Yes! it is!
You read it right.
So why do most people think of menstrual blood as ‘smelly’? (Do you?)
Why are there ads-galore trying to ‘help’ you mask the odor?
Why do so many people feel menstrual blood is ‘gross’?
We’re used to a smell accompanying our menstrual blood,
but guess what? It ISN’T our blood that smells!
What does?
Watch the video below to find out.
What surprised you?
How did this change the way you feel
about your menstrual blood?
4 Responses
my blood does give off a smell when i collect it in my menstrual cup. the organic fiber pads i use also do smell during use. blood will begin to oxidize as it hits oxygen, not just bleach in commercial tampons and pads. i have worked with myself to bring this smell into favor, to love it and remember it and appreciate its sweetness. i think there are even codes within the smell that our mind processes as we come closer in relationship to the womb. i am familiar with this smell as the ripe and life-giving smell of my womb, it is a holy aroma. i think that to talk about how our “blood doesn’t smell” is to totally bypass a pathway into honoring our blood. it will smell, it will be messy, and to try to cover that up by saying that using natural products will take that away is perpetuating the paradigm of menstrual shame. to say that blood doesn’t smell and using natural products will make it so your blood doesn’t smell simply is not true. we must bring in the loving acceptance of that which the dominant paradigm tries to wipe away.
Thanks, Eliza Rose, for writing to share your perspective. I appreciate it!
My experience was different. The revelation of my blood having no odor at source, when it flows out of the womb, was astounding to me.
Oxidation happens, of course, yet this wasn’t my focus in speaking about our blood as odorless.
My focus is the distinct difference between the off-putting smell that used to come off the disposable products I used, and the sheer lack of it when smelling my blood as it came out of the womb.
This is not in an argument. It’s a conversation.
The more we reclaim our blood, each in our own way, each according to our own experiences – the more we change the collective narrative.
According to Ayurveda (ancient Indian medical science) pure menstruated blood does have peculiar smell –
Change in smell can also suggest imbalance in physical biochemistry/ imbalance in doshas.
My experience is like DeAnna’s: after 12 hours of internal collection of my blood with a menstrual cup, I smell it and find it without scent, even though my underwear or body might have an odor.
…And speaking of busting taboos, Sisters, I’ll go on to tell you that my curiosity and need to receive the message of the power and goodness of my body/my blood has led me to sip from that menstrual cup more than once. The taste of my menstrual blood is also quite unexpected after years of smelling conventional tampons and pads: it is lovely…a little salty…warm…with a richness and nourishment that is more about feel than taste. It is both neutral and earthy at once, with just a little salt.
Beloveds, whatever our particular experiences and however we feel able to step outside the negative messaging of our cultures, I lift us up in gratitude and love for being part of the conversation, part of the much needed change. We ALL deserve it.