What Happened to Kayo’s Flow Forum? (Again)

Hi Everyone,

Long-time-no-update indeed! I know much of my menstrual faithfuls and community members have really been lost due to the disappearance of Kayo’s Flow Forum. I wholeheartedly thank a MiM reader “Caroline” for her very helpful tidbit that he has graciously posted on this blog. For those who are not familiar with Kayo’s (and I do need to stress that the site is “Viewers Discretion” and NSFW), it has been the mother-ship of all things menstrual – or rather, more of an erotic nature rather than an educational one. Kayo’s Flow Forum had been discontinued without prior notice, probably to the chagrin of many readers. It was located at http://www.dotcomjunkies.com/members/kayo/forum/ and http://www.spamfreeforums.com/kayo/index.shtml which are now no longer operational and renders an empty/defunct webpage.

I visited Kayo’s daily since the day of the shutdown and sadly, it was never resurrected and I kept on seeing a white empty page. When I thought “it was all over”….

On July 1, 2015 at 2:27 PM – Caroline said:

Ah I knew I could count on you to still be in “the flow”. Yep, SpamFreeForums closed it doors and snuck off in the dead of night, leaving no forwarding address. It sucks. I have set up a temporary forum for us to gather our thoughts and try to figure out how to get ourselves a stable home. Go here: http://kayosflowforum.freeforums.net/. It’s free… easy to register. I don’t intend to make it a permanent forum because honestly the interface sucks… but options are limited for us poor “marginal topic” folks I guess. How about a Facebook page?? lol… anyhow… that’s the news. Hope to see some familiar names at the new site!

This brings great relief to the menstrual “fan” community that we have settled and have hopefully found a place that we can call home again. I will of course be updating my navigation link to reflect the change in URL. Unfortunately, the new Kayo’s Flow Forum will probably take quite a while to show up on search engines again and push down the remnants of our old home. I’m sure many people who are wonder, “OH NO, where did Kayo’s Flow Forum go?!” are still getting redirected to the old site when using search engine queries. I panicked just as much as you guys did, as that is one of the few popular places on the internet that has a ‘beyond loving welcome of menstruation’… I am certainly seeing many other “period-positive” sites… but just not generally of that “nature”.

I’ve been told that this new landing spot may be temporary, permanent or temporarily-permanent (hah).

We all breathe a sigh-of-relief this day as we know that TFF still lives. I want to thank everyone’s effort in this, everyone from the webmasters to my “informants” who keep a watchful eye.

Now it looks like we can all “Have A Happy Period!”

And… of course for the people who just like to scroll to the bottom of blog entries without the details, THE NEW KAYO’S FLOW FORUM IS LOCATED @ http://kayosflowforum.freeforums.net/

What Happened to Kayo’s Flow Forum?

Hi Everyone,

Long-time-no-update indeed! I know much of my menstrual faithfuls and community members have really been lost due to the disappearance of Kayo’s Flow Forum. I wholeheartedly thank a MiM reader “Another_Jeffrey” for his very helpful tidbit that he has graciously posted on this blog. For those who are not familiar with Kayo’s (and I do need to stress that the site is “Viewers Discretion” and NSFW), it has been the mother-ship of all things menstrual – or rather, more of an erotic nature rather than an educational one. Kayo’s Flow Forum had been discontinued without prior notice, probably to the chagrin of many readers. It was located at http://www.dotcomjunkies.com/members/kayo/forum/ which is now no longer operational and renders an empty webpage.

On October 16, 2012 – Another_Jeffrey said:

Kayo’s Flow Forum is down at the moment because the domain name expired. It is not known if DCJ will continue in operation.

I visited Kayo’s daily since the day of the shutdown and sadly, it was never resurrected and I kept on seeing a white empty page. When I thought “it was all over”….

On November 8, 2012 – Another_Jeffrey said:

After a temporary run at periodforum.com (whose account was suspended), Kayo has restored the site at
http://www.spamfreeforums.com/kayo/index.shtml
It is physically on the same server that housed dotcomjunkies.com. The archives are still on that server, it is just a question of how to get it over to the spamfreeforums partition. No password required to post for the moment, but details of how to secure a handle are included in the first few posts at the new site.

This brings great relief to the menstrual “fan” community that we have settled and have hopefully found a place that we can call home again. I will of course be updating my navigation link to reflect the change in URL. Unfortunately, the new Kayo’s Flow Forum will probably take quite a while to show up on search engines again and push down the remnants of our old home. I’m sure many people who are wonder, “OH NO, where did Kayo’s Flow Forum go?!” are still getting redirected to the old site when using search engine queries. I panicked just as much as you guys did, as that is one of the few popular places on the internet that has a ‘beyond loving welcome of menstruation’… I am certainly seeing many other “period-positive” sites… but just not generally of that “nature”.

Please note that as per information provided by Another_Jeffrey and Kayo, that while handles are currently not mandatory, it’s suggested you get one registered for the near future where registration will be required (for posting). There currently isn’t an automated registration form, therefore you’ll have to do it the old fashion way as described here.

Hello people,

Please drop me an email and mention your desired handle. I will register it asap and sent you the password. sff_online at hotmail.com

Important; put “flow forum” in the subject. Its a busy mailbox…with this subject i can help faster 🙂

Best regards, webbie

Kayo also happened to change the current site introduction blurb, probably to reflect what happened/the current situation of TFF/TFF2. However, one of the members “Crossdresser” happened to have a record of the previous blurb which many of us has become accustomed to…:

Welcome All Menstruation Freaks!

Visit my Flow Forum II, sign my guestbook, or enter my private chat.

Why do we do this!? What’s WRONG with us!?
What ever happened to Bianca? Will she ever return? Who cares!?
Do women REALLY like talking about periods!!? Really??
Do guys really get off on this stuff? Do girls!!??

Aren’t you even the LEAST bit curious?… So? Come find out.

