Rachel Moranis of Stardust

The wildly creative artist and founder of period tracking app, Stardust

Where are you based?

New York City

How did you get into period tracking?

I was on birth control pills for over a decade and I wanted to see what my body was like free of synthetic hormones. I was always having side effects from the pill and was constantly switching brands. So I finally switched to an IUD and without the pill pack reminding me when I’d get my period, I wanted to know when it was coming.

What’s your best vagina story?

In college I started dating this guy and I don’t know if it was our different body biomes, but for some reason I would always get UTIs. We were together for just over two years. The first year I would get a UTI almost every month and go on antibiotics. The antibiotics would often give me a yeast infection and it would repeat the next month. I eventually became resistant to so many of the antibiotics. My doctor told me to go on a low dose of antibiotics every day and it really screwed up my health. During my summer abroad in Prague, my ex came to visit me, I got a UTI and started peeing blood. I went to the emergency room and they didn’t speak English. He said they didn't have an antibiotic I could take in the Czech Republic. So my friend had a brilliant idea to go to the Four Seasons and ask for their doctor. Their doctor (I’ll never forget her name — Dr. Mikuleska) visited me the next morning carrying this Louis Vuitton bag and I thought, “What’s in that fancy bag of yours? Maybe some amazing international antibiotics!” Unfortunately not. She told me she could order the right ones from London, but I was in so much pain that I actually had to fly home to the US to get the one antibiotic I could take. It was such a horror and I had to break up with the guy saying “My body doesn’t like you, I’m sorry!”

How would society be different if people were more comfortable tracking and talking about their periods?

It’s happening in real time. Menstrual health and wellness is far less taboo than ever. We never thought people would share their period tracking on social media but people are doing it, especially Gen Z. I wonder when we’ll see things like paid menstrual leave when you get the first two days of your period off.