Luv Ur Body Menstrual Cup Review

The Luv Ur Body menstrual cup comes in 3 sizes and is made from 100% medical grade silicone. If at this point you are wondering 'What on earth is a menstrual cup?' then I shall direct you to my Ruby cup review here, where I explain the basics. I have both the small and medium Luv Ur Body cup, but there is also a size large. All of the cups are priced at $28, which is just under £23. For me there were two main things that drew me to the Luv Ur Body cups, their gorgeous flower designs and the high capacity of the cups themselves. The small cup holds around 28ml when filled up to the air holes, the medium holds 31ml and the large cup holds an impressive 34.5ml. The cups come with a generously sized cotton pouch, both of the patterns I received were feminine floral prints.

The Luv Ur Body cup in small (left) and medium (right).

The small Luv Ur Body cup is 47mm long, with the uber-cute leaf-shaped stem adding an additional 18mm. The diameter of the cup is 42mm, and so the cup is still relatively large for a size small. The Luv Ur Body cups all have a raised flower design on the surface of the cups, for the small size this design comes in both red (as seen above) and a turquoise blue. The medium and large cups only come in solid colours and are available in green, red and clear. The medium Luv Ur Body cup is the longest of all three at 61.7mm, with the stem adding 20.3mm. The diameter of the medium size cup is 45mm. The large size cup is 56.7mm long, with a stem length of 20.3mm. The diameter of the large cup is by far the widest at 48mm. The medium Luv Ur Body cup is one of the longest cups on the market, which makes it a good option for women with a very high cervix, who are worried that their cup with move up too high and become unreachable. Personally, I found that the leaf stem is very easy to grip and feels super sturdy, there are raised sections on the stem to help add more grip. I would be extremely surprised if anyone had trouble reaching and removing this cup!

The silicone used feels very nice and seems to be good quality, I would say they are a medium resistance cup, not as soft as a Cuplee cup yet not as firm as a Diva cup. The raised flower design of the cups is said to stop the cup from 'slipping out' during use, say when you sneeze or bear down. To be honest, I've never had this be an issue with any of my cups that don't have a raised pattern on them, but its pretty and so I don't mind too much. I think that the flower design is adorable and makes the cups stand out however, because the silicone is raised, they can make insertion and removal slightly irritating and even slightly painful. For some reason, the flower design on the small cup seems to be more raised than on the medium cup and so was slightly more irritating. I would say that if you are someone who is easily irritated by grip rings, this is not the cup for you. The bottom of these cups has quite an unusual shape in that they are quite rounded, instead of the usual V shape. Luv Ur Body claims that this is to make the cup before comfortable and increase capacity further, personally I found that the shape made these cups a bit trickier to remove as it was more difficult to nip the base to collapse the cup for comfortable removal.

The Luv Ur Body cup in med

I was able to use both of these cups and the high capacity of these cups makes them a great option for anyone with a heavy flow or who suffers from problems such as uterine fibroids or endometriosis . The large diameter of these cups is thought to be better for women who have a low cervix, as it allows the cervix to sit within the cup. Personally, I have a high cervix so I wouldn't be able to say whether or not the concept works. 

Overall, I don't think that this would be a good cup for new cup users as the raised design could cause extra difficulty inserting and be irritating. Also the curved bottom of the cup can make it quite hard to remove. I think that these cups would be perfect for women who have heavy flows, anywhere from a high to a medium cervix and aren't irritated by grip rings. The price is comparable to other menstrual cups on the market and the floral design really is quite gorgeous.

Let me know if you have tried this cup out and what you thought of it!

Eco Rainbow Pads Review

Eco Rainbow is an Etsy shop, run by Bex Cleaver, which sells reusable sanitary pads, nursing pads, nappies (or diapers for you Americans) and wipes. I purchased 4 pads from her shop in a bundle deal for £21, in the deal you can choose the length, absorbency and fabric and also give some detail on the prints that you like. You cannot choose the exact prints for each pad in this deal, but there are always a variety of pre-made pads for sale in other adorable prints if you are particular. You can also custom order from her website. 

