1) you must be comfortable touching yourself 2) you must be comfortable getting a bit messy 3) have a sink nearby 4) relax! If you are dry it can be a bit of a pain to get situated. There are a few ways to fold the cup to get it in and have it pop open but not all will work every time. I have had to insert and reinsert this a few times because the cup wouldn't open. I will push my vaginal walls out with my fingers in hopes to open space up enough for the cup to pop open - this works about 50% of the time. I will spin the cup to make sure nothing is pinched in still - this will cause leakage, and spinning helps prevent a vacuum seal which will make removal difficult. I insert and remove at home - where I have a squatty potty. This, I have found, helps everything immensely! I have tired to insert in the tub while squatting, sitting on a regular toilet in a public bathroom, and while standing with a foot up. Using the squatty potty is the easiest, followed by the tub. Public bathroom is the worst due to fear of germs, dropping it, getting to a sink etc. This should not discourage anyone tho! I have had years and years of practice with tampons and have been using this for not even a year! Learning curve is there, but once you know how to get it in and get that down it just becomes practice. Tips: you should NOT leak, if you are leaking it is not in right or you have the wrong size in. I am 32 with no children and use Cup 1 - I have purchased cup 2 to see what the difference should be. There are also different brands - if Diva doesn't work another style may help based on the depth of your cervix. These cups wont be too big - the vagina is like an umbrella and will open to accommodate the 'girth'. You should not feel this at all (unless you kegel). Tampons you can sometimes feel - they are long, or are poking something in an odd angle, and they dry you out - this, you should not feel at all as the vagina itself has no nerve endings. However, if you are uncomfortable the stem could be to long, you could have a shallow cervix, or it is in at an odd angle and poking at the wrong angle. If so, take it out and re-insert. You must fold this to insert it! Tip 2: Before you insert clean yourself up, insert it, and clean yourself up again. This will help you figure out if you are leaking truely or it is just blood caught around the cup after insertion. Tip 3: know your flow! I have overflowed this cup once - I noticed leaking and removed the cup; it was full! If you have mucousy flow it will 'fall out' as you remove the cup. Be prepared! Sanitize in boiling water after your cycle. This should last you YEARS! COMPARISON: I purchased DivaCup Size 1 as my first menstrual cup. My cat has a rubber and now silicone fetish and proceeded to run off with it after I rinsed and put it on the sink before insertion. Figured I would buy some of the 'generic' or less expensive options, try them out and compare since DivaCup is on the pricer side. DivaCup $28 ish Anigan EvaCup 2/$35 dual pack Athena $20 Blossom $18 I chose the LARGE or Size 2 for each cup except my original Diva To start all cups are the same in height - about 2.5" high - you can see in the image with the yard stick I used each cup for a few days of my cycle, both light and heavier/mucusy flow. All worked perfectly, there were zero leaks DivaCup Size 1 is for prebirth/under 30. Size 2 is postbirth/over 30. The difference is the overall width through the entire cup, the difference is slight. DivaCup is by far my favorite except that the stem is open - that collects blood/fluid and it is difficult to clean. The wider stem does help it with removal but not all the time. It also only comes in clear, it will eventually discolor since blood stains. DivaCup has a moderate firmness and a thin edge. It is easy to fold and insert and opening is not an issue most of the time (suction is to blame the times it is difficult) Blossom Cup is my second favorite. It is visually similar to Diva, comes in funky colors which is a bonus for the staining. I got Red which is really a salmon color, should have chosen lime green. It has a thin edge just like Diva and is moderate in firmness. Easy to fold and insert, opening is not an issue. The body is slightly softer than Diva which may make removal difficult. I tend to grab the base just above the stem to remove. My least favorites are a tie between EvaCup and Athena Cup for different reasons. Athena Cup is SOFT - very flimsy, the edge and body squeeze too easily and they just feel inadequate. The softness of the cup makes it hard to have the edges pop open inside you. These cups were the ones I had the most difficulty with. I just could not get these to open without a lot of internal manipulation (pushing the vaginal walls out to give the cup room to expand). I also had a tough time removing the cups - because they are so soft when you grab the body of the cup it squishes, I couldn't get a good grip. They do come in funky colors and I love the black and teal. EvaCup has the exact opposite problem, they are FIRM. The edge of Eva is thicker than Diva and the rest, not in width but in length down the cup. This edge is very firm, much firmer than the body which is firmer than Diva by far. This makes folding the cup much more difficult and insertion harder. It does help with popping the cup open but I found if I didn't have a really good firm grip on the cup it opened before I had it high enough. I could feel the cup and had to remove and reinsert a few times before it was high enough and in the right spot to do its job. Eva also comes in some funky colors - the two that came in the dual pack were pink and purple. OVERALL: Any of these will work, the best is to pick one and figure out what you like/dislike. Too firm, not firm enough, hard to remove? Firmer go with Eva, softer go with Athena, somewhere in the middle Diva or Blossom Colors - go with anything but Diva

