How Soft Is the Large Yuuki ?

Coucou Quitterie !

Thanks a lot for giving your first impressions of the Yuuki.

I couldn't resist and had a dry run yesterday evening. Of course I'm not on my period so things will be different when it comes, but my experience was pretty much the same as yours.

I found it quite easy to insert and open. It folds very easily (I tried a C-fold, but the rim is so soft I guess any fold would be easy) and I opened it exactly as my LC, by pushing the walls away with my finger. It opened all right ; it took maybe a few seconds more to get fully opened, and I wonder if it's because I lack practice with it or because the air holes are sooo tiny compared with those of the LC !

I couldn't spin it either (that doesn't work with the LC). I just tugged gently on the stem to check the cup was sealed - and it was. I also found it very nice to wear. That is, I couldn't feel a thing ! I don't think I'll cut the stem.

Removal was, needless to say, much easier than with the LC. Those grips really help ! Just pinching the base wasn't enough to break the seal, but I guess it's because the entire cup is very squishy. Rocking it from side to side did the job.

So far, I think I'm really going to like this cup !

That was great to read you, Lily .

Today is the 5th-last day of my periods and i've been using again my 3 new cups since last sunday (the small Yuuki, then the large Y, and the MPwer cup.)
Here i come with some cons for these 3 cups ah....


Last month, I wore my small Yuuki with its intact stem, during the last two days. At first, i was extremely surprised as I didn't feel the stem (!!). It wasn't uncomfortable althought it did feel as if I had a bigger something inside my vagina, in comparison with the feeling I have with any cups once they're inside. So this sensation must have been due to the fact this stem is kinda a bit wide and above all, well, rigid.
But actually very quickly, it started to bother me, to finally even irritate me on the last day (.. not too much, but it was very unpleasant.) I think this is because of the ridges on the stem, oh they're equal to those on the base of the cup = they are prominent and those of the stem "scraped" against the walls, when I moved.

The stem was rather an obstacle when putting the cup in and removing it.
During removal, the stem was an obstacle when i inserted my 2 fingers inside the vagina _ as the stem takes some place within the first centimeters of the vagina, that already are fairly narrow. Then when I reached the bottom-base to pinch it, there again, this stem pasted against the bottom constituted a trouble to freely do so..

Also, I didn't realize how long the stem made the entire small Yuuki cup look like ! The large Yuuki already is long, about 2 ml longer than the Divacup. But at the end of my periods, when I compared the small Yuuki (with its stem) with the large Y (without any bit of the stem) = I could notice the small Y is then longer than the already longest cup/the large Yuuki..
So the small Y with its stem must measure almost 8 cm.....

When I put the small Yuuki, I didn't get why the cup didn't move up, as every cup usually does. And I could feel that I couldn't push it higher, it blocked -- the rim was already seating against the bottom of the vagina.
Once the cup was inserted _ being relaxed, and sitting on the toilets : The end of the stem protuded a bit ; maybe 2 ml of the stem were outside the entrance. So I noticed that such a lenght was the very maximum my vagina could handle lol.
I think that if one has about the same vagina as i, and if the same person cut just a part of the stem, (and not cut it entirely), well, i guess that the stem would be a real discomfort.. as it is pretty rigid and solid/filled inside of it..


That's is one of the reasons why i directly cut the whole stem off just before my actual periods started, and didn't try the cup with half of the stem for instance.
Afterall, i really do not like stems lol.
So.. the small Yuuki without stem is way more comfortable !! To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if it would also be true for women who do enjoy having a stem, for the facts i noted above about this specific stem..



There's an element that I had noticed when I received the cups, on the Yuuki cups = The ridges on the external base are big. That wouldn't be a problem is they felt soft. But they are prominent in a less cool way than they could be = See, when i slide my finger against the base, i find the ridges to be "grating" .
So I imagined they may feel too present once I would wear the cups.