And then finally Kayo gave an official response to the situation, minus the details:

Many thanks to Karel (our old DCJ Gremlin Guru Webmaster) for getting us back on the ‘net.

I won’t make this a long story but to answer your questions. For reasons beyond Karel’s control, he could no longer maintain DCJ on the server it was on. He was very upset about this. He did maintain a backup site for DCJ (SpamFreeForums) and I remembered that he had posted the link on DCJ some time ago, in case DCj ever went off-line. So I went to SFF, but the link to DCJ was no longer there, and I could find nothing about DCJ. Taking a chance, I wrote to Webmaster at SFF looking for an email to Karel or Spekie. Karel got in touch with me and offered to set us up here on SFF. So all credit goes to Karel!!

The page looks and feels more or less the same because he is using the same script from DCJ. Spekie owns the server where everything was archived, so it may be possible at some point to get those old posts back, but the truth is we can start fresh and make new archives here. As more members find us and register, we might revive a few threads… we’ll see.

Karel has also tweaked a few things so Google will now display links to this page when searching for the old forum. It might not be the first page or even the second, but I checked with a few keywords and we’re getting some hits already.

We all breathe a sigh-of-relief this day as we know that TFF still lives. I want to thank everyone’s effort in this, everyone from the webmasters to my “informants” who keep a watchful eye.

Now it looks like we can all “Have A Happy Period!”

And… of course for the people who just like to scroll to the bottom of blog entries without the details, THE NEW KAYO’S FLOW FORUM IS LOCATED @ http://www.spamfreeforums.com/kayo/

Did Jordyn Wieber Really Need To Take Her Tampon Out?

For those particularly sensitive to a good menstrual kick, please skip this entry.

This has been a pretty big topic today with U.S. gymnast Jordyn Wieber being alleged of saying that, “I got to take out my tampon” after U.S. women gymnastics win the gold.

This entry is not about shaming menstruation or that it’s crazy to imagine the need for a tampon to be changed, but more for the amusement that it happened to be recorded/interpreted (if in fact what she said is factual). Let me tell you, I’m no lip-reader, but it sure as hell looks pretty close. Some have debated that she could also be saying she needed to, “take her tape off.” Apparently a lot of people have commented via twitter (one of which I re-tweeted) that she did indeed say that she needed to take her tampon out. Looks like we have some really detailed viewers would actually pay attention to someone’s mouth where the voice was barely audible (unless I have poor hearing or just haven’t turned up my speakers enough). If I were watching the Olympics and given the short amount of time that the camera actually panned close enough to see her mouth move, I highly doubt I would’ve caught that.

Suffice to say, it’s not like a girl having her period is any surprize. It’s just the overall “woh did she really say that?” value that attracts a lot of attention, it is JUST menstruation after all.

People have periods, don’t explode over one of those amusing face-palm moments 🙂 For the sake of sanity, I’ve disabled comments on this entry.

You can take a look at the video posted here: http://www.viddler.com/mini/73fa9125/

Thanks for ANCHORMAN at Kayo’s forum for bringing this item to light!

Abuse of power?

Watch the video below =P

 

The reason why (As a girl myself, generally speaking) a girl yells “I’m on my period!” is NOT BS. Guys may think so, but guys don’t experience the horrible cramps some girls suffer every month, some so bad all we wana do is lie down in bed and sleep the week away.
If the cramps are not bad enough, we also have heat-flash and sweat at inappropriate times non-stop, some of us get accompanying migraine, constipation and bloatiness as well. Its like having an unjustified fever for an illness that happens like clockwork every month without fail, that no medicine can cure.
I myself wouldn’t demand for favours (like the “girl” in the video), but I would appreciate if I were allowed to rest away the excruciating (Not dramatizing) pain away in peace.

Also, we get horrible mood swings. I do know guys who say “So what PMS? You’re a girl, you learn to live and cope with it! Don’t blame bitchiness on PMS! It’s not a valid excuse!”

One: If we girls can cope with your “manly” traits (For example, picking up gaming or watching football) – you can sure as heck cope with our PMS. PMS is a “feminine” thing, just like football is a “guy” thing.

Two: If a generally nice girl turns bitchy – think! Why would she do that? Something you said/did? Or PMS? Pray its the latter, because if it is the first – it means the guy is a jerk. =P (See, PMS is an excuse for guys as well! teehee!)

Three: You think you can CONTROL mood swings. Unfortunately, we can’t control hormones, unless we ingest drugs. Don’t want to mess our body for your (future) children, would you? What if every woman begin to take hormone pills at the moment of puberty? Can you imagine the potential deformed children that might result?

You (the male reader, duh lol) think moods are something we women have to live with, so we ought to learn to control it. What if we don’t even know the trigger?

Four: It is common knowledge that an injured animal is an aggressive one. Pain makes animals, heck, even humans – go haywire. Imagine getting stabbed with the kitchen knife just above your reproductive organs, say – once every three minutes, for at least 12 hours a day (Well, that’s for me, the other 12 are spent sleeping away the pain.).

That’s how bad some cramps can get. Would you be smiling and all-round-pleasant if you are stabbed in the lower abs non-stop for a few days? Get used to the pain, you say? Where is that kitchen knife? Freely knife yourself now, and wait three minutes, then knife yourself again in the same area. Wait three minutes, knife again, repeat for at least one day.

You’d pass out within a few stabs.

Still think periods are BS?

Goodbye Pads & Tampons – Hello Menstrual Cup!

You’ll find this title picture very amusing after you read the entry… (or at least if you know what’s in the theme of the picture)

So yesterday I participated in a grand celebration of a one-year anniversary of Bepreparedperiod tweet chats! It was a fantastic party, again, reminding us that the menstrual cycle is a perfectly natural bodily process and we should not be ashamed to speak about it. It’s also important that both guys and girls have equal opportunity to be educated through books and dialogue. During the tweet chat, I mentioned the excitement of introducing a menstrual cup to one of my girls which @bpreparedperiod suggested I blog on. What a wonderful idea, it totally didn’t cross my mind to write about it! It only happened less than a week ago so it’s still fresh on to my mind on how it happened!