I hesitated on getting a diva cup for a loooong time. What’s the holdup? I was scared of: -insertion/removal -blood in a cup -cleaning out a menstrual cup anywhere but home First, insertion/removal is SO MUCH EASIER WHEN YOU KNOW THE TRICKS! - Inserting: 1. The instructions come with two modes of insertion. The first is the normal one you see, and the second has been my go-to. (See picture for reference.) You place your finger on the edge of the cup and push it down towards the center of the cup, this creates a triangular shape. Now, the top of the cup is the size of a tampon, and it’s far easier to insert. I also think it makes it easier for the cup to unfold correctly when placed. 2. Don't worry so much about the shape of your vagina- if you have inserted a tampon, you’ve got the idea. Same goes for relaxing your vagina muscles- I never focused on it, and it never became a problem. 3. Checking if the cup is fully expanded is hella hard for me. I twist it as much as I can, then I usually give up. You can feel when the cup expands just from the base, and this has been enough for me to tell. I haven’t had a single problem with leaks. - Removal: now this was interesting. My first removal felt like I was giving birth to a lime sized baby. The suction truly does exist. By fear not! As soon as I figured out the right way to do it, it was smooth sailing on USS Menstrual Cup. The trick? Push it out. Literally. The first time I tried to remove the cup, I thought I had forever lost it to the seas of the female body. The moment I discovered I could push it out, the stem would beautifully present itself without any trouble. Wow! You’ll still want to pinch the cup to break the seal, but that’s the easy part. Getting the thing within pinching distance was a really simple but for whatever reason completely unintuitive thing to me *facepalm*. -Blood in a cup sucks. You’d be amazed at how unappealing it looks. Prepare yourself. If you’re queasy, this might be a struggle for you. - Where/when?? Every 12 hours is SOOO NICE! Trust me, you’re usually home within 12 hours. If you’re not, find a private bathroom, take it out, rinse it off, stick it back in. One reviewer mentioned she does this in the shower at night- genius. Overall, this has been really exciting! Pads suck! Tampons turn your precious ecosystem into a desert! The diva cup isn’t perfect, but it’s the best menstrual product I have ever tried. *I would not recommend this product to someone who isn’t ready to go digging in their vagina quite yet.

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THIS THING. Okay, so nearly everyone with a period will tell you NO UNDERWEAR IS SAFE. No matter what you use, no matter what color the underwear is, the blood will find a way to destroy it... UNTIL TODAY. I wore PRISTINE WHITE AS LILIES PANTIES the other day. And as I was getting ready in the morning I was like "Wait, I'm going to get my period soon. Better cup up to be safe." I went through my day living my life with no hint or indication that I was bleeding from below, that is until I emptied my cup. THAT MOTHER WAS FILLED TO THE BRIM. Apparently I had not only gotten my period but the entirety of a Quentin Tarantino film had taken place under my skirt. I'm talking elevator-of-blood-from-horror-masterpiece-The-Shining levels here. And my snow white panties? NOT A DROP ON THEM. You would have never known my vagina was the battle ground for Freddy Vs. Jason. Needless to say this is the BEST THING for people with periods to avoid holding another mourning session for their favorite pair of undergarments. Never using pads or tampons again. THANKS DIVACUP!