Okay.. so this is really not a big deal, as both Yuukis are comfortable (the large one may be better for me, as the small one may feel a little too firm). But yeah, sometimes i do feel the base of the Yuuki cups _ and I can't see anything that would cause this slight bother, except these ridges.
But I must rather be baffling and this may be an unimportant detail to other women.

I'm aware i really am demanding when it comes to menstrual cups. See, they can be such such a great comfort in comparison with tampons, that I appreciate so much when they are extremely comfortable.. almost perfect, so ;-P..



Still about removal = the large Yuuki rather is an easy cup to remove.. almost too easy at some point lol .
The ridges may be too prominent (from my point of view) but they really are useful, or else the cup would be too slippery.
So once I pinch the base to efficiently break the succion, the cup almost folds into two in its length (as Lily and i said, this cup is squishy.) Then, while i barely start to pull down the cup, the upper (slippery -- as there are no rigdes) part of it slides very very fast down !
Once on my last period, when the upper part just went out of the vagina, the cup slipped from my pinching fingers :-O lol.
It feels a bit as if after the release of the succion, the cup slides abruptly, by itself.
But this is rather a good point I guess ;-), and just an habit to adopt, to master and profit a nice removal.


Finally, i think that among theses 3 new cups, my favourite one may be the MPower cup (!)
Yep.. For instance, as for the texture, i prefer the one of the MP. As a comparison, we may say the grain of the MP is quite close to the one of the Femmecup.


What's interesting is that cups such as the Moon Cup (usa), Ladycup, the Yuuki, the MP or the MeLuna all are slippery cups (oh well i still haven't tested the MeLunas on my own yet), but they all have a different/ distinctive type of texture. ;-)
We'll see how the Naturcup acts .

I have one concern about the MPower = the fact it is pretty rigid, kind of as the Fleurcup. (And the Femmecup has a firm rim too.)

I try to unfold my MP very carefully (pretty delicately _ not too quickly, or else i'd be afraid it may be fairly brutal for the walls), and it goes okay-- yep, cool. I use the punch-down fold, or even the origami one, once. Then i let it open while the cup still is rather low inside the vagina (in order not to make the unfolded side of the very firm cup pop open against the cervix.. :X, mainly).

Then the cup is wide opened but not entirely entered inside my vagina.

As it is firm, it is hard to simply push it inside with the finger(s), the cup kinda stay blocked as it is and where it is ; (or hard to even pinch a bit the base, to release some air, making the cup slightly slimmer and able to move easier, for it to go up - then re-open suitably).

But i noticed that when i contract the muscles near the entrance of the vagina, then the deeper-higher muscles of the vagina relax -- And that allowed the cup to slide and find its place towards the up.

Plus, it's also possible that the lower muscles that contract trigger a push of the cup upwards. :-)

Still, once the cup is in, i'm a bit worried by the fact my muscles and walls face a pretty rigid object.


Another difficulty is the removal of the MP = So it is slippery and as the base is rounded, it's not easy to grasp it. The ridges are welcomed here too.. but ah! they are softer than those of the Yuuki, and they are somehow still slippery, not "non-skid" enough humm.. (kind of ironic hee _ so we can't have it all ? :-P)
But when i do have a hold, with an efficient, strong pinching of the base, then i experience kind of the contrary than the experience i have with the large Yuuki.... as the rim does stick the vaginal walls, even when i draw the cup downwards, it seems the rim wants to catch on the walls.

(Maybe i was a little tensed today and yesterday so my pelvic muscles may actually have held back the rim/cup, but yes it felt a bit hard to pull down the cup. Also, maybe simply the succion wasn't broken enough, but once i manage to have a grasp on the base _ ah, ouf! _ and i wouldn't try to have a better pinching again, for releasing the succion sufficiently _ if you see what i mean.. But! last month, i don't remember how i acted ah, but i didn't have this problem and i could have simply pulled the cup down. So i must be tensed, a bit stressed.)