So pretty much the highlight of this entry is that I managed to convince one of my girls to try a menstrual cup, although it was definitely an interesting method… one I would not recommend you employing unless you really know the person is comfortable with it and can take a hardy joke. Last weekend, I was over at her house and recently, I had purchased a menstrual cup from a nearby “green” store. It was in the trunk so I thought, “Hey, why not try to persuade —- to give it a shot?” As with most of my girls, the idea of reusable menstrual products do not sit well, particularly when it comes to the question of, “How do I clean it?” Unfortunately the second I have to say “dump and wash it” or “throw it in the laundry” I get that exasperated look already. I may be a person who likes to poke and prod here and there to see if they’ll change their minds, but I never force… after all, menstrual products are all personal preference and I hate the idea that one is “superior” to another – each has its own merits.

My friend just got her period the day before, so it was a perfect opportunity for me to give her a prod to try out the product. I know she’s weary of it, but she’s also one of my girls who is the type to be persuaded with a wee bit of pressure. We were about to head out to shop, so she went into her room to change. I snuck upstairs to her bathroom and took the basket where she keeps her pads and tampons. I emptied out the pads/tampons into my laptop bag temporarily because that’d be the last place she would assume I’d hide them! I brought the basket back into her bathroom and in place of the 20 some-odd products she had in it initially, I replaced it with one item – a menstrual cup.

Heck, I could be an Olympian assassin being able to pull that off without her noticing my movements and within record time! I see all this running and exercising of mine is paying off 😆 I ran back downstairs and sat on the couch and waiting to hear her reaction from upstairs. I could hear her room door opening and she trotted toward the bathroom, likely to change herself before we left the house. I could hear her screaming my name and I burst out laughing. I’m sure some of my readers will consider this a cruel act, however, I know her well enough to not cause any hard feelings and in the event she really asked for pads or tampons back, I wouldn’t withhold them from her. I expected her to come rushing down and scrounging for her products back, but to my surprize, she didn’t. She called me upstairs and asked me to help her (through the door) to figure out how to use it. Now obviously I don’t have a vagina and have never inserted a menstrual cup in my life, but I guess conceptually I know it as well as I could. I talked her through it and she managed to get it in after about 15 minutes (or at least what FELT like 15) of fiddling with it and came out smiling.

She did ask for a pad to put on just-in-case the cup leaked since it is her first time using one, so I just gave everything back to her. I asked her if it felt anything like using a tampon and she said, “Not at all – feels even better and more reassuring.” I was really pleased that she took an opportunity to try it out and whether she continues using it, she at least gave herself the exposure to reusable menstrual products. A few hours into shopping, she was worried it would start to spill as it was day 2 for her and she doesn’t exactly flow on the light side either. She asked me to wait outside the “family” washroom for her just in case she ran into some major trouble. It took her some extra time (compared to when she uses conventional pads/tampons), but I heard the toilet flush so I assumed everything was ok. She emerged, smiled and told me everything was fine and that the cup wasn’t even close to full. She even happily touted that she doubted any pad/tampon she used could’ve withstood so many hours without leaking when she’s this heavy! She was so pleased with the cup that she even told me she ditched the pad because she felt secure enough.

She did mention that at first, when she had to rinse out the cup it was rather disturbing to see how much menstrual flow there was because she’s never seen the true amount of flow whenever it was absorbed into disposable pads or tampons. She also had to be quite careful upon removing the cup as to not spill the entire content all over the place. Understandably, there are all concerns that many of my other disposable-loving girls have. I always like to give opportunities for my girls try new products, disposables and reusables. I will never force the issue, though it can be quite fun and amusing (person-dependent) to pull something like this off and end up with a great reward. Now I have one more of my girls who has at least tried using a cup and that may perhaps create a path for her to try other reusable products like cloth pads.

While writing this entry, I exchanged a few text messages with her to see if she had any additional thoughts. She doubts that she will adopt the menstrual cup as a permanent replacement of her menstrual hygiene options, but definitely will be replacing her tampon-use overnight as it prevents the worry of TSS risk when sleeping beyond 8 hours. The cup will also be more convenient at home to use, though that doesn’t necessarily mean she won’t use it outside of the house either… however, using disposables can sometimes prove to be a convenience. On her VERY heavy days, pairing the cup with a pad backup would buy her a lot of time in between changing if needed or would give her a peace-of-mind to sleep in. Finally, she can immensely cut down purchases of pads/tampons since she has an extra option to rotate with and generate less trash every month.

I hope you found as much joy through this entry as I did with my little joke – which turned out great. I have to reiterate that this is not something everyone should try, unless you know your ‘target’ well. Though it sounded like I did this in the heat-of-the-moment, there was a lot of contemplation and consideration before pulling this off. Remember that you should never force menstrual hygiene options on someone, but encouraging and providing options through a friendly and helpful manner will bring you a better response. You can never understand another person’s needs, comfort level and feelings, so you should ensure not to press the matter beyond what is reasonable between the two of you! 🙂

Source: http://menstrualcupinfo.files.wordpress.com/

Sasa Hong Kong – Sanitary Napkins From Asia

Feminine Hygiene treasures from Hong Kong to Canada!

So here it is everyone, after a very long wait for a delivery promotion to be offered through Sasa (Hong Kong) I finally bit the bullet and bought from sanitary napkins that are usually only offered in Asia!

For those who are also interested, it just so happens that they extended the offer and only for 2 more days (expires Jun 13) – Sasa is offering worldwide shipping for free on all purchases over $19USD. My order came to 20.50 which is pretty damn good 😆 For those who don’t want to navigate through the site, you can directly make your way to the feminine hygiene category. Of course the site company doesn’t ONLY sell feminine hygiene products so I  would recommend you browse the rest of the site to see if there are things that suits your needs. After all, normally with shipping nearing $20 on a single order (unless you break the $100 free shipping mark), it’s really a good promotion whether or not you decide to buy some feminine hygiene products through them! This will particularly appeal to Canadians as we seem to have a tough time getting a hold of international products whereas in the US they have some really nice import-product sites which only ship to the continental US.

