Life

The Period Store Is Your New Best Friend, Um, Period.

by Nathalie O'Neill

What's your first thought when you get your period? If you're anything like me, it's something along the lines of "Oh crap, why didn't I bring that just-in-case tampon today?" (Hey, we're all friends here.) I was so glad to find out I wasn't alone in my general lack of tampon.

Last month, monthly delivery service The Period Store officially launched with a menstrual themed party (or "Menstruation Celebration," complete with uterus cupcakes):

How does it work? Three simple steps: You sign up for their service, choose what you want in your package, then receive it in the mail the day before your period starts.

The Period Store wants to allow women to sit back, relax, and enjoy their periods. Well, you know, enjoy as much as possible.

"We want to expose women to the wide variety of products that are available for period management and we want to do it in an intelligent, beautiful and fun way," Ashley, Ruby, and Nate, creators of The Period Store, explain on their website.

With this in mind, The Period Store offers a wide range of products, from the ubiquitous tampon to the intriguing sea sponge. There are four different package formats: Treats, Lite, Medium, and Heavy—your choice depends on how many feminine products you want. Every package comes with chocolate, tea, medicine, and a piece of art celebrating womanhood. But you've also got a lot of things you wouldn't remember to buy here: stain removers, aromatherapy, and herbal remedies. Subscribers are encouraged to share their packages on instagram with #theperiodstore. Here's a sample:

Cute, right? While this may seem like some yuppie attempt to make our periods trendy (my friend described this as appealing to "Upper East Side bitches"), the idea isn't actually that crazy. Take the Medium package, which includes two products (e.g., a box of tampons and one of pads), meds, chocolate, tea, and art. The whole package, shipping included, is $25—pretty much what you'd end up spending at the drugstore. Only thing missing in their package is a good movie to stay home and watch while eating that fancy chocolate.