In my attempt to embrace life at its fullest and challenge myself to experience new things and evolve and grow my blog, I started looking into companies that I could partner with on occasion that would fall in line with the Real or Unmodified mission of my blog. It just so happens that the brand I’m sharing with you today is not only real and unmodified but it’s for girls. 
This is a rather delicate subject matter, which is why I haven’t discussed it until now. I had to build up the courage to careen off the beaten path of GMOs and Real Food recipes.
Disclaimer #1: If you’re a dude, you may go ahead and just pass by this post. As in stop reading and maybe enjoy another post of mine. Such as this one or this one. As fantastic and humorous as this post may be, it’s probably not your idea of a good read. And if it is, you feel free to just keep that to yourself. Mmkay?
Disclaimer #2: This is a sponsored post. The good people at Sckoon reached out to me asking if I was interested in Natural ‘lady products’. They send me a couple products, I try them, and then write about them. I said “Sure!” Who doesn’t want fancy, 100% organic cotton, or soft medical-grade silicone, safe, non-toxic lady products? And yes, this is a post about feminine products. It may not be your cup of tea or it may be just what you’re looking for. It’s my first time talking about this with eleventy-billion other people, so be gentle with me, okay? Lawd help me! Oh, before I forget, the content and opinions expressed are 100% my own. I even put together the snazzy graphics. Because that’s how we creative types roll.
About 6 months ago, I started researching brands that I was interested in trying that might tie into the whole REAL and UNMODIFIED lifestyle I’m trying to live. It was a lot more work than I’d anticipated, so I was uber excited when Sckoon reached out to me asking if I’d be interested in trying either their menstrual cup or their organic cloth pads. I’ve got a lot of crunchy blogging friends so I’ve read quite a bit about their personal experiences using various menstrual cups and felt I’d reached the level of insanity bravery necessary to try something like that.
There are several reasons why I’m tired of buying my feminine products from the isle of embarrassment at the store. The first is the cotton used to make them is more than likely bleached, GMO cotton. I do not use tampons, but I do use pads. And I’ve noticed over the years, the more they “New and Improve” them, the more irritated they make my nether regions when I have to use them. I don’t trust that they aren’t using other ingredients that could be endocrine disrupting in the manufacturing of their lady products. Many of them are scented and we don’t need synthetic, hormone disrupting fragrance down there. The second reason is that they irritate my lady bits and my lady region tremendously.
**We interrupt this blog post to request that if you are a close family member or if you know me personally, to please scroll past this section. If you don’t adorable puppies and baby dolphins everywhere will die. Just trust me. There are some things you don’t need or want to know about me. Some things should be a mystery. Like what is in the paragraph below. Just scroll on by my friends and family… I beg of you**
I have a hormone deficiency and some months I have two cycles. Yeah, that’s right. TWO. So by the time the second one rolls around, sometimes within 5 days of the first one ending, my poor bottom can’t take any more disposable lady products down there. I’ve tried using unbleached, organic disposable products and I had the same results. Rash, bumps, pain, discomfort and misery. It’s official, y’all know MORE about my hiney than my own mother does. Um, wait. She reads the blog, too. Great, now my whole family will know this. I hope you guys appreciate the humiliation I’ll be suffering to bring you news on the latest, greatest, safest lady products. Oye vey!
**Family, you may now commence reading**
Aside from the red flags that go off after learning about GMO cotton and that they use bleach to whiten our lady products, it’s additional information that I’ve read in the past that is echoed in articles like these that further increase my distrust of companies who make these products. Click any of the 5 links to read more about the downside to disposable lady products. But I warn you, it’s going to make you rethink what you buy.
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I could site additional articles, but you get the point. I totally understand the convenience and higher level of perceived sanitary-ness that disposable lady products have, but I can’t unlearn what I’ve learned and disposables should be a thing of the past for a myriad of reasons. Due to the alarming information available regarding disposable feminine products, I felt the next logical step was to try a cup or cloth pads. I knew it would be an investment if I ended up liking them, but after I calculated what I’ve spent over the years on disposable products, the initial cost to get started with safer, greener, organic products was nothing in comparison. It’s a no-brainer!
I mentioned my plans to The Stud Muffin and he sweetly said “I don’t wanna know about it. Do what ya gotta do, and don’t wash my clothes with them if you get the pads.” So, I wrote back to my contact at Sckoon and told them I’d take the ‘Meditation Blue’ Sckoon Menstrual Cup. It arrived in a clear box, tucked neatly inside a cute, little fabric pouch. It was smaller than I expected. I’ve not had children, so the one they sent me was for “beginners”. Those are my words, not theirs. I read their online instructions, the printed instructions that came with the cup, watched every video online I could find, I talked to crunchy blogging friends and try as I might, I just could not get the cup inserted without quite a bit of pain and discomfort. I kept trying for a couple months before reaching out to Sckoon and asking if they’d send some of their snazzy organic cloth pads.
