I always hated fumbling with the plastic applicators. They used to so quickly get slick and hard to handle. I much preferred the cardboard Tampax® applicators. Maybe it was because my first tampon was rather messy affair with a plastic applicator. But, I never had a problem when I first started using Tampax® until I tried those Compak Pearl ones, in the latter years of my cycle – the compact tampons all have the plastic applicators.

But, the absolute worst were those O.B.® tampons with NO applicator – purportedly designed by a woman OB/GYN. Not only were they gross to use, the way they expanded made them uncomfortable and often difficult to remove. It's hard to understand why that woman OB/GYN designed them that way.