For this reason too, to speak openly = i'm not reassured to have a pretty rigid material that scrapes against the walls, while pulling the cup towards the exit ; besides, the MP is a large size cup so we can feel the "scraping", the cup being wide and sticking against the walls (unless one has too relaxed walls and muscles, probably ;-). Besides, in that case, I think it could be a good cup, still as efficient as it is on a narrower vagina, regarding the fact it allows to have no leaks at all etc.. ;-). And i find this cup comfortable.)


Many kisses.

Any cup I decide to use as my personal reglar cup, I will completely trim the stem off, lol. I am so short inside, I really don’t need a stem, not even with small Meluna.

Also, thanks we needed a good review on the large Yuuki.

I agree, Mpower’s ridges are more comfortable to wear, but they are subtle in removal, and I too said in my review that the rounded bottom is tricky to keep hold of. It was actually the only cup I have ever accidentally dropped, hahaha. But I soon found that the way to prevent dropping it is to support the cup from below with your fingers and you take it out. Otherwise, it kind of pops open after you get it out and the round, smooth bottom can make you lose your grip.

I can’t insert Mpower using a C fold, its too wide (well I can, but not comfortably). I have to use the punch-down fold. But since the walls are so firm, it pops open easily for me. If I were to use it as my regular cup, I would certainly have to cut off the stem completely.

Its true, every cup requires special tricks for insertion and removal. They are not all done the same way. But Mpower is great for really heavy days, when you are going to be out of the house a lot.

Ahh just to be accurate : i wrote "too relaxed" but i meant "loose walls and muscles" ;-).

Melissa, you must have already related this on your reviews .. Here is a feature i felt like to evoke regarding the MPower cup .
On my last periods, when I cleaned it with mild soap, gently rubbing the soapy MPower with my fingers (before putting it back in its pouch and let it rest he..) : I hadn't clearly noticed until then that there was a difference in the texture between the internal and the external side of this cup -- as the MeLuna cups.

An what's interesting is that both brands have this common feature but weren't conceived the same way. On the MPower cup, we have a grainy surface on the outside, and an all smooth surface on the inside.

On the MeLuna, it's the opposite = I notably felt it on my two new small MeLunas (one red, without stem and the other is the opaque black, stem style), on which the difference of surface textures is more observable than on bigger sizes of this same brand.
For them, the grainy surface is found on the inside of the cup while the smooth surface has been chosen for the outside of the cup.
The internal surface of the ML is pretty close to the texture of the small Fleurcup, that has a grainy type of surface (for both the inside and the outside, and these are identical to the touch), but the grains of the internal surface of the MeLuna feel smaller and more compact, closer.. making it particularly soft to the touch, velvety.
(And the small Fleurcup itself is rather softer than the big size of the Fleurcup to the touch, and has a slightly more velvet-smooth feeling than the Divacup.)

The smooth surface of the MPower is veeery soft too and even feels more slippery (a sort of gliding softness) than the also soft grainy surface of the ML, + with some kind of a sheen feeling under the finger, and with broaded grains.
Moreover, this external surface of the MP is unique, i mean to me, it isn't really comparable to the texture of any other existing cups.


As i said, the external surface of the MeLuna is smooth, and it even looks bluntly sleek, glossy.

So the internal surface of the MPower also is smooth, and shiny too under the lit light of the room.

Probably the same type of smooth and texture feeling than the one of the Moon Cup from the usa.
When my new cups (MP and MeLunas) are totally unwet, their smooth surfaces catch on the finger when I slide my forefinger along them. (Contrary to their most soft surface against which the finger do slide = the grainy surface -- you know, as there, we have a "grainy" type of texture that initially was a Divacup characteristic and novelty. On the French EasyCup forum, it is described as a peach-like complexion type of texture .. so this characteristic is for the Diva, Lunette, Fleurcup, or also the Green Donna apparently...)
The external sleek surface of the MeLuna has more a type of rubbery sensation _ practically sticking, when we lightly slide the finger against it (in comparison with the sensation of the finger against the smooth surface of the MPower). This texture feeling is probably due to the material with which this cup is made, thermoplastic elastomer.



