Woman are gaining confidence and freedom like never before, through the use of menstrual cup
Wearing sanitary products can make a woman feel restricted. A woman may not walk or move as confidently as she would when menstruating as there’s the worry that her pad will shift or perhaps the feeling of discomfort from having layers of cotton in between her legs. Let’s not also forget about the constant mirror checks to ensure that she’s safe from a leak.
Every woman can relate with the struggles of wearing sanitary products. There is no doubt that we’ve come a long way in terms of the evolution of sanitary products and the evolution does not stop.
There is one relatively new option that many women who have tried (including the women at 1Twenty80!), are raving about.
Have you heard of the menstrual cup?
Learn all about this newer menstruation hygiene product available for women in Malaysia and around the world as Co-founder of Suci Cup, Izzati Nordin shares all you need to know about a menstrual cup.
1Twenty80: Who is behind Suci Cup?
Izzati Nordin: We are a group of women very passionate about reducing our wastes. We initially started a zero waste company called Refill Houz with the intention of wanting to encourage people to reduce their plastic bottles waste by means of us refilling their cleaning fluids. However, Covid-19 came and things sort of took a turn for us.
We saw an opportunity whereby Malaysian women are not yet exposed to menstrual cups. As users, we all felt that we were ‘too late’ in our period life to discover how life changing the menstrual cup is for us and we didn’t want other Malaysian women to feel this way. So we decided to find an angle on how to get Malaysian women interested and open to trying menstrual cups.
We come from different backgrounds, Faizah having experiences in teaching and education, I was a sales engineer in the oil and gas industry, and Nabilah had numerous experiences in operations, sourcing and logistics, but we all came together as friends with the passion of wanting to encourage more women to live better period lives just like we have.
We all carry different roles in Suci Cup, I focus on business and sales, Faizah heads the content team, Nabilah ensures operations, procurement and logistic runs smoothly.
1Twenty80: What inspired you to introduce menstrual cups to Malaysians?
Izzati: It really came about from our own experience. We felt that we couldn’t be just the only ones who discovered how life changing this menstrual cup technology is! We need to get more people to overcome their fear.
When placed correctly, it is leak free allowing the user to feel clean and giving her the freedom to move about freely as if she is not even on her period
1Twenty80: Could you tell us more about Suci Cup and its benefits?
Izzati: Suci Cup is a 100 percent medical grade silicone (FDA Registered) made in USA and is placed inside the vaginal canal to catch period blood. When placed correctly, it is leak-free, allowing the user to feel clean and giving her the freedom to move about freely as if she is not even on her period. The Suci Cup can be worn for up to 10 hours and can be reused for up to 10 years.
The trouble with using normal sanitary pads or tampons are:
- Frequent visits to the toilet to remove and replace them especially on heavy flow days.
- They cause wetness in the private area and can cause foul smelling odor when they interact with sweat and air over a period of time.
- Some develop rashes due to the dampness or people with sensitive skin can also develop rashes due to skin contact with the plastics on the pads/ tampons itself.
- The hassle of cleaning and throwing away a full pad/ tampon.
- It isn’t economical for users. Having to allocate money specifically for something you have to throw away after a short usage.
- It isn’t environmentally friendly as it can take 800 years for plastics in the pads to degrade.
1Twenty80: Could you share with us your personal experience on using the menstrual cup?
Izzati: I knew of menstrual cups for sometime, but never in my mind, ever, thought that I would use it inside me. Really! I was just going to at most, change to reusable pads. One day, a young unmarried University girl, raved about it! Like ‘RAVED’ about how good it is. And she didn’t even buy it for herself. She got her mother to buy it for her. I felt challenged as I have 3 kids then and was scared of using it. So, I decided to give it a try and the rest is history. Here we are selling Suci Cup. Personally, I wished I had used it sooner.
1Twenty80: Based on your experience, how open are Malaysian women towards using a menstrual cup?
Izzati: We are quite surprised that there are so many women open to trying Suci Cup. Having that said, there are many more that are sceptical about it but in due time, we do feel like we can normalize menstrual cup usage in Malaysia.
1Twenty80: How is Suci Cup inspiring other women?
Izzati: We are a small company but we have big dreams. We are big on educating women about their bodies in a manner that is respectable, relatable, easy to understand. We want to overcome the taboo of not being able to talk about issues such as menstruation, the female sexual and reproductive system, and other female health issues publicly, in our society. We want to have a platform that is safe to normalise these conversations in a modest and uplifting way. We think that we are on the right track. In a nutshell, we want to play a huge role in women empowerment in a way we know best and the Suci Cup has allowed us to do so.
1Twenty80: What are the steps Suci Cup is taking to educate women on the use of a menstrual cup?
Izzati: Education is a big part of Suci Cup. We won’t be able to sell a Suci Cup without the education component. It is hard work but it is an important one. So, we have a dedicated content team under Faizah who creates and curates information that resonates with our audiences. For us, it is crucial that we deliver messages that are validated and backed by sciences, medicine and also religious authorities. With how fast social media spreads information, we use it to our advantage to get our messages across to more people, namely Malaysian women.
We want to overcome the taboo of not being able to talk about issues such as menstruation, the female sexual and reproductive system, and other female health issues publicly, in our society.
1Twenty80: What should women take note of when deciding on switching to a menstrual cup?
Izzati: We implore that women become curious and do a lot of research. Some may love it right off the bat, some may take time to warm up to using the Suci Cup. The learning curve to using Suci Cup is quite steep compared to existing period products such as sanitary pads, but the reward, is well worth it! We have a lot of information on our social media platforms and website. We definitely encourage you to visit and learn more about it.
It is crucial to choose a menstrual cup that has support. One that speaks your language and one that can understand you. Especially for beginners, it can be a bit lonely if you are trying it out by yourself, so having a support group like Suci Circle really does helps. Where you can ask questions and also read on other experienced/inexperienced users’ sharings. Also, when deciding to purchase, make sure that the menstrual cup is from a trusted brand with FDA registration and many reviews. Definitely want to make sure you put inside your body a product that is legitimate and safe.
1Twenty80: Are there any possible safety hazards that one should take note of?
Izzati: There really are low hazards in using the menstrual cup, but a person who is sensitive to silicone may not be suitable to use the menstrual cup. However, the percentage of people with this sensitivity is low. We encourage women to follow the guidelines of using it such as sterilising before and after finishing period cycle and to empty the cup within 10 hours of usage.
How to sterilise your menstrual cup?
It’s recommended that a menstrual cup user sterilises her menstrual cup at least once, in between her menstrual cycles.
A common method to sterilise your menstrual cup is by immersing it in boiling water. Here’s how to do it:
- Step 1: Rinse the menstrual cup thoroughly.
- Step 2: Boil some water in a pot.
- Step 3: Place the menstrual cup in boiling water and boil for a couple of minutes.
- Step 4: Carefully remove the cup and set it aside to cool off as well as dry.
- Step 5: Place the cup in a pouch or container for your next menstrual cycle.
