As a lifestyle writer and blogger I cover a wide variety of topics but my bread and butter these days seem to be within the area of health and fitness. Covering so many topics that are inter-related to these two categories, I was shocked when one of my followers asked me why I’ve never talked about the topic of menstruation on my site. It doesn’t happen very often but in this instance I actually did not have a response for this young lady. For the next week or so, I asked myself and a few friends if the topic was a bit weird to cover here and especially on social media. Silly I know, because periods are not exactly “taboo” or are they? I mean, making sure I have adequate protection during that time of the month is crucial for me and other women who are running, working out, doing yoga and a slew of other physical activity.

Our first experience with menstruation usually happens between the ages of 10-15 and for majority of our teenage and adult life we experience bleeding and potentially some other unpleasant side effects such as bloating, cramps, acne, fatigue, and moodiness. And as far as I’m concerned, most women, like myself, have probably spent several years trying to find the right protection for their flow and lifestyle, but still nobody has the gull to inquire and ask women what they use during their periods like they may ask another woman what facial cleanser or mascara they use. It never really occurs to us what other women are using until our little friend decides to pay us a visit two days early and we are stuck without a tampon requiring us to ask ask a friend (or a stranger in the bathroom) if they have one. Raise your hand if you have rolled your eyes when someone has given  you a generic tampon [insert raised hand emoji here]. I’ve vowed to never let that happen to me again so regardless whether I’m on my period or not, there are at least two tampons in my bag – which my girlfriends have become thankful for!

So I am doing my part in break that cycle. I asked a few gal pals recently if they were satisfied with the products they use during their menstruation and 6/10 times I got a puzzled look followed by, “Not really”.  Funny enough, 40% of the women said they were satisfied with the tampon brand they use and take one guess what they were using. O.B.! I feel into the category of the 60% that weren’t overly content but I think we all could agree that we continued to use the brand(s) we used just because it was something we had got accustomed to.

This also sparked up some conversations of tampons vs maxi pads and I was stunned that some women still are afraid to use tampons these days. Not that there is anything wrong with maxi pads but with my active and busy lifestyle, tampons are just a better fit for me. For years I have been trying different brands that have promised to give me adequate protection, move with my body, perfect for when I am playing sports, blah blah blah. A few years ago I stopped searching for the “perfect tampon” and settled on one brand. However last month I stumbled across some advertising for O.B. Tampons as part of an interesting new campaign asking women to “Give Us One Period. Period.”  O.B. differs from other brands in that they don’t have an applicator so naturally for someone that has a moderate to heavy flow, I was somewhat hesitant to try it out. A few questions immediately entered into my mind. “How do I use it if it doesn’t have an applicator?”, “Is it going to be messy?”, and “OMG this thing is tiny, is it going to give me the protection I need?”

I went away on vacation a few weeks ago and got my period the day before departing so I figured this may be the best time to give O.B. a shot. When I’m traveling, space in my purse/carry-on is limited and I also need the confidence that I will be protected while in transit. Not to mention while working out and on the beach wearing my favourite white bikini. Armed with optimism and two boxes of the brand’s tampons (one regular and one super), I headed to the Caribbean. Smaller than the size of my pinky finger, these tampons actually surprised me. Because of it’s size, they were super easy to use and were ultra comfortable. To be honest, so much so, I had almost forgotten I was wearing one a couple times. The design expands to fit each woman’s unique body. On the first I day realized early that I needed to use the Pro Comfort Super for the first two days of my period. With O.B.’s fluid-lock technology has grooves that pull fluid into the core for locked-in leak protection you can wear up to 8 hours – I highly suggest not waiting that long though. For the remainder of my cycle, I switched over to the Pro Comfort Regular, which is great for first time non-applicator tampon users or for women with a light to moderate flow. While on the beach and working out I didn’t want to take any risks and just stuck to the supers, just to be on the safe side.  Not having an applicator allows O.B. tampons to be ridiculously small making them extremely discreet. I was able to fit one into the pocket of my skinniest jeans and the tiny pocket inside my Nike running shorts. Even when my clear/see-thru makeup bag was pulled out of my carry-on at the airport security checkpoint, the couple tampons that were tossed in there went completed undetected by those around me – phew!

Are you willing to give O.B. Tampons a try? I’m giving away boxes to 50 lucky followers who tweet, “@SashaExeter, I want to give @ob_canada one period #GiveUsOnePeriod“. Contest begins today and ends Friday September 18th at 6pm. Winners will be announced and contacted on Monday September 21st – Good luck!

Head to GiveUsOnePeriod.ca to learn more about the campaign and click here for more information on O.B. Tampons.

All personal information will be used for product category and brand research purposes by Edgewell Personal Care.  Additionally, those consumers who enter may be contacted by Edgewell Personal Care with information, news and promotions regarding o.b. Tampons.  Information will not be used, released or sold to any third party companies for any reason.