In this order, I made the following purchases:

2x Laurier Safety Guard Slim Night 30cm (8 piece)

1x Laurier Super Guard Heavy Night 34cm (8 piece)

1x CENTER-IN FUWA FUWA TYPE Napkins with Wings (Night) (11 piece)

1x Laurier Safety Guard Slim Wing 22.5cm (20 piece)

I have already done some preliminary testing on the products, but I definitely waiting for some of my girl’s periods to come around, that way they can do further and more detailed menstrual testing! The first one I tested definitely didn’t make it onto my “love it” scale unfortunately. However, I won’t spoil the fun of saying which one it was that didn’t make the cut, but rather, release reviews slowly and as time permits.

You may notice my lack of updates, but seriously, I don’t like it either. Adult life is not really fun 🙂 Luckily, my girls will be more available as summer as arrived and they will be on break or at least on a lighter (haha) course load… or well, at least for the ones who are still attending school… for the ones who are like me and working, it makes no difference!

The great thing about products from Asia is they tend to fall under 4 categories instead of 3 that are offered regularly in Canada.

Canada:

– Pantiliner
– Ultra thin
– Maxi

Asia:

– Pantiliner
– Ultra thin (Day-Use)
– Slim (Day/Night-Use)
– Maxi (Day/Night-Use)

Most of the ones I have ordered in this shipment fall under the “slim” category… where it’s not paper-like thinness, nor is it the full bulk of what we consider to be ‘maxi’ here.

So this post is just a nice little teaser… how long I’ll be teasing for 😛 I don’t really know… but at least for anyone else who’s interesting in putting in their own order will be happy to know they have a few more days to take advantage of this fabulous shipping offer. Otherwise, you can sit (really) tight and await my next review for one of these lucky products! I have to admit, the shipping speed was pretty good (I just went with the regular service, not the expedited) and I luckily didn’t get nailed at customs for any additional fees (since they would only be allowed to charge PST portion of the HST duty due to all my items being classified as feminine hygiene products) since they probably would only get a few dollars for all the paperwork involved. It only took about a full business week to get to me, from Hong Kong to Canada, ON.

Always Radiant Infinity Overnight Pads – Mini Review

Always Infinity Radiant Overnight – Box Front

Hi Everyone,

A few weeks ago, I got my hands on the new Always Radiant series of pads at Walmart (they were only $2.97!!!). I haven’t had time to write much, but today I do, so I’m making a mini review. You may think, “Why a mini review? Is it in relation to the size of the pad?” … well no, it’s not, hah, but it’s mini because I’ve written an Always Infinity review here before and the pad itself has not changed considerably, therefore it’d be rather repetitive to write on things that haven’t changed… but rather, I’m going to concentrate on some of the stuff that has changed. I will of course have detailed pictures which may overlap with the previous review for your viewing pleasure. On the 3 insides of the box, they even included $5 worth of coupons for future purchase of Radiant-series products!

Always Infinity Radiant Overnight – Box Top (Damn those fingerprint smudges!)

Always Infinity has always been a “premium line” of their Always series products. Unless you catch them on a really good deal, they’re pretty hard to match in price when it comes to the number per box versus the traditional bag of Always pads. They haven’t really made the Radiant series anymore “premium” than their original Infinity line so it hasn’t added any additional excitement to the pad…. unless you’re particularly picky with decorations of the pad and box. What I’m happy about is they didn’t do pull a “downsizing” trick like Stayfree did when they went from the normal Stayfree line to the Thermocontrol line. The original Infinity line had 12 overnight sized pads and luckily, the radiant line still continues to have 12.

Always Infinity Radiant Overnight – Box Rear

Here is the description of the pad from Always site for the Infinity Overnight:

Sleep easy with the absorbency of a pad like no other. Always Infinity is made with an incredibly absorbent material called Infinicel, which can hold 10x its weight. Which means it’s absorbent enough for your heavy nights and so thin, you might even forget you’re wearing a pad. Its revolutionary new wings are designed for secure protection and less mess on the sides. The microdots help channel fluid deep into the pad and away from you, helping you feel dry. And the form-fitting channels and soft cover sheet provide comfort and great leakage protection. Rest assured, this pad’s got you covered.

When I first heard the sudden announcement of the Radiant line, menstrual community members as well as myself were really trying to figure out what changes they have/will make to the pad. It seems like there were very few answers and when we did get an “official” answer, it was very lackluster as the changes were all non-performance related changes. For instance, making a prettier box or wrapper doesn’t make the pad any better. The only thing that made it ‘better’ (and not for everyone) was that they have added a light scent to the pad.

Here is the description of the pad from Always site for the new Radiant Infinity Overnight:

Longer than our Radiant Regular pads, NEW – Radiant Overnight Pads help keep your period invisible even while you sleep. Our unique technology allows Radiant Pads to conform to each individual and unique shape and with the premium protection and performance you expect from Always Infinity. With NEW fun,designer packaging and wrapper, Radiant is worthy of your unique stye. Radiant Pads also feature a new backsheet design for an extra feminine touch. And we’ve added a light, clean scent, to help you feel fresh.

Always Infinity Radiant Overnight – Box Left

Always Infinity Radiant Overnight – Box Right

What is a really awkward thing about the release of the Radiant series is that (SIGH ONCE AGAIN) the US seems to have more products available than Canada. I’m actually not sure who’s “fault” this is, whether it is Health Canada that prevents them from releasing certain products for sale or whether P&G decides not to make a particular product available here in Canada. In the US, there are 3 Radiant pad absorbency available in-line with the original Infinity series, Regular, Heavy, and Overnight. In Canada, for some reason they only offer the Regular and Overnight absorbency. What kind of crap is this? What now, the Canadian population for some reason only floats between either having a light flow or a super heavy flow?

