i bought these because of the cool packaging.. yes, i know.. dumb but true. Once I GET them in, they are great.. BUT the can be hard to put in.. and yes, i know how to use a tampon... for some reason.. these dont work as well AS the COULD. For one thing...the applicator slides back into the compact postion at times..even after you "click" it into place.. other times the applicator just falls apart.. they need to take this one back to the drawing board and do some improvements..JUST LIKE THEY DID WITH THE U BY KOTEX PADS!!