Stuck for lippy...?

This article landed on my desk a couple of weeks ago and like most of the people who commented on it*, I too couldn't get past the first image. Your own menstrual blood as lipstick. And I've seen a lot of weird period shit.

I guess, if money's really that tight, why not use it as lippy. Or if you've run out and want to impress that guy you're on a date with. And to be honest, if he goes on another date with you and doesn't curl up into a ball weeping, you've got a winner. Or a weirdo.

Ingrid Berthon-Moine is the lady behind these images. Yes, I do say images as a plural. She's compiling a whole bloody collection of women wearing their menstrual blood as lipstick.

Alongside Ingrid, you also have other menstrual activists such as Chella Quint who aims to take the shame out of periods using mechanisms such as comedy and tampon crafts. I agree with her bugbear - sanitary bins ARE the big fat grey elephant in the teeny room and they are a giant pain in the thigh, especially when you accidentally brush up against them in toilet cubicles. God forbid there's all sorts of nasties spilling out of it.

The article ends with a more serious note - there ARE people out there who don't know much about periods, who think they're dying when they have their first and those who believe that periods are 'dirty'. Plus, environmental issues. Sanitary products are something that I do believe are disgustingly unenvironmental, especially when you consider the average woman will go through nearly 11500 tampons in her lifetime. However, products such as mooncups, jam sponges and reusable sanitary towels are still considered icky by the majority of women. And I fall into this category. The thought of such close encounters with any blood, let alone menstrual, fills me with dread. It's messy, it's menstrual blood and there's more chance of accidentally getting it from fingers to clothes. Endless horrors.

Just as an aside, my housemate, although disgusted at the picture, was also quite admiring. When I asked him why, he said it was 'pretty clever as apparently a lady's facelips especially when smothered in lipstick are supposed to subconsciously remind them of a lady's front bottom lips'.

*Such as:

esdes - "I can't take this seriously and it's annoyed me in fact. The photo is gross. Why not wipe sh*t on your lips. Have I missed something?"

wanderingone - "I really don't care if people spread menstrual blood on their lips, as long as they don't try to kiss me or share a glass with me."

Scandaliser - "There was a young vampire called mable,

whose periods were always quite stable,
at every full moon,
she took out a spoon,
and drank herself under the table."

See the full article here...

Are you Happy It's Here?

P&G Femcare brand for sanitary pads, Whisper, recently launched their new site, 'Happy It's Here' in Singapore. Developed by Arc Worldwide it's based on the insight according to Valerie Cheng, creative director of Arc Worldwide Singapore, "Deep down, women are thankful each time their period arrives, as it’s the sign of a healthy, functioning body. We hope to intrigue them, and initiate an open conversation and a new movement that will lead to a renewed sense of appreciation of their female cycle.”

Using gorgeous animation and cute illustrations, Happy It's Here allows users to review their cycle and understand what to expect from their period. Aimed at the younger audience - those who are new and still getting used to their bodily changes, the website is Facebook centric and allows users to express how happy they are that they have their period and also to send compliments to their friends.

Personally, no matter how cute and cool the site is, I'm still not sure I'd want to let people know that I have my period. After all, my Facebook profile is open to all my friends, boys included and I would be reluctant for the opposite sex especially to know that. Most of the time, even when older, you work hard trying to appear as though you DON'T have our period. I'd be more likely to send the compliments. After all, they won't be appearing on MY wall. The animations are extremely fun and if I didn't know the brand, I wouldn't realise that it was associated with periods.

What do you think of it?: Happy It's Here

The Tampax Factory

I have never been woken in a more unpleasant way. Actually, that's not true, but that's another story. I awoke on a Sunday morning to my boyfriend (still drunk) singing loudly in my ear 'Far away in The Tampax Factory, shout out your orders loud and clear...' He particularly seemed to relish the verses that were most disgusting.

Apparently this is a well known rugby song. Why rugby teams should want to sing loudly about periods, I have no idea. I can only imagine it is to re-assert their masculinity after hugging on the rugby pitch and showering together in a beautiful display of manlove. The song consists of various verses surrounding the chorus:

'Far away in the Tampax Factory,

Shout out your orders loud and clear,

We have small, medium, large, JUMBO!

We supply them all

When the end of the month comes around.'

I do give them a great deal of credit though for their imaginative verses. My favourites are:

'You can tell by the smell,

That she is not very well..'

and this one especially:

'You can tell by the smeg,

Running down her leg,

That the end of the month has come..'

Check out the full and varied verses here:

Sheffield Uni's version

Dirtyballs Rugby version

ENJOY.