To me, another excellent feature of the MPower is the fact it is extremely easy to clean !! So quick and practical.
It reminded me of another great cup for which many cuppers note that it all goes smoothly when they have to rinse or clean it = the LadyCup .


Plus, what feels just great is that it also is very fast to wipe it ! Cool.. it looks like wetness doesn't catch on its material -- kind of like some hydrophobic material ; like the Wheez device that allows women to pee standing ah, for instance.
(With some other cups, we have to insist, strongly apply the wiping disposable tissue against the area on which there still are traces of wetness. Often, it is on sides where there are some relief lettering, or even more on the area right under the second rim/step of staircase of cups as the Mooncup etc.)

And when I wipe the MPower with a tissue, no fibre is catched either/kept on the surface of the cup.

I remember that when i started with cups, i often noticed the reverse aspect of this with my Divacup. Once i had cleaned and thoroughly wiped it before putting it in the pouch, I could always see many tiny fibres of the tissue being kept "trapped" along the material of the Diva...


Finally, I somehow regret i couldn't test these recent cups which can collect a large amount of blood sooner, when i started my adventures with the cups ; i'm thinking of the large Yuuki and the MPower (or also the large Fleurcup.)
Because, then, 4 years ago (i was 23 and a half years old), i had a more abundant flow. I have the feeling that since i turned 25, my flows really are lighter (now even day 1 isn't a really "big" day.) I'd say they now look rather very moderate.

Anyway, i think the tests of these two high-performance cups would be more interesting with women that have an abundant flow and/or women that have muscles or walls a bit loose.
.. In order to note how effective the large Y and the MP are for collecting an impressive amount of flow and for avoiding any leaks on big days.
I'm thinking about that also because they both have a slippery type of material.. So would the rims be watertight enough to maintain the suction effect, in front of softer vaginal walls, faced with a constant soaked environment and with probable uterine cramps (that make the walls move) hehe.. ?
The suction effect of the large Yuuki doesn't feel like a strong one, contrary to the super strong suction of the large Fleurcup for instance.. maybe that could make a slight difference, don't know (?)

Ah! I talked about the cramps, but meant the uterine contractions that can make the vaginal walls move, as the contractions sometimes are intense and can be like 4-5 strong rapid spasms (for me)..

(Besides, I don't know how these intense contractions of the uterus during menstruation go for women who have painful and/or heavy periods..
I might experience it one time or twice during the day 1, it may happen on day 2, once too. But this absolutely isn't systematical, doesn't occur chronically. it even is not especially frequent at all.
I wonder if some women suffer from repeated spasms-contractions almost all day long, and during all their periods week ? Aïe.. )

(I hope it's okay to talk about the MPower cup in detail whereas this is topic about the large Yuuki..)

Lately, I was eating a Comice pear and saw a likeness between the external aspect of the MPower and the skin of this fruit .

The last time i used the MP cup, I was about to insert it using the C-fold. But after inserting it this way, the cup kept blocked against my muscles. The cup took some place inside the vagina, so i couldn't really move it from where it sitted, in order to provoke a change of state, a movement and make it start opening up (at least the start of an opening).
Weird, I don't remember how things went on the first month with the MP.. But i'm pretty sure i used the C-fold, the very first time i used it. And well it must have opened fairly easily since I don't remember it lol ;-) ; so my muscles must just have been rather tensed, during the second cycle of use for this cup.

Yeah, the first time i try a cup, I like to test its insertion with the basic fold, the C-fold, for it usually is pretty easy to unfold it and : As it makes the folded cup look wide, i like to test how wide this basic fold feels with this or that cup (a little too wide ; just okay ; pretty cool, comfortable ?), and test the manner the cup will pop open inside the vagina, with this classical, and often effective fold.
I also like to notice how the rim itself [and sometimes the second rim or the "step of staircase" below the rim as on the Mooncup] feels against the entrance and walls of the vagina, regarding its texture and shape : Is it particularly soft, is there a light asperity (i guess it depends on the way the mould make the cups) ? Its more or less rounded aspect, or with kind of flat side.. does that make it sweet to "rub"/slide against the mucus membrane ? We can feel these features (applied on our intimate skin) in an obvious way as the C-folded rim is then pretty wide.. and with all the cups. (I guess this is the case even with the small MeLuna, because its rim is pretty thick.)
Otherwise, i do prefer the punch-down fold too....


