**Disclaimer: Literally all of this post is TMI. Some few real life friends read this blog – proceed with caution. Some few real life male friends read this blog – honest to god, just stop reading right now.**

I have been fascinated with THINX underwear since I saw the first ad. Fascinated, repulsed, intrigued, horrified and hopeful – all of them battling it out in my mind every time another post or ad for THINX would pop up on my Facebook feed.

So I was pretty excited to get offered a pair to try out and report back on.

Menstruating is expensive, ya’ll.

Each month, I go through about 20 tampons. To complicate matters further, they’re not even the same kind. I have to buy light, regular and super. Let’s say I’m picking up a trusty box of Tampax Pearl, 36 Count assorted absorbencies at $6.97 a pop.

I go through the vast majority of that box each month, with a few regulars leftover to get the next month started.

But on average, I’m spending about $50 a year on tampons. Sans tax (and shall we not even get started on the tax and all the recent rage over the “tampon tax” – actually maybe we should. Medical supplies are under a different tax code and the Food and Drug Administration has actually classified tampons as medical devices, yet in 40 states and the District of Columbia, they are still taxed as “luxury” items).

So every year I spend about $50 on a bunch of cotton so I can continue to function like a normal human being.

Maybe you’re not a fan of tampons. Assuming a similar use of pads, you’d be going through about 20 a month and you can get 36 of them for $5.47 from Amazon. You’d still need about 7 packages to get through the year for $38.29. Per year. Every year.

The average age of American women entering menopause is 51. So assuming I’m average, and I got my period at 12, that is 39 years of buying pads or tampons.

That’s $1,950 worth of tampons – completely disregarding inflation, so it’ll actually be more than that. Or $1,493 in pads.

I’m a pretty hardcore tampon girl, so let’s run with $1,950 as my real number (sans inflation), that would be devoting to keeping my sad, rejected uterine lining from running down my legs every single month.

I’ve already been doing this for 19 years. That’s $950 already spent on bleeding, not accounting for lost tampons OR  the amount of underwear I’ve had to replace over the years because **surprise** I’m bleeding today or **surprise** guess that new brand of tampon isn’t so good (thanks, ovaries). 

THINX has a way to lower that number.

2 pairs of THINX cost $68-76 (depending on what style you want to pick). Not only that, but THINX are considerably less traumatic to use for the first time than a tampon (was that just me? Totally possible that was just me) and better for the environment than all that waste.

They also have a 60 day total satisfaction guarantee – so the full moon can come around twice before you really have to commit to them.

But like I said at the top of this post, I’m not just spouting out numbers and facts at you. I walked the walk.

Or wore the panties, so to speak.

Some legit fears I had going into this experiment:

• I am totally going to bleed right through these things.
• They are going to be soggy and disgusting.
• I’m going to smell like a slaughtered pig.
• Assuming they do work once, washing them will ruin their magic.

Not one to take the easy way out, I wore my heavy day hiphuggers to a full day of work with no backup methods in place (although with a spare pair of pants, underwear and tampons in my bag – I’m all for experiments, but I’m also all for smart planning and not bleeding all over in front of a bunch of coworkers).

Pros	Cons
Very comfortable. Pretty sure I actually had less intense cramps. Pooping is easier. No odor. They honestly do stay very dry. Surprisingly cute.	I wasn’t sure when they would be “full.” Uterine globs don’t get absorbed. It can be awkward changing your underwear at work and then what do you do with the used pair?

The biggest con for me was that sometimes I work 16-18 hour days, in which case I would need 2 pairs on a heavy flow day and switching your panties and washing out a ton of blood in a communal sink seems a little too gross for me. Theoretically though, you could just bag the used pair and wash them out at home, which is quite possibly a thing I’m going to do in the future.

Additionally, I think regular access to a washer and dryer is key in using these suckers. Leaving the bathroom sink washed, but still kinda bloody panties in my laundry bag in my luggage was actually a little too gross to me. I prioritized throwing in a load of laundry the next day, but tour life doesn’t always allow for that luxury.

I also wasn’t 100% sure when they would be full, but I wore them on a heavy day and between 10-12 hours in, they started to feel a little damp, which I took as a sign it was time to change. They didn’t leak at all and actually the lace edge of the panties stayed dry the whole time. Also, the dampness was noticeable, but not really uncomfortable.

The hiphuggers are rated for 2 tampons full and honestly, by 10-11 hours on the first day of my period, I’m usually on my 3^rd or 4^th tampon by then, so I think they did everything they promised to do.

Overall, I actually like them a lot. I may honestly buy a few more pairs. It seems to me that for them to reach the same level of convenience as tampons, I’d need about 4 pairs, so I wouldn’t constantly have to do laundry, but assuming they last a few years, $144 isn’t a terrible investment, and overall the ick factor is way, way lower than with a Diva cup or any of the other reusable methods I’ve heard of before. They’re also really, really comfortable.

Want to give THINX a try? Use the referral link and get $10 off your first purchase!