1) you must be comfortable touching yourself 2) you must be comfortable getting a bit messy 3) have a sink nearby 4) relax! If you are dry it can be a bit of a pain to get situated. There are a few ways to fold the cup to get it in and have it pop open but not all will work every time. I have had to insert and reinsert this a few times because the cup wouldn't open. I will push my vaginal walls out with my fingers in hopes to open space up enough for the cup to pop open - this works about 50% of the time. I will spin the cup to make sure nothing is pinched in still - this will cause leakage, and spinning helps prevent a vacuum seal which will make removal difficult. I insert and remove at home - where I have a squatty potty. This, I have found, helps everything immensely! I have tired to insert in the tub while squatting, sitting on a regular toilet in a public bathroom, and while standing with a foot up. Using the squatty potty is the easiest, followed by the tub. Public bathroom is the worst due to fear of germs, dropping it, getting to a sink etc. This should not discourage anyone tho! I have had years and years of practice with tampons and have been using this for not even a year! Learning curve is there, but once you know how to get it in and get that down it just becomes practice. Tips: you should NOT leak, if you are leaking it is not in right or you have the wrong size in. I am 32 with no children and use Cup 1 - I have purchased cup 2 to see what the difference should be. There are also different brands - if Diva doesn't work another style may help based on the depth of your cervix. These cups wont be too big - the vagina is like an umbrella and will open to accommodate the 'girth'. You should not feel this at all (unless you kegel). Tampons you can sometimes feel - they are long, or are poking something in an odd angle, and they dry you out - this, you should not feel at all as the vagina itself has no nerve endings. However, if you are uncomfortable the stem could be to long, you could have a shallow cervix, or it is in at an odd angle and poking at the wrong angle. If so, take it out and re-insert. You must fold this to insert it! Tip 2: Before you insert clean yourself up, insert it, and clean yourself up again. This will help you figure out if you are leaking truely or it is just blood caught around the cup after insertion. Tip 3: know your flow! I have overflowed this cup once - I noticed leaking and removed the cup; it was full! If you have mucousy flow it will 'fall out' as you remove the cup. Be prepared! Sanitize in boiling water after your cycle. This should last you YEARS! COMPARISON: I purchased DivaCup Size 1 as my first menstrual cup. My cat has a rubber and now silicone fetish and proceeded to run off with it after I rinsed and put it on the sink before insertion. Figured I would buy some of the 'generic' or less expensive options, try them out and compare since DivaCup is on the pricer side. DivaCup $28 ish Anigan EvaCup 2/$35 dual pack Athena $20 Blossom $18 I chose the LARGE or Size 2 for each cup except my original Diva To start all cups are the same in height - about 2.5" high - you can see in the image with the yard stick I used each cup for a few days of my cycle, both light and heavier/mucusy flow. All worked perfectly, there were zero leaks DivaCup Size 1 is for prebirth/under 30. Size 2 is postbirth/over 30. The difference is the overall width through the entire cup, the difference is slight. DivaCup is by far my favorite except that the stem is open - that collects blood/fluid and it is difficult to clean. The wider stem does help it with removal but not all the time. It also only comes in clear, it will eventually discolor since blood stains. DivaCup has a moderate firmness and a thin edge. It is easy to fold and insert and opening is not an issue most of the time (suction is to blame the times it is difficult) Blossom Cup is my second favorite. It is visually similar to Diva, comes in funky colors which is a bonus for the staining. I got Red which is really a salmon color, should have chosen lime green. It has a thin edge just like Diva and is moderate in firmness. Easy to fold and insert, opening is not an issue. The body is slightly softer than Diva which may make removal difficult. I tend to grab the base just above the stem to remove. My least favorites are a tie between EvaCup and Athena Cup for different reasons. Athena Cup is SOFT - very flimsy, the edge and body squeeze too easily and they just feel inadequate. The softness of the cup makes it hard to have the edges pop open inside you. These cups were the ones I had the most difficulty with. I just could not get these to open without a lot of internal manipulation (pushing the vaginal walls out to give the cup room to expand). I also had a tough time removing the cups - because they are so soft when you grab the body of the cup it squishes, I couldn't get a good grip. They do come in funky colors and I love the black and teal. EvaCup has the exact opposite problem, they are FIRM. The edge of Eva is thicker than Diva and the rest, not in width but in length down the cup. This edge is very firm, much firmer than the body which is firmer than Diva by far. This makes folding the cup much more difficult and insertion harder. It does help with popping the cup open but I found if I didn't have a really good firm grip on the cup it opened before I had it high enough. I could feel the cup and had to remove and reinsert a few times before it was high enough and in the right spot to do its job. Eva also comes in some funky colors - the two that came in the dual pack were pink and purple. OVERALL: Any of these will work, the best is to pick one and figure out what you like/dislike. Too firm, not firm enough, hard to remove? Firmer go with Eva, softer go with Athena, somewhere in the middle Diva or Blossom Colors - go with anything but Diva

