Tampon USB

A lot of the blogs and articles I've found online for the Tampon USB are pretty much filled with disgust and horror. Hmm. Hands up if you think it was a guy who wrote them?! I'm betting that if it was a giant penis or fake poo they'd be chortling like maniacal gnomes.

What I like is that whoever came up with this has a great sense of humour; they come in 3 different data 'flows' - light, regular and super. I'm also tempted to get one and take it to a client meeting. Imagine whipping that baby out in front of the suits!

I'm still trying to find out where to get one from - if anyone knows, please get in touch!

Kotex Social Experiment

I LOVE this.

I always had the rule that boys weren't proper boyfriend material until they'd passed the test of buying me 'ladies products'. For many guys, it's incredibly embarrassing, it's a whole new strange and scary world and they have absolutely no idea where to start or what to get. There's also a fear of insult - "If I get her Super size, does that mean I think she has a giant hole?".

This is great because it pretty much sums up the amount of choice in Femcare Products women now have. You have thin pantyliners, liners for different type of panties, ones for the night, ones that can fly, ones that smell funny, ones that come with skirts, one that have pearls (what is all that about?!!) - a whole plethora of confusion. Even the brands that women have grown up with are expanding their range to confuse, confuddle and to think you need the whole range. The guy in this is undoubtedly clueless. As are some of the women.

I think their new campaign and website U by Kotex is pretty good as far as Femcare websites go. It's contemporary, colourful and encourages discussion. You can also request samples of their new range if you're in the US or Canada.

Kotex says - Cuts the Crap

I'm sure many women would agree - it's slightly infuriating that so many Femcare brands portray periods as actually being a week of calm, tranquility, billowing white clothes. In fact, it's possibly even better being on your period than off!

In reality, we just get on with it. If you don't have a choice about these matters you just deal with it.

'Nuff said.

Gypsy Week

WARNING TO MEN: Be sure not to put your hand down a girls pants during this time. You'll be sure to get your palm read.

DOES everybody love a menstruating girl?

I must say, the more time I spend online the more weirdos I find.

Whilst browsing my favourite site, Etsy, I found a T-shirt that to be quite frank, puzzled me. Why on earth would you buy, let alone WEAR, a T-Shirt that says, Everybody loves a menstruating girl. For a start, no, I don't get that it's a take on the 'Everybody loves an Italian boy' T-shirt - perhaps this just hasn't hit the UK yet. And secondly, chrissakes, the menstruating bit isn't even in blood red. You'd have thought they'd have at least got that bit sorted. And why exclusively a tampon? Isn't that a bit period-ist? What about all the others, like mooncups, fanny pads, jam sponges and goodness knows what other freakish devices there are out there.

It would be interesting to see how many and why these have sold. Check it out for yourself - and let me know if you're tempted.

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