Victoria’s Love menstrual cup – the cup you don’t have to remove to empty
Recently I was approached by another company called Victoria’s Love (VL) to test out their version of the menstrual cup, which has an interesting feature not often seen – a release valve at the end of the stem so you can empty the discharge without removing the menstrual cup from your body. This turned out to be my favourite menstrual cup and the one I use most regularly up to today – read on for my review on the Victoria’s Love menstrual cup.
My journey with menstrual cups
I started off with the Lunette menstrual cup when I was looking for an alternative to sanitary pads and tampons. I used the Lunette regularly both at home and while travelling, and have generally been quite happy with it – it’s less obtrusive, I feel cleaner when using it as compared to sticky sanitary pads, and I feel better as it’s more environmentally friendly and I’m not constantly tossing used pads or tampons.
It’s not always been perfect – sometimes I don’t insert it properly or empty it often enough and spring a bit of a leak, or I somehow end up spilling discharge on my hands as I’m emptying the cup. In the first few cycles I was too tense and can’t insert it quickly so my toilet runs take extra long. Overall, I still love it and can’t imagine switching back to pads ever again.
Victoria’s Love Menstrual Cup and its special valve
How it works is that there are 2 holes on the side of the stem where the discharge empties out. The flow is controlled by a little ball plug in the stem that acts as a stopper – you squeeze it along the tube with your fingers to positions above and below the holes to block and unblock the flow respectively, kinda like a tap for your vagina.
This is pretty revolutionary because one issue I have with the menstrual cup is having to perpetually remove the cups to empty them and insert them again. Some days if I’m a bit rough or hurried, I do feel a little bit sore from all that insertion action. And also, not all toilets are nice ones where you feel comfortable removing your menstrual cup in, especially when you are on the go. This saves you so much time and trouble as you can just sit on the toilet, reach down, empty the discharge over the toilet and plug it back up, all without having the remove the cup.
My review of Victoria’s Love Menstrual Cup
I really like the discharge valves – they are the best idea about this cup so I use this one the most often. I really don’t like taking out the cup in dodgy bathrooms, and when my flow is heavy I need to empty the cup every 4 hours or so, so this saves me all that effort, important especially when I’m in transit.
The design of the valve with the ball plug is pretty simple, but it’s not without its flaws – I’ve nearly lost the ball plug while washing the cup in a sink as I squeezed it too far upwards and it sprang loose from the tube valve, so be careful with that as the cup is useless without the ball plug.
If your period is a bit clumpy, you will need to squeeze the tube valve a little to get the clumps out through the holes. Again be careful here – I accidentally squeezed a little too enthusiastically once while discharging the valve and lost one of the ball plugs in a public loo – somehow it got squeezed out through the discharge holes.It shouldn’t happen since the holes are technically smaller than the ball, but the elasticity of the material means that if you try hard enough, you can squeeze the ball out.
(There was no way I was going to put my hand in to a public loo to retrieve the ball plug, but luckily I had the set with small and large sizes, so I just stole the ball from the Large size to replace)
Protip 1: Put a piece or two of toilet paper in the toilet first, so that when the discharge falls in, it falls onto the paper and not the bottom of the bowl. Some toilets don’t flush very well and you need to flush several time to get rid of the stains, but the toilet paper makes it easier to whisk the evidence away.
Protip 2: When you release the valves, it tends to release a bit of pressure build up inside your body so things can get a bit spurty if you are not careful. One thing I sometimes do is wrap a little toilet paper around the valve as I discharge, so that it’s neater and the pressure doesn’t shoot discharge onto my hands. That pressure also can make it tricky to dislodge the menstrual cup – make sure the ball plug is in the open position and it should be easier for you.
The original length of the Victoria’s Love was kinda long even for me and it poked out of my body, which was a bit uncomfortable if I didn’t put it in the right position. They made it shorter and smaller in the subsequent version and sent me that, which is the one I still use today. Here’s a look at the size difference:
Some women with shorter cervices still find it way too long for them, and you can’t trim the stem because of the discharge valve.
The material is FDA standard and tested according to their website, but it feels a bit more plasticky and less firm compared to the matt finish of the Lunette and Lily Cup. Also I’m personally not a fan of clear silicone because it tends to discolour after awhile – my cup was originally a whitish tint, now it’s kinda yellowy/brown tinted. It’s a small thing, I mean no one is really going to look at the colour of your cup…
Where to buy Victoria’s Love Menstrual Cup:
- Victoria’s Love on Amazon – * update*they used to sell the cup here, but now they only have the sterilizer and sadly they don’t ship to Singapore.  Note that this is an affiliate link which means I may get a small % off sales if you click and do buy from here, no additional cost to you, think of it has helping to fund this website
- Ebay – I know it does look a bit dodgy, but they do reply emails and have generally been quite helpful so far.
You can also buy the mini steriliser to keep your menstrual cup clean. I use it on very rare occasions when I remember to, but honestly unless you are very icked out about boiling your menstrual cup (maybe use a separate pot from the ones you eat with if you are going to boil it on a stove), there isn’t a real need for this very specialised steaming product.
Check out my other menstrual cup reviews:
- Lunette – my first menstrual cup and why women travellers should consider using them
- Lily Cup Compact – the world’s first collapsible menstrual cup
Happy to answer any questions about the Victoria’s Love menstrual cup – just drop me a comment.
The Victoria’s Love menstrual cups and mini steriliser were sponsored, but the review and opinions are all my own
Hi, I just saw the info on the Victoria’s Love Cup and noticed they are downsizing!