For those who want to see the size difference... Left - Model 1 pre-birth Right - Model 2 post-birth

I'm on my third day of my first period using the Diva Cup and I think I love it! The first day I felt a little like a mad woman in the bathroom with a bloody cup and fingers...there was some cursing. My cervix sits pretty low on that first day so the stem and some of the textured bottom poked out a bit which wasn't the most comfortable thing but it was kinda reassuring that I could feel it there. It wasn't falling out so I left it alone and t was fine. Removal was a bit messy and I probably fiddled with it more than I needed too because I was nervous about it leaking. The upside to all my fiddling was I learned how to put it in and remove it quickly. The second day my cervix had migrated a bit further up so the entire cup sat up inside me and was pretty comfortable. I had to push a bit to get the stem to pop back out so I could pull it down and break the seal, but I never leaked. I went to bed that night wearing just the cup and underwear. No backup pad for me cuz I'm a rockstar. No leaks at all. This morning my cervix was ever more up there, but again, super easy to bear down and grab. I was paranoid the cup was going to get sucked up into my vagina and be lost in some void never to be seen again, but I see now that was quite silly of me and not very logical. So far I love it! This far into my period I would have used at least half a box of super nighttime pads (Allergic to something in tampons so I can't use them, and I tend to bleed towards the back. My crack seems to make a nice blood funnel so I need my pads to cover my whole booty or else the blood goes right around the pad and to the back of my underwear. ) I've probably only filled this thing maybe 2 1\2 times so far which isn't much blood...makes me wonder why pads always get so damn soggy?? What gives they're always a soggy crime scene. I loved sleeping comfortably, no diaper rash from a pad, no smell, no mountain of garbage in the bathroom...I was able to step out of the shower like a normal human instead of racing around frantically trying to shove something between my legs so I didn't bleed all over my legs, towels and the floor. I'll be able to go swimming on my period which I couldn't do before because of my tampon allergy... It's been blissful. All hale the diva cup.

This product does have a learning curve! However, after finishing my second cycle with my diva cup I can honestly say I will never go back! My flows are still heavy, but I can better manage them and enjoy my life. Using the cup is so much easier, cheaper, and better for the environment than tampons! My flow is so heavy that I would have to change a super tampon after an hour or less consistently. I was having multiple accidents and it was a huge struggle! I can now go up to 5 hours on heavy days! Most days I can go the full 10 hours no issue! I ride my bike everyday, as well as swim and run! No issues. No more leaks! Freedom!