My contacts at Sckoon were so incredibly gracious about my situation of not being able to get the cup to work. I’m so thankful that they didn’t make me feel bad about it and that they were willing to send me one of their organic cloth pads, and never charged me for the cup. That is customer service my friends and it’s rare these days.
They quickly sent me one of their organic no-leak, snap-on pads. They use fun and festive fabrics, y’all. Not that anyone but myself is going to notice, but let’s face it. When it’s that time of the month, ya need a little fun in your pants. Yeah, I did just say that. Sorry. They use 100% organic cotton fabric and it’s nice and soft. It was a pleasant departure from the plastic-like overlay they put on disposable pads these days.
I have a hormone imbalance. I’m deficient in several hormones and my body doesn’t make two major hormones on its own. I’m working on healing my body. In the meantime, I have very brutal cycles. I’ll spare you the details, but I typically use a much longer pad to avoid any embarrassing accidents. I decided to try this fabric pad anyway, despite my initial concerns that it wouldn’t be enough coverage.
So, how did that organic cotton cloth pad work out for me? Well, it didn’t. But not because it wasn’t a good product.
I love the Borne Identity Trilogy. Well, now I guess it’s a fourilogy. You see, we have two Golden Retrievers. Honor is our male golden. We affectionately call him Sgt. Chad. Sergeant, because he follows me everywhere and seems to be saying “Okay, nothing dangerous in this room, you may proceed” then he lays down near me or right outside the door. He is never more than 5 feet from me at all times. We call him Chad because he’s a pretty boy. Almost Zoolander-like in personality. He’s really, really, really good looking. And he knows it.
So, back to the Sckoon pad. The one they sent me didn’t provide enough coverage, and so I removed it, and set it aside while I went to grab an old disposable standby. Sgt. Chad must have sensed I was in peril from outside my bathroom door, because he bolted in, and saved me from the Sckoon pad. And there may or may not have been an unsuccessful game of tug of war involved and possible a bribe with a huge spoonful of peanut butter. Basically it was a Sckoon vs. Peanut Butter ultimatum.
The Sckoon pad may or may not have faired well during this little dog-induced game of cat and mouse, and I may never be able to look my dear Honor square in the face for a long while. I’m seriously not sure what got into him. Lately he’s been riffling through my trash to get to the coconut oil I spit out each morning after oil pulling. He’s eating paper towels from our recycle bin and he’s even trying to eat our cat. I’m sure he’s just playing with her, but she’s so tiny and he’s so large that she ends up coming up to me just drenched in slobber. I swear, Sgt. Chad has gone yompy!
I ended up writing my contact at Sckoon (again) asking them where I should just send a check. I mean the cup didn’t work for me, the pad was damaged during small-scale dog vs. human vs. peanut butter battle and I felt as if it just wasn’t meant to be. I felt really bad because they’d sent me two items, and things just didn’t turn out well at all. Well, wouldn’t you know it. They thought my story was pretty funny and asked if I’d write a post about it. You know, so that everyone would know I have a troubled dog. It’s a good thing he can’t read, and that he’s so cute. I’m sure he’d be sad if everyone knew what he did. I’m almost convinced he thought he was doing me a favor. Probably thought he was saving me from some evil fabric of doom or something. Who knows? And in his defense it does sort of look like a fun dog toy. The dogs have a cool cloth frisbee that if you squint just so and turn your head just right could be mistaken for an organic cloth menstrual pad. Or not…
I have one favor to ask. Please, don’t tell me how gross this story is. I was there. I’m aware. This is new territory for me. I’m branching out from food a little bit and the first place I go after essential oils is lady products. I’m living on the edge and teetering on the brink, folks. Don’t hate my puppy because he’s a couple fries short of a Happy Meal. And don’t hold what he did to my Sckoon Pad against Sckoon or my pooch. This company makes an amazing product that almost withstands the jaws of an 85 pound Golden Retriever. That’s some mean, lean sewing machine they’re using! They have phenomenal customer service and they have a great variety of colors and patterns to choose from. I recommend this company, not only for the products they’re making in an effort to help woman find safer, greener alternatives to disposable products, but also because they treated me so kindly throughout this entire ordeal. In the day and age when fantastic customer care is hard to come by, the ladies at Sckoon made a lasting impression on me. I believe they’ll take really good care of you as well.
Hey, Real Food Girl- this was a hilarious, informative post, albeit slightly disturbing story, but how do I buy one of their super cool products?
I’m glad you asked!
If you’re interested in trying SckoonCups or their amazing organic cotton fabric pads, please make sure you use THIS LINK and you’ll save 10% off your purchase. Just in case something goes wrong, I have a referral code you can manually use to ensure you get your discount: Q2SJDE
If you want to learn more about Sckoon products, you can also find them here:
Well, how’d I do? Do you use reusable lady products? Which are your favorites? Feel free to share in the comments below!
