This is Demetra Nyx. She is a California-based sex coach who is passionate about helping to break society's stigma around menstruation.
Growing up in a conservative area in Northern Pennsylvania, Demetra always felt ashamed of her period.
Demetra suffers from painful periods and shows signs of endometriosis.
However, in 2013, Demetra started appreciating her body during menstruation. "I started tracking my cycle and noticing that my moods and patterns were the same on specific days of my cycle. I really started falling in love with my body and what it does," she explained.
In what she says was a "fun impulse," Demetra decided to smear her period blood on her body.
"It feels silly, fun, and powerful to put my blood on my face – and to claim something that is often referred to as dirty and disgusting as clean and beautiful."
Since doing this and sharing it on social media, Demetra said she has experienced a lot of negativity from people.
Demetra said her goal is not to get every person who menstruates to put their blood on their face. She said, "If I take something many people find disgusting and I touch it and play with it, then maybe some little girl will see the blood between her legs and think, 'Well, if Demetra puts it on her face, maybe this isn’t that gross after all.'"
"I do get a lot is women saying, 'I was so triggered by your period posts at first, but, eventually, I became inspired and now I love my cycle too.' I receive a lot of DMs of women with their blood all over themselves! They just don’t feel as comfortable to share it publicly."
Demetra said that people wouldn't be so bothered and reactive to what she does with her menstrual blood if they didn’t feel disgust toward themselves, on some level.
Demetra has a podcast called Sex, Love, & Power.
You can also read more about her experiences with menstruation on Medium.