But actually, back on my last trial with the MPower hé : This lasted a very few seconds, i mean i didn't insist and just went for a punch-down fold..
(I didn't try a second time, using the C-fold by angling the folded cup differently inside the vagina, or not placing the convex side of the C exactly at the same area...)
Once or twice with my large LadyCup, when the rim kept folded in two inside the vagina : My forefinger pushed against the rim (so against the side of the cup that is opposite to the one that is due to be sitting against the front wall of the vagina). As the Lady rim is quite flexible but thicker + as the front wall of the vagina is hard = my forefinger pressure triggered a quick motion, it made the cup pop open.

But I didn't feel like trying this with the MPower..

Admin wrote:I agree, Mpower’s ridges are more comfortable to wear, but they are subtle in removal, and I too said in my review that the rounded bottom is tricky to keep hold of. It was actually the only cup I have ever accidentally dropped, hahaha. But I soon found that the way to prevent dropping it is to support the cup from below with your fingers and you take it out. Otherwise, it kind of pops open after you get it out and the round, smooth bottom can make you lose your grip.

During the last removals with this cup, i instinctively use a technique that implies the thumb in an important role (the thumb from the right hand as i'm a right-handed), and it worked pretty well . I usually don't handle the cups this way, but then, it was cool, and somehow needed.. that facilitated the removal.

Once i had a strong hold/pinching of the base thanks to my right thumb and forefinger, those same fingers from the left hand took over.
.. It's the fingers of the left hand that were holding the grip at that point.
The cup just started being folded, having a dent.. and a free space right in front of the front wall.

So pretty fast, i slided my right thumb along the front wall. The first phalanx moved up and held the cup, that is slightly above the rim where it was flat. As soon as the thumb started to make the cup slide towards the outside, the left fingers released the base of the cup, while the 4 fingers of the right hand held the bottom. It was pretty practical : the thumb (the strongest finger ) mastered the sliding of this firm, solid cup while all the other fingers were ready to gently and securely receive the cup.

With the large Yuuki, i think this would be less efficient.. First, because the large Y is too squashy. Second, because it is a long cup : i guess then the distance between the holding thumb and the other right fingers would be too big/uncomfortable.. And i have rather short fingers !

For a cup that can collect that much, the MPower has a medium/even short lenght. And for the "thumb removal" it is perfect.. not too long, and not too short (i'm not sure this type of removal would have been useful or convincing with the small Yuuki either, for instance, since it is a short cup that rides up when we wear it + and is rather slippery..)

Good removal tips I think the mroe we all try and practice, the better we master "the art of using menstrual cups"... Someone shoudl write a book with that title, haha. That would sure be helpful

Melissa569 wrote:"the art of using menstrual cups"... Someone shoudl write a book with that title, haha. That would sure be helpful

Oui oui, wonderful "alphabet primer" for women ! i'm just very fond of your idea. It sure would be useful, even for gynaecologists or some curious men , and could be funny or enriching.. with chapters for the "Oh my God! moments" or for testimonials from women who would have used the antique ah / first cups !
(.. not considering the very first one from the 1800's, of course -- the one with the cup being fastened to a metal belt.)

Cheers to you !

I also was thinking of maybe buying a specific plate of little tablets that one takes daily (as the contraceptive pills), these tablets are full of probiotics that work on restoring the good vaginal flora that is temporarily missing.
But, strictly speaking, it seems my vagina itself isn’t irritated / simply its entrance…
Err, but after all, the glands of the vestibule produce and then need the same type of flora than the one of the vagina (from what I had read) and they have the same Ph level.
I’ll see how things turn out..