- made of high-grade platinum silicone
- comes in a silicone pouch (the clear Si-Bell comes in a cotton one)
- comes with a cardboard box
- very soft cup
- no grip rings at the base
- 4 indentations to its sides
- grip rings on the stem
- flexible and solid stem
- height of the cup is 74 mm (stem not included)
- length of the stem is 27 mm
- external diameter is 41 mm
- holds 20 ml up to the rim (not mentioned how much up to the air suction release holes)
About the large Si-Bell:
- made of high-grade platinum silicone
- comes in a silicone pouch (the clear Si-Bell comes in a cotton one)
- comes with a cardboard box
- very soft cup
- no grip rings at the base
- 4 indentations to its sides
- grip rings on the stem
- flexible and solid stem
- height of the cup is 74 mm (stem not included)
- length of the stem is 22 mm
- external diameter is 46 mm
- holds 30 ml up to the rim (not mentioned how much up to the air suction release holes)
A few photos:
My opinion:
The silicone used on both Si-Bell cups seems to be of really high quality. It's nice and smooth and feels great to the touch. It makes both cups also easy to insert and remove, giving them a nice glide.
Although it feels a bit softer to me than the Organicup, I daresay the Si-Bell (both the small and the large), is easier to insert than the Organicup. This might have to do with the Si-Bell being a bit more flared, the rim standing thus a bit more out from the rest of the cup.
Nevertheless, getting both Si-Bell cups to pop open once inside has a bit of a learning curve to it. You have to 'help' the cup by poking a bit with your middle finger and ever so slightly pulling its stem and then pushing it up again.
To get the Si-Bell out again is not that difficult. Neither Si-Bell cup does have grip rings on their base to aid on removal, however, they do have grip rings on their stems and also four indentations on their sides. The indentations, in my opinion, don't really add to removing the Si-Bell, though they might help to break the suction a bit better, but the grip rings on their stems do. They are really practical and easy to grip and hold on to.
The stem of both Si-Bells is also flexible and a bit stretchy, but not as stretchy as the one on the Organicup. The flexibleness of the stem is great since that way it goes with the shape of your body and does not stab you.
My Si-Bell cup story:
The Si-Bell cup is a very good quality cup, however, I don't like it, nor the small, nor the large. Both cups are way too soft for me, I believe my pelvic floor muscle just squished and moved them, which led them to doing some weird acrobatics once they were inside of me :p
The small Si-Bell cup ended up so high that it hit my spinal nerve in some way and which made me feel sick to my stomach, really hot and sweaty (nearly feverish), and gave also a fierce dull painful feeling in my left lower abdomen. When it happened I was in class and we had to do some group work so I did not dare to ask if I could go to the toilet (stupid of me :O). After class, once I got my cup out, I soon felt a lot better.
I felt a bit uneasy to use my small Si-Bell after that, so this period I decided to opt for the large. What I experienced with the large Si-Bell cup though, was really horrible and gave me quite the scare. Maybe you remember me saying I was afraid the Shorty (MeLuna) would get lost inside of me. Well, let's say it was not the Shorty that did, it was the large Si-Bell! I was literally shocked last night when I wanted to change my cup. I 'd had quite a heavy flow day and thought my cup was full since I had a leaking sensation (luckily I always wear a cloth pad as back-up!) so I went to the bathroom to take it out. There seemed no Si-Bell cup to take out though! It should have been there however, since I had not already taken it out. I was puzzled. I also felt myself leaking so I quickly put a towel on the floor in order not to make a mess of things. I tried reaching again for my large Si-Bell and what I then noticed simply baffled me. It had twisted itself and moved so far up that it was folded into a small ball upwards of my pubic bone. I could feel a tiny bit of it's stem, but could not grab it, as it was jammed between my now ball-cup and my pubic bone.
I nearly panicked, but remembered just in time that in times like these, you really have to do stay calm! It is of the utmost importance, especially if you are like me and you don't want to land at your doctor's office or at the ER in order for them to take it out. Keeping that desperately unwanted scenario in mind, I succeeded in remaining very calm and decisive. I was absolutely determined to get that cup out myself!
First, I tried reaching for it with my middle finger alone, as that's my longest finger. I could reach it, but not get it loose. I then remembered someone saying, that sometimes if you squat, it's easier to get your cup out. Well, it did not work for me. Squatting made the opening where behind my cup sat even tighter, so there was no way I would get it out that way. So up I got myself again, starting to feel ever so slightly desperate. What would work? I then decided to not only stick my middle finger, but also my index finger up into my vagina. Mind you, this was something I had never done before wearing a cup and was quite hesitant about, since I'm really tight and I was afraid I might really hurt myself. But hey, desperate times call for desperate measures and a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do, right? : ) so I just went for it. With every try, I felt myself getting more towards getting the stem loose from it's tricky position. When I finally succeeded in grabbing it, I pulled and pulled. I thought I'd never get it out, until suddenly, my large Si-Bell just popped out and, yeah, I was left with a murder scene-like scenario in my bathroom :O : ) blood was all over! There was a big splash of it on my towel I put on the floor in case of dribbing and also a big gush on my sink :O I did not mind though. I was way to happy to get the thing finally out : ) You cannot imagine how relieved I was (and really proud of myself in some way)!
Shorty compared to large Si-Bell:
Even though it was absolutely horrendous, I'm glad it happened. It gave me a chance to discover my female anatomy even more, which is always a nice bonus :p, plus I got to write about it, so you can be better informed when choosing between cups and maybe therefore it won't happen to you!
If, however, this ever were to happen to you, there is always this tiny tiny chance with any cup really I guess, please, do stay calm! I've been there and I can assure you, it really helps!!!
Do I recommend the Si-Bell cup after this experience?
I hope I did not scare you off with my story, as I said the chances of such a thing happening are really small, but it's sometimes better to expect the unexpected in order to be prepared and that's why I decided to tell you about it.
I might myself not ever want to use a Si-Bell cup again due to what I experienced with both of mine, I would, however, recommend it. I'm sad it did not work for my body shape. for it does seem so lovely.
I would, however, not recommend the silicone pouch if you have the option. It really attracts a whole lot of lint!
If you therefore like or need a really soft cup, the Si-Bell cup is probably a great cup for you! It's lovely soft and smooth and of a high quality with a good capacity to it too.
I will try to give mine away to the Amps for Africa project if they want them (after having sterilized it first of course!). I hope they do, maybe someone else will then be able to benefit from it. It really seems like a great cup!
The Si-Bell cup is available in two colours:
clear version
pink version