that diagrammed placement isn’t the actual usable location for the other cups from someone who has used the more common type of reusable cups. I may get the nerve to try another type of cup and see how well I like them. Also, in part because I’d prefer a non-disposal cup just like it – because I hate waste (and in part because I’m cheap), despite the company’s statements not to, I usually reuse a SoftCup for full cycle, washing/rinsing it when it is emptied and I’ve never had an issue.

      • It always leaks on my heaviest days, regardless of whether it’s full or not. I use a cloth pad on those days, but it’s annoying.
        And it usually happens several hours after insertion, when the mooncup has been shoved further up my vagina from movement during the day (at insertion, it sits right inside the entrance).
        I don’t know what my vagina looks like, but I can only imagine it gets wider as it goes up, if I start to leak when the mooncup goes upward.

        • Hm, are you missing your cervix perhaps? That sounds like what happens to me if I don’t quite catch my cervix inside the cup. Does the cup shift position angle-wise or just ride up?

  • Thank you for this review! For the last month I’ve been going back and forth about getting a menstrual cup, and I decided to try out the softcups because they were easily accessible, then I saw the IUD warning and returned them.

    Which cups did you find to have less suction (which I ask after reading a comment already posted about IUDs)? I still worry about using a cup with the IUD because it hurt like a bitch getting it “installed” and that’s not a process I’d like to repeat any time soon… or have babies… but I still want to try the cups before I completely discount them.

    Do you have a color preference? I noticed you said that sometimes the clear ones get discolored. If i get one, I’d prefer to not pick out a color that is just going to get ruined a few months down the line.

    PS. Being a girl suuuuuucks.

    • Look at softer cups- Lunette, Meluna, possibly Ruby. Feel free to ask your gynaecologist about how naturally dilated your cervix is/was- if you don’t have an unusually dilated cervical os and your IUD strings haven’t noticeably changed in length indicating shifting, you should be fine. I’m not a doctor or a gynaecologist, so checking with yours is always good if you have concerns, but lots of folk happily use cups and IUDS without issue.

      As far as colour and discolouration- they don’t tend to discolour until after a year or more in my experience, and when they do it’s a very slight darkening/yellowing which can typically be remedied by soaking your cup in a glass of water with a denture cleaning tablet. Just be sure to wash your cup well before you use it afterwards. I like black because I’m a stupid goth but really, go with whatever colour strikes your fancy.

  • This is awesome, thanks so much!! When I first decided to get into reusable menstrual products, especially cups, I hopped on youtube and found a lot of helpful info. But it took hours of watching video after video to find what you concisely put into two guide posts. Precious Stars Pads’ youtube site is a veritable fount of info, but this is definitely my go-to link now, lol.

    And I’m glad to hear the Lily Cups are awesome; a Meluna Small Classic was my first cup, but I invested in the Lily Cup and Compact duo on the kickstarter because I have a feeling one of them might be my Goldilocks. I’m that much more excited for them to arrive now :)

  • This is so great! I wasn’t sure what the advantages were to the different squishinesses, it’s such a great resource to have them all compared here (by someone I trust to be totally impartial) rather than try to figure it out from the different websites.

    I bought the Lunette Cynthia because it was one of the most accessible in Australia- from the MissX online sex store, super easy- and because I just couldn’t resist that deep purple colour. The sunshine yellow is calling to me too.
    I find the firmness is just right with it- it’s easily flexible and fits fairly discreetly in my bag, but is still firm enough that it pops into shape easily and feels super secure around my cervix.

    Thank you for going over TPE vs silicone too- I went with silicone because it’s the safest material I know and I don’t trust tpe/tpr yet, but it’s good to know the TPE ones are sterilisable too.

  • Awesome guide! Personally, I use the femmecup (http://www.femmecup.com/) which I bought because it was literally the smallest one on the market, and after being totally fed up with the Diva cup’s size, I went 100% the other direction. It’s really nice, although the discoloration to the clear silicone can be a little off-putting to some people. I may try another brand when I replace my current one, but I really like how little drag there is in the femme cup– doesn’t dry me out or hurt to remove it. Any particular ones you would recommend? Smaller and slippery is better, I think.

    • I’d look at the LadyCup or the Classic Meluna in that case. Meluna won’t be as slick as the Femme or Lady but you can get them in super tiny size if you like!

