Lunapads Review and Giveaway! - closed

Being eco-friendly involves reducing your amount of waste. Since that's one of the reasons we cloth diaper, I figured I should probably start doing my part to reduce my waste too. What's one thing that every woman has? A period. What do women usually use during their periods? Disposable pads and tampons. It's expensive, it's wasteful, and honestly,  it's sort of gross. After I gave birth I used disposable pads and I just always felt really gross. How could I not, I was wearing PLASTIC down there. Plastic is not breathable. Just like disposable diapers there are chemicals in pads to increase the absorbency and that's one place I don't want chemicals. The production of feminine disposable items is far from eco-friendly too. Disposable pads and tampons are also really expensive.
I found this interesting article on tampon safety on the Lunapads website, you should check it out, it might help you decide to switch to reusable instead of disposable!

I'll admit, before I switched to reusable pads I was kind of grossed out by the idea of  using something for that time of the month that I'd have to wash. It's no harder than taking off a disposable pad and instead of throwing it out you can throw it in a wet bag, or a small pail of water. I use an empty wipes container filled will some water to soak my pads in before I throw them in the wash. The water that they soak is is great to use for watering your plants too!

I haven't really gotten my period back yet since I am exclusively breastfeeding, but I have had some light spotting at times, probably during the time that I would normally have a period. I needed something while this was happening, so I turned to reusable pads.

Lunapads was generous enough to send me some items for review. I received a sampler pack of the Lunapads and a pair of Lunapanties

The Lunapads sampler pack consists of 1 mini pantyliner, 1 maxi pad, 1 maxi liner, and 1 maxi wing liner. I was sent a mixture of both regular and organic cotton to try out in the Cocoa Kaleidoscope pattern. To use Lunapads you need a maxi pad. This pad hads snaps so you can snap it into place, and ric rac to hold in whatever liners you choose to use. When you change your pad you only need to swap out the liners, you leave the maxi pad in. Simple! You can customize the liners to fit in with your needs. They have everything available from light to heavy flow and postpartum (I wish I had these after I had Eli)! Here is a neat liner how to guide on the Lunapads website so you can get an idea of the different styles of liners and how to use them.

Fit: Lunapads are pretty amazing. They are not thick and bulky like some other reusable pads that are out there. They are extremely comfortable, so comfortable that you will probably forget that you are wearing them, I did!

Performance: Like I said before, I don't really have my period back yet, but if I did I am sure these would do the trick. They have an entire page dedicated to testimonials! All you have to do is change the liners every couple of hours and you are set to go. The pantyliner is perfect for light days at the end or in-between periods (or during pregnancy).

Value: The following cost comparison charts were taken from the Lunapads website:

As you can see there is a big difference between the cost per use. Lunapads cost between $0.01 and $0.15 per use and disposable pads and tampons cost anywhere from $0.08 to $0.38 per use. Lunapads last anywhere from 3-5 years and a lot of women report that their Lunapads have lasted even longer, so then they cost even less per use! Clearly reusable pads are the more economical choice.

Lunapanties are organic cotton "period panties" with an absorbent layer of cotton fleece in the gusset (crotch). The gusset has two cotton bands so you can customize your absorbency by adding liners, just like Lunapads. These panties are basically an "all in one" option. You can wear the underwear all day as long as you change the liners as needed to prevent any kind of leaking through. These are not only perfect for your period, but they would be amazing during pregnancy! Any woman who has been (or is) pregnant knows that things happen down there and you need a little extra absorbency, especially at the end of pregnancy. I can imagine these would be perfect for postpartum with some postpartum liners.

Fit: I tried out the hipster style in a size medium. Hipster style underwear can either fit really well or really terribly (you know, the hipster panties that end up giving you a permanent wedgie). These were perfect! They were super comfortable, I couldn't even tell that I was wearing underwear with added protection.

Performance: Again, no real period here, but I don't doubt these will be just as wonderful as the Lunapads. You can check out the testimonials for the Lunapanties here.

Value: The panties are $26.99 and include a built in liner and come with one maxi or long liner, depending on what size you order. These can be used in conjunction with your other Lunapads liners or the Diva Cup. The value is great because you re-use them and they are organic!

Buy It: Visit Lunapads and use code OWLET09 for $5 off an order of $35 or more!

Win It: Lunapads has graciously offered one of our readers a Lunapads Sampler Pack (valued at $28.99). Whether you are just curious about making the switch or an already converted Lunapads user, this is a great set!

Mandatory entry (you must do this entry first for your other entries to be valid!): Visit Lunapads and tell me which fabric choice is your favorite (if you click on the different pad options you will see the fabric choices). Be sure to leave your email address so I have a way to contact you if you win!

Additional entries (Be sure to leave a comment for each additional entry. If you get 5 entries for something than you must leave 5 comments. Make sure you do the mandatory entry first so your additional entries are counted).

1. Go to Lunapads and tell me one thing you learned about the company or product (1 entry)

2. Add @lunapads on Twitter (1 entry)

3. Add @lepetitowlet on Twitter (1 entry)

4. Follow Le Petit Owlet publicly via Google Friend Connect (right sidebar, 1 entry)

5. Subscribe to email feed via Feedburner (right sidebar, 2 entries)

6. Become a fan of Lunapads on Facebook!

7. Add one of my buttons to your blog! (2 entries, please leave a link)

8. Blog about this giveaway (2 entries, leave a link to the entry)

9. Tweet about this giveaway! Make sure you use @lunapads @lepetitowlet and a link to the giveaway! (Limited to 2 tweets per day. Please make sure to leave a link to the tweet)

Contest open to US/Canada/International

Giveaway will end at 11:59pm CST on 2/12/10. Winner will be posted 2/13/10.

Good luck!


Disclaimer: I did not receive payment in any form for this review.
I did receive a sample of the product or service for testing and review purposes. This will in no way sway my opinion of the product or service. The review is in my own words and is my own opinion. Your results and opinion may differ.