I need a longer stem! Is there any chance of finding the longer Stem on the Large VL cup??
Hi Sherry, the stem might be longer but the cup may also be a tad bigger, so make sure that it’s comfortable for you! I honestly have no idea though but good luck with that.
Hi! are u still in contact with the company?
well I haven’t emailed or spoken to them recently… if I could ask why? you can drop me an email via my contact page as well if you rather keep it private I’ll try and help as best as I can
How long does it take the cup to empty?
well, a few seconds for the discharge to flow out of the valve when you open it, but if there are clots you might need to squeeze them out so they don’t block the holes, but it’s definitely faster than having to remove the cup and reinsert it!
Thank you so much Jaclynn. I do have two more questions. Is it possible to measure its length? I have never owned a lunette so I don’t know how long they are. Lastly is eBay the only place to buy it? I was looking for the short one you mention on both of the ones on eBay seem to be the long ones. Thanks for all the help you have already given by having this site!
sorry i forgot to reply this earlier! I’m going to be updating the post above with the info since I think it’ll be useful for other people as well, but thanks for asking the questions! The new shorter stem (from opening to tip) is around 7.5cm, while the older version was something under 9cm! And as far as I know eBay is the only place to get it so far, though I’m hoping someone brings it in to distribute because it does feel a little bit dodgy buying off ebay…
Thanks for your reply Jaclynn! I bought the small and large size set for $29 on eBay. Hopefully I will get it soon. Seriously contemplating opening a local store. It is really hard to buy these things online without getting to see them in person first. Looking forward to reading more of your blog. I am taking backpacking classes so I can travel more. I hope this will be a valuable tool for my trips!
awesome! have great travels ahead :)
Hi, I click on your ebay and the items are “from china”. is it the same company ?
The company is from China as far as I know!
If you’re in the US, I know someone who has one for sale. They bought two but it didn’t work for them.
I’m in Singapore but I can think of some people here who might be interested… perhaps get your friend to drop me an email? You can use the contact form on the blog or email [email protected] :)
Do you still use it? I just ordered one and I’m nervous about using it since there are few reviewers. Any complications? Tricks & tips?
Hi Y. Henry, yes I’m still using it – it’s the one I use most because of the convenient valve, especially on heavy flow days so I don’t have to keep removing just to empty. So far it’s worked pretty okay for me, the only thing to note so far is to make sure the ball seal isn’t too close to the valve opening so you run less chance of accidental leakage (sometimes movement can cause the ball to shift out of place).
Pressure can build up in the cup during heavy flow so I usually have toilet paper around the holes when I release the ball seal so things don’t get too messy! You’ll get the hang of it though :)
I know it seems a bit dubious because of the ebay-only platform and I honestly was a bit leery when I started, but to date am quite happy with it :) Let me know if you have any specific questions that you need me to answer!
Wher do i get it in india
how much does it cost how long it lasts
as far as I know you can only get it online on the links that are in the post.
mine’s still ok right now but i can’t advise how long it will last for…
Is it hard to clean in the end of stem? It looks like not easy to clean. I probably will buy an one from Taobao but this is my only concern.
Hi Audrey,
I’ve found it quite easy to clean the end of the stem – you can actually pop the white ball valve out of the tube (just make sure you don’t lose it as that is the critical piece here!). Usually I flush the stem with running water but you could easily run an old toothbrush in the holes at the end to scrub more thoroughly if you wanted to!
hope that helps :)
jac
Wow! This does sound interesting. My only concern is the long stem, I wouldn’t want it poking my leg all day or poking through my swimsuit lol I’m gonna hold off on buying one until they make one with a shorter stem. Thanks for this awesome review though!!! Can’t wait until I can finally try it!
Hi Cassaundra, they actually have made a shorter one which they sent to me for testing as well (it’s just slightly longer than the Lunette in the picture), which doesn’t protrude as much for me, so that’s been quite helpful and more comfortable. But even for the original ones, unless you were wearing really really tight undies, it doesn’t really protrude that obviously!
Oh okay great, I’m going to save up for it! Thanks a lot :)
Do you have a link for the short stem version? I live in AU’s so probably eBay?? Thanks!
Hi,
May I ask where can I get this menstrual cup in Singapore?
Hi Qi Rong, don’t think they sell it in Singapore shops at this point! I’ll check in with my contact to see if that’s likely to change, but they don’t even sell other brands of menstrual cups in Singapore, so I think the best way is probably to go through the ebay link…
So that stem is quite long right? Do you think it will be a problem for people with a medieum high or a low cervix? I think I read somewhere that it was 80 mm long!
Thanks for making this review. I`ve been wondering about this cup fore some time now :)
yeah it’s quite long! even for me i sometimes find it a little uncomfortable and poking out. the good news is the manufacturers are looking into creating a version with a shorter stem after similar feedback, so that’s good news :)
Yeah my concern was also clots. I see the stem where it drains being difficult to keep clean enough.
Clots actually clear quite easily, mostly because the stem/tube is rubbery so it’s a matter of just squeezing it out the holes. The stem flushes quite smoothly when you run it under a tap, haven’t had any problems with that so far!
Interesting… I have been loving my Lunette for over 3 years now. Cool to see a cup like this exists. My heavy days are too “clotty” for this valve I would think. Thanks for the review though! Would be neat if you did a short video comparing the “springyness” of the materials.
Because of the material you can actually squeeze the clots through the holes, but you just have to be careful you don’t end up spurting stuff all over! Video is a good idea, I’ll have to get around to it… sometime!