      With discolouration- try soaking your cup in a glass of water with a denture cleaning tablet. Just be sure to wash your cup well before using it again. It’s worked super well for a lot of folk I know, and has been passed down through the years on the Menstrual Cup Live Journal Community.

  • aw man, I thought I was stuck with tampons forever! The divacup REALLY didn’t work for me, and I thought it was the only one on the market. Definitely going to try out one of these. Which would you reccommend for someone with an IUD?

    • What didn’t work for you with Diva? That’ll help narrow down what to look for in a cup. As far as my research tells me, the choice of cup shouldn’t be terribly effected by having an IUD. If you’ve had issues with your IUD shifting ever, you may wish to check with your gynaecologist first. Otherwise I’d probably base your choice off other criterion, maybe leaning towards one with slightly less suction unless you’re confident about getting up in there to break the seal prior to removal.

      • It was too long and I had a hard time getting it to fold to properly insert. I also found that I could feel a lot of suction on my cervix when I shifted positions, so it made me nervous about the IUD.

        • Yeah, it sounds like Diva was too large for you if you could feel it changing with your body movements. Like I mentioned to someone else- take a look at the Lunette, Meluna, or possibly Ruby cups. they’re softer and tend to have a less intense suction in my experience. Lunette is smaller in general than Diva (which is really long), Ruby is stouter, and Meluna come in so many sizes you can really custom-fit yourself.

  • I use the soft cup and I find that warming it in hot water before inserting it will make it softer.

    Also hooking your finger over the rim of the cup when you trying to get it out makes removing it easy peasy!

    At first using it hurt a bit until I worked out how to position it. If you insert it in a downwards direction then it’ll find a comfy position soooooo much easier.

    With the moon cup I also love how I can still have sex etc without anything getting in the way, it is so flexible inside of me that there is no problem with toys/my partner hitting against it. He can’t feel it and I can’t feel it.

    • Yeah, figuring out the right insertion angle for your body and cervix placement is important and can take a bit of trying with any cup. For me, the SoftCup is just too big, the ring of it hits the back of my vaginal canal under my cervix and part of the ring is still hanging out of me, and trying to shove it up in there just doesn’t go. Bodies are interestingly different like that!

      • Yeah and it’s surprisingly difficult to figure the positioning out! Vaginas, silly things!

  • THIS is the guide I’ve been waiting for! I now know with a bit more confidence which cup I should invest in, instead of just trying things willy-nilly and getting a bad one and stopping right-out. Totally decided on the Lily cup, and possibly a Meluna. Thank you so much for writing this – finally the kick I needed to stop procrastinating and try these.

  • I’m definitely going to have to try another brand, now that you’ve laid all these out. I have a DivaCup, which I love in comparison to tampons but… that should be a given. It sounds like I’m going to have to try a Lily cup.

  • Oh, my LadyCups are in the same size/color combo as yours, except I don’t own the blue mini. Used to have a large turquoise as a result of winning two LadyCup auctions on eBay instead of just one. And the fact that I couldn’t decide on one color and after setting up a bidding app was like “I’m going to sleep. Whichever wins is mine”. The turquoise was a bit too plain blue so I kept the light green one. I sold the extra one with no problems.

    I have a low cervix and ave the larger one for really heavy days. Plus I don’t know why, but the large is more prone to leaking. Especially when I’m horizontal. I’m wondering if it’s because of the wide shape. I an inside ridge like with the Lily would help.

    I’d love to try Lunette but every time I try to acquire it some cosmic force prevents me. Two were lost a customs already. I give up.

    • I’ve had cups that are too large for me not maintain their seal well, I suspect because their position inside of me shifts as my body attempts to wrangle it around to be comfortable (PC muscles are interesting things which I swear to gd manipulate stuff in my cunt on their own). Lily cups might be good for you. There’s another cup, FemmyCycle, which I was not able to obtain for this guide, which also has a flange and comes in a few sizes for different cervix placements. I know nothing about it beyond what I’ve read on their website though so, grain of salt and all that.

      • Thanks for the reply! I’ve heard very good things about FemmyCycle (the review is in Polish, so I won’t link) and I will try it once the money is not so hard.

  • Meluna cups are my hands-down favourites – especially the ring style. One advantage to the ring is that after I wash my cup, I can just hang it up and let it air-dry. (Also, when menopause finally hits, it’s gonna get repurposed as a Christmas tree ornament :-)