I chose 10" heavy pads, in the 'plush' fabric (sometimes also called 'minky'), my print preferences were cute colourful designs and personally, I think she nailed it. As they are heavy pads and have the plush fabric (that is stain resistant!) as a topper, these are quite thick. Personally I don't mind thick pads, but if you are someone who wears thin leggings or something similar, you might want to choose something a bit thinner to avoid them being visible. I believe the core used in these pads is zorb.

Width of the pad when snapped is 2 and a half inches ( 6.5 cm)

When snapped up the pads are about 2.5" wide (6.5cm) and sit quite snugly in most underwear. These pads don't have a layer of PUL for waterproofing, however I have used them for several months and never leaked. They have a water resistant fleece backing and so the PUL isn't really necessary. The shape of these pads is perfect for me, they are super comfortable. I also gifted one of these to my sister and she has since reported that it is her favourite pad. The delivery of these pads was also extremely quick considering they were made after I had ordered, I believe I received them after around 2 weeks. Overall I really love these pads, they are very well made and uber comfortable. I'd definitely recommend trying something out from Eco Rainbow Pads and there is even a Facebook group where Bex runs market nights, along with a website where you can order custom made pads.

Have you tried these pads? Let me know in the comments section below.

Sleek Precious Metals Highlighting Palette Review

My original desire to buy this palette came from a review that Tati on Youtube posted on Sleek make up, unfortunately when I went to Boots to buy it I accidentally picked up the Precious metals palette instead of the Solstice palette. I had no idea until I got home and realised that three of the highlights in this palette are creams. Now as a girl with what may be the oiliest skin in the world, I was immediately convinced that I had wasted my money and that the formula would either cause them to slip off my face by noon or look cakey and gross due to the amount of powder I have to use on my face. Nevertheless, I gave them a fair go and was actually rather impressed!

The packaging of this palette is really nice, the palette is a bronze colour and quite sturdy, my only bug bear is that the plastic shows fingerprints and so will always look a bit grubby (Unless you polish it after every use but who has time for that?). Both top shades of this palette are creams (Platinum and Royal gold), along with the bottom shade on the left (Renaissance gold). 'Platinum' is a pale shade that leaves a sheen on the skin with tiny flecks of pink reflex, this would be the perfect highlight for super pale people with cool-toned skin. 'Royal gold' is my least favourite shade of the palette, when it is applied to the skin it leaves chunky flecks of glitter that are pretty noticeable. This shade might be good for something like a festival, but for everyday it is a bit disco-ballish for me. The next shade in the palette is my absolute favourite, 'Renaissance gold' is a super smooth gold that just looks amazing on the skin, it gives a beautiful healthy glow and doesn't contain any flecks of glitter or sparkle. The final shade is a powder highlight called 'Antique bronze', this shade has a lovely glow to it without having chunks of glitter, however it is quite pigmented. To wear 'Antique bronze I have to have a decent amount of bronzer on my cheeks, otherwise this translates as a sparkly orangy-bronze streak on my face, which isn't ideal.

Left to right: 'Platinum', 'Royal gold', 'Renaissance gold' and 'Antique bronze'

The formula of these highlighters is very nice, the creams are a nice slippery consistency which is easy to blend. Personally I applied the creams with the tips of my fingers onto my (non-existent) cheekbones and tapped to blend them in. I haven't tried applying them with a beauty blender or Real techniques miracle complexion sponge but I'm sure that would be an even faster way of blending them out. The powder shade is also easy to apply and blend, but also very pigmented, you have been warned!

Overall I think this is an amazing palette, I'm not usually one to try cream products but these stayed on and didn't appear cakey, even over powder. I may be converted. Let me know if you have tried this palette and how you liked it!