Though I do lament about the fact there hasn’t been any major performance changes to the pad, one of the change is quite inviting (to the nose at least). I always doubt the “necessity” of scenting pads/tampons because of the chemicals used and being in such close contact with sensitive body parts. However, I loved opening the box and the pad to get a very nice orange-like smell. It’s quite pleasing and it does help reduce odour during/after use. Furthermore, when you store it with other things (pads, tampons or otherwise), it makes everything else smell good! I actually happen to store my stash in a musky old cabinet and it has greatly improved the smell of the cabinet 😆 I thought about in the future when I buy these for my girls, I’m going to have to take a “levy” and use it as air freshener!

Always Infinity Radiant Overnight – Pad Length

It does not appear the pad dimensions or overall build has changed. The pad is still incredibly light, giving foreign pads like “Laurier F” a run for its money to build a pad that is even lighter than your typical ultra thins. Since the pad is not symmetrical and has a very unique design, it’s necessary to clearly differentiate the front and rear of the pad via the wings sticker.  The box design does have a shiny, attractive look. Instead of having a “fact and myth” section like the Kotex packaging does, Always has a “Let Your Style Shine” section which has recommendations on using crafts to make a fashion statement.

The back of the box has a new layout with an image of a pair of cute panties and the pad itself. Listed are also the “selling features” of the pad:

+ Made differently so it protects differently.
+ Absorbs 4x more than you may need.
+ Soft, seamless and flexible design to move with you
+ Light, clean scent so you feel fresh

Though I really do like the new scent they added and the pretty design of the box, it’s not enough to “win me over” per se for making it sound like this great new product. So far I haven’t quite seen whether they’re completely transitioning away from the original Infinity line, so we’ll find out in time. I still see both stocked on the shelf, but that may be short-lived if they’re actually phasing it out. Lucky for people who buy it, you’re not being short-changed by any reductions in the equivalent packages by downsizing the number of units per box. The “Radiant” series also extends to the Tampax Pearl line, Pantiliner and Wipes.

I hope you enjoy the scent as much as I did 😛 Unlike when Infinity first unveiled, there’s no need to scramble to your nearest store to buy it, there’s nothing amazingly special unfortunately.

Man Wearing a Maxi Pad for a Week: The Max-Pax Experiment by Sam Jordan

So through some random internet searching, I bumped into a funny article posted up by a guy who was “challenged” to know what it feels like to wear a pad. This person wasn’t approaching this from a fetish point of view, but rather, a lady had made a statement to him about, “there needs to be a rule that says you can’t make a maxi pad or tampon joke unless you’ve actually had to wear them.” The author of the comedy article was written by Sam Jordan. He took up this unsaid challenge, to wear a pad for a week so that he could talk the talk and walk the walk.

Since I don’t know about the re-posting/copyright surrounding the article, I chose not to copy & paste it here (even with due credit of course). Feel free to read the article located at this link: http://www.zug.com/live/89365/The-ManPax-Experiment.html

There is nothing terribly graphic in the whole article and it was done in a humourous tone rather than a true “research” standpoint. Even I found it pretty amusing, without casting judgement of course (oh shit, who am I to cast judgment of all people right?!)

I did get a kick at how he “took me a good 10 minutes to figure out how to install a maxi pad” because it doesn’t seem like a very difficult contraption. Ya sure, I know I probably have some extended experience with feminine hygiene products, but I must say it isn’t all that complex given the lack of opportunity to go wrong… unpack, peel stickies, attach to garment and at most – lock down the wings. Onto page two of his article, it was interesting to note that he used boxer-briefs for his pad-wearing week… I suppose that’d work if using the wings weren’t required. Then he mentioned that, “within seconds of wearing feminine protection, I was thinking like a woman and worrying about how my butt looked.” and I always wonder how true that is because most of my girls don’t seem to worry about that. Even for my girls who wear thick pads, unless you’re wearing skin-tight pants, the likelihood of a pad showing through is low. However, the brave soul he is I suppose he’d have a right to question that and worry.

Finally, onto the last page, he describes some of the activities he goes through during the week with a pad on (I hope he changed regularly… if he didn’t – that would be REALLY uncomfortable…) and the restrictive feeling he had. He closed off with on the final night wearing the pad over his eyes for a good night’s rest! I’d be interested in knowing whether he only wore the pad actively during the day, or whether he even wore it at night. All in all, I have to admit this guy sure as hell is brave for daring to wear a pad for a week AND also talk about it online.

I’d recommend reading the article for more details and to view his funny pictures. I got a kick out of an article comment which dared him to try tampons for a week. That made my jaw drop, haha! 😆

Menstruation Through The Eyes of a Typical Male

This weekend, I had the opportunity to get in touch with many of my guy friends. Oddly enough, most of my girls live close to me and it’s only on holidays where I get to see my closer male friends who come back into town. Though we keep in-touch over messaging and phone, it still doesn’t replace that face-to-face contact. More to this, is that I wanted to run some things over discreetly with them, such that I also needed to be able to see their facial reactions and gauge changes in body posture and voice intonation. Now suffice to say, it’s not like I’m some psychology expert, but anyone who communicates regularly with people know that being able to see those factors enhances our ability to detect and sense otherwise undetectable things through other forms of communication.

Yay, I'm part of the 0.5% - lol!

This weekend, having 4 days off (today’s the last day, BOO) – my goal was to collect some ideas from the guy’s about their perceptions of menstruation, or rather, perhaps demystify some of the things guys think or say about menstruation or surrounding topics. Mind you, this isn’t a collection of every “view” of menstruation of all males, but only through contact with a few of my guy friends who “dared” to speak to me about such subjects. To be honest, when I gave them feedback on their statements, it was probably more detail than they were ever hoping for. However, having an opportunity for open dialogue is the start to end the taboo on menstruation, for males and females. If we can’t talk about it, then menstrual negativity is going to perpetuate for years to come. The following is a few of the dialogues I had between my various friends.

