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Considering all of the innovation that you see in the areas of erectile dysfunction and decoding the human genome, it’s surprising not more has been done to fix period discomfort. The medical community seems more concerned with male erections and human cloning. In the meantime, many women are just stuck having a miserable three to seven days every single month. If you think about it, it’s pretty barbaric that we’re just expected to go about our usual activities when we’re literally bleeding 24/7, cramping and experiencing mood swings verging on a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation.
The good news is there are some saintly companies (truly, bless them) who have dedicated their research and efforts to making products that make that time of the month less terrible. If your arsenal has only included Midol and heating pads until now, it’s time to up your game with these six period products you didn’t know you needed.
A Cramp-Killing Device
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Livia is a little device that you attach to your pants or clothing just over your ovaries. It then sends out little micro-pulses that can quickly alleviate cramps. You can adjust the intensity to your liking. Plus, it charges via USB, so it’s easy to plug in just about anywhere, and one charge lasts 15 hours (but hopefully you won’t need it for that long).
Sex-Friendly Menstrual Discs
If you’re already comfortable with putting a menstrual cup in, then making the switch to these disposable discs should be pretty easy. You just squeeze the flexible ring at the top, insert it into the vaginal canal and get it in position up by the cervix. But, instead, of having a long tail that sticks out like the cup, it has a totally flat shape with a soft material that catches your period blood. Because it sits up high in the vaginal canal, you can even have sex while wearing one of these.
Collapsible Menstrual Case
Menstrual cups are great, but many suffer from the same issue: they don’t arrive with any sort of case. What are you supposed to do? Stash yours in a Ziplock bag until you’re ready to use it? If you don’t know when you’ll need your cup and want to keep in on hand, you need a collapsible case like this one from Desirable Secrets for it. The case will protect your cup from dust and it can even hold a carabiner clip, so you can just hook it onto your pant loops or backpack. It looks like a collapsible doggy water bowl, so no one will be the wiser. (We couldn’t find a pic of the actual case, but as you can see, this brand’s IG is a lot of fun to follow).
Actually Cute Period Panties
Period panties are one of the best ways to go if you want to be kind to the environment, don’t like the feelings of tampons and are disappointed by the absorbency of pads. But, historically, they haven’t been very cute. Now, Knix makes super cute menstrual panties that you’d gladly strut around in front of your partner in.
Cycle-Based Skin Serums
You know that your skin can be different from one week to the next. What you might not have known is that your hormones are impacting those changes. This set has four serums, each different and uniquely curated for each week of your cycle. One focuses on hydration, another on blemishes, another on dullness — each delivering just what your skin needs at the perfect time in your cycle.
An FDA-Cleared Ovulation Tracking App
If you’re looking for a totally hormone-free way to track your cycle and prevent pregnancy, this is it. Other apps have tried but failed to help women determine when they’re ovulating. But Natural Cycles has been cleared by the FDA and is as effective as certain hormonal forms of birth control. It works by having you take your temperature and adding the data to the app. It will use that information, along with your period schedule, to give you the green light (not fertile) or red (grab a condom).
