Every woman knows how inconvenient having their period is when we’re going out. We have to make sure we have enough tampons to get us through the entire day/night, and most of the time, they take up a lot of space in our bags.
While tampons may seem small, having to carry around 5-6 of them during the day can take up some room–especially in a clutch when we’re going out to a bar. So, companies have been looking for ways to create a long-lasting, durable tampon that is also small for women.
Popular brand Tampax had come out with a solution–Tampax Compak–a tampon that is half the size of a regular one and expands upon use. However, they’ve recently updated their original product to “be sleeker, smoother, and easier to use,” and introduced The Tampax Pocket Pearl.
The small, light-weight tampon is pretty sleek and convenient when it comes to packing it in a bag. But when trying to use them–forget it. You’re better off stuffing toilet paper in your underwear and calling it a day. I’ve tried these several times, and they really don’t work well. But, I’m not the only one. People online have been complaining to the company and on several sites–such as Amazon–about how awful they are.
On Amazon, the product has more bad reviews than good ones.
Yeah, never though I would want to post a review about tampons, but these are so terrible that I just have to warn others. These applicators do not work! Even after getting them to “click” properly, I had to go through 3 or 4 tampons each time I tried these to finally get just one applicator to stay intact to insert the tampon. Then the applictor doesn’t push the tampon far enough to stay in place, and that’s if it even made it all the way out of the applicator to begin with (been using Tampax tampons for over 20 years with no such issues, so this is not novice user error). Can’t even say if the tampon itself works properly since most never even made it out of the applicator, and the few that did, did not make it far enough to stay in place! Some of the applicators even pinched me in the proccess– not cool Tampax, so not cool! I wish I kept my receipt so I could take advantage of the money back guarantee offered on the bottom of the box, but I wasn’t expecting a trusted company to make such a shoddy product that would frustrate me enough to want my $9 back over simple tampons!
Like many women, I never thought I would be the one be writing a review about tampons, but I am so enraged at the redesign of the applicator and tampon that I feel I have to share to prevent other women from going through the same frustrations.
Where do I start?
The Applicator: Tampax describes this as “A smooth applicator with anti-slip grip extends and clicks into place for easy-to-use, comfortable protection”
The applicator itself is so short, that if you have even the slightest curve, you have no chance of using it with the ‘anti-slip grip’ outside of your body.
Speaking of the ‘anti-slip grip’ you have to have the daintiest fingers to be able to hold it.
Using the phrase READY, SET, CLICK. It would be better to describe this as “READY, SET, CLICK, INSERT, PUSH, COLLAPSE, PULL, CLICK, PUSH, COLLAPSE, PULL, CLICK, PUSH…repeat ad nauseam.
The Tampon: Tampax description “Only Tampax Pearl has a Built-In Backup Braid that helps stop leaks by channeling them back into the core, protecting you in a way no other tampon does.”
The tampon itself seems to open up into a surreal butterfly shape…but only if it is immersed in water. It does not behave this way in your body. The absorbency is pitiful. it doesn’t open up, it compacts like a squeezed sponge. It is awful.
This back up braid is even worse. It doesn’t channel leaks back into the core. I tell you what it does channel into the core, and this may seem indelicate, urine. Yes. urine. I remember using the previous Compak design and being able to go to the loo without having to replace my tampon, but now, if the slightest bit of urine hits the string, it goes straight up into the core. Unhygienic and vile.
The wrapper: It isn’t crunchy and doesn’t make a lot of noise, so if you are in public, nobody knows your business, which is a positive, but the “funky” design makes it rather difficult to distinguish between Regular, Super and Super Plus by sight alone. You have to feel it. Ridiculous.
Tampax needs to sort this out, as they are going to lose customers in droves because of this.
–A-M
Was relieved but simultaneously angered to come on here and see so many other people having the same experience as me with these. The tampon gets stuck in the applicator even if you’re carefully to pull the insertion stem out and get it to “click,” at least 9/10 times it won’t leave the tube/won’t stay in my body because it’s stuck to the applicator, at which point if I am in a desperate situation (as I was tonight, considering these pocket sized tampons are kept in my “desperate situation” locations, like at work… I have to just, uh, get my hands a little dirty. Even then, they leak horribly, and are really uncomfortable. Wish I could get my money back but I bought a huge pack of these and feel completely ripped off.
Tampax has replied to most comments left on their social media sites and profiles, attempting to get to the bottom of many people’s distaste for the product. The company told Cosmopolitan that the customers who do not like the product are only a small percentage of their overall customers.
They’re also asking customers who are having problems to reach out to them or call them at 1-800-398-3766 so they can learn and improve the products.