The Guys:

“Girls use tampons on their period”

Yes and no. Yes, some girls DO use tampons for their periods. However, ‘tampon’ is not an interchangeable word and only describes one, of the many forms of feminine hygiene products. A tampon is usually a cylindrical piece of cotton or other synthetic materials which is inserted into the vagina to absorb menstrual flow. Other notable menstrual protection include disposable pads, cloth pads, menstrual cups, sea sponges, etc. Furthermore, there ARE also women who enjoy free-bleeding and as long as that works with their lifestyle and is considerate of sanitation to those around them, then that’s great!

The Guys:

“She’s angry, it must be that-time-of-month”

I have to say, that’s a pretty nasty statement to make and if you’ve tried that with a less-than-humoured girl, it might result in some kicks to the nuts. Though there are times that PMS may lead to irritability, anger or emotional state changes in a woman, it does not mean her period is around the corner. I believe in 2 things regarding this. 1) Women should not be able to use their period/PMS as an excuse for inappropriate behaviour, 2) Men should not use periods/PMS as a means of attacking a woman’s behaviour. With that said, there have been many articles written by men that essentially says, “PMS is not a valid excuse” and since that would otherwise ruin my point that it’s not coming from the viewpoint of a woman – you can reference an article written by a lady here concerning the topic: PMS is no excuse for acting like a bitch – we should recognize that hormonal fluctuations during a menstrual cycle may be a factor of sharply changing behaviour, but not allow it to justify disrespect. Hell, even if it really is PMS or menstrual temper I can almost guarantee you’d be better off not to point it out, unless you can do it in fashion without throwing oil in the fire.

The Guys:

“The only time that I like knowing she got her period is when I’m worried she’s pregnant”

Well, the sigh of relief may be for both parties I suppose in this case. Menstruation however, is something to love and appreciate. Though I know some of my girls have waited in angst for their period to arrive when they had some “oopsies” – as guys, we should consider that normal menstrual cycle means our partner’s body is functioning well (most of the time). What’s better than your loved ones being healthy? Also, while periods are known to wreak havoc, there are also women out there who experienced heightened libidos are really want their sex! Which leads me onto the next point…

The Guys:

“I hate when her period comes! Means no sex for a week”

Menstrual sex is a personal choice and between the involved participants. Not all girls reject sex during her period. In fact, there are many couples who enjoy menstrual sex. Menstrual sex can be pretty cool, think of all the free lube! As long as you are practicing safe-sex or your partner is healthy, menstrual sex doesn’t pose any significant risks. For those who may be less adventurous with penetrative sex, oral sex or just some sensual time together can just be as fulfilling. After all, they didn’t make sex toys for no reason 😛

The Guys:

“I’m always afraid she’s hurt”

It took me a while figuring this one out because I thought he was talking about cramps. But it turns out that for us guys, we associate “bleeding” (or blood) with pain or injury. True enough, if any part of my body began to bleed, I’d probably freak out. Menstruation though is a normal biological function, so “bleeding” for women isn’t necessarily a sign of injury or pain. Sexual stimulation in/around her vagina during this time isn’t going to hurt her unless she has other complexities. Even if she’s feeling some pain from cramps, a good ol’ orgasm can actually wisp that away pretty quickly!

The Guys:

“Menstrual blood is dangerous”

Menstrual blood is only as dangerous as normal blood contact would be. An otherwise healthy individual without transmittable diseases would not have any major dangers. However, certainly menstrual flow that is expelled from the body is still considered bio-hazardous and may contain bacteria or other forms of germs, but it probably won’t kill you or anything if you come in regular contact with it. If the blood is dried, that’s even a lesser concern as exposure to open air for a period of time already cause major bacterial forms to die. If you’re in a monogamous and know thoroughly the healthiness of your partner, the likelihood of dying in a fiery car crash is probably much higher than a deadly illness arriving from sexual contact from menstrual flow.

The Guys:

“I love being able to ejaculate in my girlfriend when she’s on her period because it’s safe”

I had to ask him what he meant by “safe” – he meant that he’s safe from getting his girlfriend knocked up. I had to break it to him that while conceiving while menstruating is low, it’s also not impossible as conceiving during menstruation has been known to happen. It is quite possible for sperm to stay alive within an optimal environment within the vagina, meaning that pregnancy can occur just before/after active menstruation. Also bleeding may potentially be mistaken as full out menses which may mean fertilization is still possible. If conceiving a child isn’t in your line of responsibilities at the moment (or never), then practicing safe-sex at ANY time is necessary.

The Guys:

“I don’t get it. How can she lose so much blood regularly without dying?”

With the number of pads and tampons that are used and the way they appear when they’re saturated, it may appear there’s a lot of blood loss. The reality is that the amount of menstrual flow per period is not that great (sans medical conditions). At an “upper estimate” of 9 tbsp of menstrual flow per period, it’s not exactly cause for concern of massive blood loss. According to my very quick research, the body begins to have adverse medical reaction at 15% of total blood loss. Given that the human body contains about 5 litres of blood, 9 tbsp is about 0.133 litres of blood – or about 2.66% per period. What is necessary to note is that during menstruation, “flow” that is lost is not entirely composed of blood alone. Barring any medical conditions, a normal menstrual cycle isn’t going to drain your girlfriend’s blood supply low!

The Guys:

“Does she have to change her tampon every time she pees?”

Nope, not unless she wants to or needs to. The urethra and vagina are two different holes (I’d be impressed if you could get your penis in her urethra) and furthermore, most girls usually will hold/tuck the string while peeing to avoid it getting wet. Others just simply let nature take its course and then using some toilet paper to mop up the tampon string dry in case it gets wet. Some girls just don’t care at all, because that’s what underwear is for anyway! It’s like magic to guys, but just with a bit of a tug, a girl can check whether her tampon needs to be changed. If it comes out easily, then it’s all saturated and needs to be changed. If there is resistance, then the tampon is still usable, with the exception that her: 1) period is over, 2) she wants to change products, or 3) her tampon has been in for/nearing 8 hours.