I am on my 2nd cycle with the cup and I love it. I did have to trim the stem because it was stabbing me but once I trimmed it, we were good to go. I actually forget I am on my period! Seriously. I don't feel blood gushing out all day. I don't smell like I am on my period. I am not wearing an uncomfortable pad that may or may not shift during the day and leaves me itchy. I don't feel dirty. Honestly, my period just isn't as big of a deal with this product. I have cleaned and reinserted in a public restroom and having a bottle of water is super handy. On my heaviest days, I have to empty every 8 hours. You can feel it get heavy and know you need to change. Seriously a game changer. Is it weird if I want to buy one for all my female family and friends for Christmas?

WOW. I cannot believe I am just now trying this. My biggest issue was that I literally could not even tell I was on my period and had to set a timer to remind me to check on it every 12 hours, if I didn't remember before! I played volleyball, slept, chased kids, etc and didn't have any problems. I felt a little pressure when I first put it in as it unfolds and gets into place which feels kind of weird but other than that, I could barely tell it was there. EASY TO LEARN: The first time I put it in it was low and I had to try again but baring down while inserting it helps to go up higher because of suction. So, I had to practice putting it in a few times but no problem at all. I did turn it inside out, which I've read helps and that worked too. Although, I would have been fine without doing that. CLEANING: Cleaning it was super fast and easy. I expected it to be messy but it wasn't. I washed it before hand with face soap. (Don't know if that was a good idea. I'll probably buy the Diva soap.) I washed my hands before removing it and just rinsed with hot tap water and put it back in. Wash hands again afterwards. Boil in hot water to sanitize it and store it in the cute bag provided until next cycle. IUD AND TILTED UTERUS : I have an IUD in so I was worried about it interfering and also a tilted uterus. But I didn't have any problems at all. DIDN'T FEEL UNTOUCHABLE: It was so nice to feel clean and comfortable! I wasn't always worried about being touched by my husband, stinking, or keeping everything in place. I ALWAYS leak with a pad or tampon but was able to wear white underwear without a trace!

I have been using this for 3 cycles now and I love it! Here is a little bit about my experience with it so you can get an idea of what it's like: First of all, I have an IUD, and I haven't had any issues with it at all. That was one of my biggest questions before buying the cup, so based on my personal experience, I think it's safe when used correctly. On my heaviest days the cup might last me around 6 hours but the other days it can last up to 12 hours. And I can't feel it at all. I know some people complain that the stem at the bottom bothers them but I haven't noticed it. Another complaint I read about before I bought the cup was that some people felt like they couldn't pee with the cup in, like it was pushing on their urethra, but I haven't experienced that at all. I often sleep with it, and that way I never have to get up in the middle of the night, which is really nice. The first time using it is kind of weird, but I think it's easier to learn how to use than tampons were. I'd recommend trying it for the first time on a moderate or light flow day, because things can get messy if you don't know the technique. The first time I used it I worried it was going to get stuck inside me, but just remember that the vagina is a muscle--if it can push a baby out, it can push the cup out! Also, the vagina can stretch a lot so it's very possible to reach multiple fingers up there to get the cup down. I know that might gross some people out, but it's just biology. As far as leaks go... I've had a couple, but I think they were mainly because I put the cup in wrong. The key is follow their instructions (e.g. "Insert the cup straight back towards your tailbone"...I was thinking like, what? My vagina goes up, not sideways... But when I ignored their instruction it leaked. I don't get it but I know they're right.) So my advice is wear a panty liner the first several times you use the cup just in case, and after a while you'll get the hang of it! Also, I do use the cup at work. Sometimes I can go all day without having to empty it but other times I just go in at a time when the bathroom's empty. Yes it can be messy, but it's not that bad. Just remember, periods are natural and nothing to be ashamed of. I feel like it's sort of empowering to be unafraid to get up close and personal with my period. All in all, I love this product and I'm never going back!