The Guys:

“She doesn’t talk to me about her period”

Let’s face it, most guys don’t really want to hear about girls periods, so therefore, girls have been programmed not to divulge anything about it. Right from Wikipedia sources, “Studies have shown nearly all girls in the USA believe that girls should not talk about menstruation with boys, and more than one-third of the girls did not believe that it was appropriate to discuss menstruation with their fathers. The basis of many conduct norms and communication about menstruation in western industrial societies is the belief that menstruation should remain hidden.” That’s not to say I’ve never met girls who’ve approached the topic of menstruation with me openly (without knowledge of my interest), but in general, I really have to be the one to broach on the topic and show that I’m “accepting” to converse about it before they come comfortable with speaking about it. Unless the girl is particularly open with her bodily functions or that the relationship has progressed to an intimate level, it’s likely you will have to be proactive and show her that she can speak to you about such ‘private’ matters. It might not even be that she doesn’t want you to know, but that menstruation is generally regarded with shame and is indecent to talk about, particularly with a male. If you two ever plan on moving forward with a successful relationship, talking about menstruation is probably to least of challenges.

The Guys:

“I’m so grossed out by periods”

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Honestly, I find semen much more repulsive if anything. The menstrual cycle and the female anatomy is so beautiful. I can only hope to educate you about menstruation to help you change your mind about it, but I’m not going to try to turn a stone into gold.

The Guys:

“Why does she like to ask me to buy her pads/tampons?”

I don’t think most girls “like” asking you to buy it, in fact, most do it only when they really need to, like when they’re clumped over on the couch. Because pads/tampons are very personal choices, most women like to shop for it themselves. However, there are also guys I know who get it as part of their grocery list, but I don’t it’s a really ‘unique’ thing. She has every right to ask you if you guys are involved in a committed relationship and if she has ever bought anything for you in your life, then she can expect you to buy this for her. As long as she equips you with enough information to buy it, it should be fair game. For some women, it can be used as a ‘test’ to see if you’re man enough to do it or they don’t really think anything of it. You’re out getting those apples anyway, why not a box of tampons or a pack of pads?

The Guys:

“It’s amazing, how does she even keep track of how often to change or when it gets full?”

With pads it’s fairly simple, because a visual inspection will allow a girl to know whether her pad is getting full or not. Also, as pads get saturated, the pad will usually become heavier and there may be a damp feeling. With tampons, as I explained above, usually a quick “tug test” will already reveal whether changing is required. For most girls though, it’s just a matter of timed washroom breaks to do a check-up. Some girls may change ahead of time if they’re planning travel which does not give them accessibility to washrooms. I know with most of my girls, they opt to change later when they’re at home as they can get to a washroom any time. However, if they’re heading for a several hour road trip they change before they leave the house or double-up protection. Despite a girl being an expert on her body and diligent on her feminine hygiene needs, leaks may sometimes still happen and that’s ok. It’s like sneezing. Try as you might, but doesn’t stop it from coming out!

The Guys:

“Girls can’t swim on their periods”

Whether the girl ‘can’ swim is subjective on her own skill, not whether she has her period or not. However, if you’re talking about methods to control menstrual flow, they can opt to use internal forms of feminine hygiene, as pads would be out of the question. Feminine products worn within the vagina will offer a chance for the girl to swim while maintaining hygiene for herself and other swimmers. If a girl knows how to swim and doesn’t have debilitating menstrual pains, swimming is great exercise which may help alleviate cramps and maintain a healthy body overall. I do know however, that Traditional Chinese Medicine [TCM] usually frowns upon swimming while menstruating (because the body is considered ‘weak’ during that time).

The Guys:

“Girls get their period every 28 days”

This is something I admit that I was pretty ignorant about until I started learning about menstruation from female experiences and stories. To me, the “books” tell you that menstrual cycles are 28 days in length, however, that is not true for many women as bodies aren’t clockworks. Many of the girls I’ve dated before just happened to have a fairly regular cycle every month, but even tracking with bebe for the past 2 years I’ve known her, I can say for sure almost every month she has a different monthly cycle. While she’s perfectly healthy, it does come down to the fact that women do not always have exact 28-day cycles, but rather, vary between 21-35 days and whether or not a woman falls within a 28-day cycle doesn’t necessarily represent overall health. Because I happened to date girls who fell in the 26-29 day ranges, it was awkward for me to start tracking bebe’s to find that hers was much longer (lucky her, unlucky me… LOL). I know a few of my girls don’t really track at all and tell me they just “feel it” when it’s about to come! That’s really cool 🙂

The Guys:

“The washroom stinks when she’s on her period”

I suppose it’s something you really need to bring up with her. Dried menstrual flow does have an odour but is not easily detectable. I know girls who use “open” trash bins who visibly have wrapped tampons and pads in it and the smell is hardly obvious. Unless the girl has very rancid menstrual flow odour, it should not be very strong and only detectable if you plan on sticking your nose in the trash. What makes menstrual flow smell is actually when it comes in contact with open air and begins to fester bacteria. When the bacteria is trying living/decomposing the menstrual flow and pad, that is what emits the stench, not so much the actual flow itself. Proper sanitary practices should already be sufficient to stem the smell. I’ve been to my girl’s house before who hadn’t emptied the trash for 3 weeks and she had pads piled to the top and still the air was pretty clean. I’d broach lightly on the topic with her since it’s rather insulting to be told her menstrual flow smells, but rather, talk about maintaining welcoming environment for guests who use the bathroom as a softer approach.

 

It has definitely been a while since I’ve had the time to write this much! Hope this helps shed some light on what your typical (which I’m not) guys think about periods. I’m glad they offered me an opportunity to trade what I know about menstruation for their personal growth and also that I could share it with the world-at-large here. It’ll also help the girls see things through our eyes and that sometimes we just don’t know any better. Furthermore, I grew up in a conservative family meaning menstruation wasn’t talked about much. Lucky for me I didn’t run into a bunch of misinformation communicated to me from my peers, but certainly I can see why it happens when boys aren’t educated properly about menstruation. They begin to pick up things from their friends and see/hear negativity about periods from other sources. Best to teach them at an age-appropriate level so they develop respect for the female anatomy and a beautiful & natural bodily process!

 

A Moldy Kotex Security Tampon? No Problem!

Source: http://www.parrforthecourse.com

Yes… it is exactly what you think it is (well, probably at least)

Today, an article posted up by a lady seems to be spreading like wildfire throughout the menstrual-interest communities. I’ve seen it posted up in at least 6 menstrual-related sites and uncountable tweets/retweets in my twitter feed.

Since I don’t know the blog owner, I’m not going to risk reposting and running into copyright issues, so if you’re interested in knowing the full story by her, please read it here:

http://www.parrforthecourse.com/2012/03/tale-of-moldy-tampon.html

Apparently, the blog owner was about to use a Kotex Security tampon and by chance, she discovered that the tampon had formed mold when accidentally popped the tampon out of the applicator. Given that applicator-tampon users know that the tampon usually goes from inside the applicator directly in the vagina, one would have never seen the mold on the tampon until removal or maybe never if it had been covered by menstrual flow or dropped right into the toilet bowl/wrapped in toilet paper. Now I’m not saying that this type of stuff doesn’t happen with any tampon or to other brands, but certainly when it is publicized like this, it sure as hell gets attention. If you read through some of the comments on the blog entry, you’ll see quite a few individuals who recommended going to awareness groups and the media about this!

If you’re not aware of what effects mold has on humans, here’s a snippet from Wikipedia:

Molds are ubiquitous in nature, and mold spores are a common component of household and workplace dust. However, when mold spores are present in large quantities, they can present a health hazard to humans, potentially causing allergic reactions and respiratory problems.

Some molds also produce mycotoxins that can pose serious health risks to humans and animals. Studies claim that exposure to high levels of mycotoxins can lead to neurological problems and in some cases death. Prolonged exposure, e.g. daily workplace exposure, may be particularly harmful.

Suffice to say, in my opinion, even though I recognize nothing in this world is “really clean” – knowing that the Kotex representative made this sound like a common occurrence really makes me think whether I ought to try even harder to pull my girls off from using tampons – or at the very least – use non-applicator tampons such as O.B. where at least you can get a visual inspection of the tampon before putting it in! I know people who follow my blog know me to be pretty pro-pad, but seriously speaking, at least if mold was forming on a pad, it’d be something you’d notice before it touches sensitive female parts.

I’ve seen saturated tampons, pads, sponges, menstrual cups, cloth pads, etc. and it doesn’t even trigger a reaction from me – but when this picture caught my eyes, I could feel my gag reflexes already. I know this doesn’t exactly affect me in the way it affects tampon-using women, but I don’t think I can ever see tampons the same after seeing this. I know within the menstrual community, it seems like there have been talk of people giving up Kotex-brand tampons, not just the “Security” line of them. Whether or not this will have a severe financial impact is one thing, but a customer lost, whether one or many is less revenue.

Times like these, it makes me really glad bebe doesn’t use tampons. I know I’ll usually leave a few in her drawers just-in-case she ever decides to try or really needs them for something like swimming – but I think I ought to start pulling them out and maybe just gift her a menstrual cup instead! Hell, I think the last tampons I dropped for her were U by Kotex tampons. I’m not saying those particular tampons would encounter the same issue (and yes, I do realize that EVERY product in this world has a chance for ‘defects’ or ‘unforeseen contamination’ but I just can’t accept that risk of her potentially sticking something like that into her vagina and NOT KNOWING. It’s kind of like when you use conventional tampons, you know there is a risk of TSS. Knowing and continuing to use them means you implicitly accept the risk. However, I don’t think it passes through the mind of women that they could potentially be injecting a molded wad of cotton in themselves!

What I can say for sure is that there ARE safer alternatives out there such as menstrual cups and cloth pads which can not only help reduce the likelihood of mold forming (with proper cleaning and storage of course), but a host of other healthy and environmentally-friendly benefits!

I was just about to send a comment response to the blog owner’s entry, but it seems like she has turned comments off for that particular thread.  I wonder if Kimberly-Clark representatives (or lawyers ) caught up with her or perhaps that she just wanted to bring closure to the issue. Nevertheless, I know some people will definitely scrutinize whether they want to continue using Kotex tampons (of any line/series) or tampons all together! I’m definitely going to have a talk with my girls whenever I can get a hold of all of them. Their health is important to me and I’ll have to definitely let my bebe know about this craziness should she ever go down the road of considering tampons! I definitely think I ought to start getting her some non-applicator tampons so she can at least get a visual surface inspection on the damn things!

I seriously hope that they will be, “diligently reviewing our manufacturing process to ensure this problem does not recur.” as they’ve promised, rather than giving that as a canned and politically-correct response. My stash is empty of Kotex products (just by coincidence) now and I think it’s going to take a while before I can get over this. Customer confidence is hard to gain, but easy to lose. Suffice to say, I’m not saying their whole business will collapse or anything because loyal customers, will be loyal customers… and who knows, maybe this incident is just blown out of proportion, but unfortunately with the world of the internet, “news” can travel quite fast… particularly BAD news. But what I do know is I wouldn’t mind investing in emptying out Kotex products from my girls’ cabinets and restocking them with stuff of other brands. Better yet, I can prod some of my girls a bit more to return to the good ol’ world of pads or even try shifting them onto reusables! Maybe in a couple months I’ll look into Kotex products again, but for the time being, it’s going to be pretty hard to get my girls or I back on their brand for a while!