International Toothpaste Museum

(This has to be the most creative name yet.) This paste is from New Zealand. My buddy Steve, who works for Microsoft, kindly delivered it to me in Kenya. (It stopped in Dubai, on the way to Kenya.) Clean simple flavor, but a bit medicinal. Mint, of course. White paste. And yes, it's "for healthy teeth and gums". Can't beat that!

This one's from Spain. "Sabores Autenticos" is "natural flavors". The natural flavor? Cholorophyll. Because I'm not one of those people with a super-sophisticated palate, I can't describe the taste in terms of fruits and noses. However, it is green in taste and color. It's made by one of those multi-national corporations: Schwarzkopf & Henkel of Dusseldorf, Germany (and Barcelona). Their site seems to be oriented toward hair care products. (No mention of toothpaste!) Thanks to Jason & Seana for bringing it back after their vacation.

This one's the latest addition to my collection. My sister Amy sent it from Belgium (where she lives) last week. Hema is a chain of stores in Holland and Belgium. It's kind of Ikea, Target and Walgreen's - all rolled into one - only on a smaller scale. They have simple clean designs, as you can tell from this package. Cool stuff abounds in their aisles. This paste has a mild clean minty taste. It is a store brand (generic) with ingredient translations in Dutch, French and German (in that order). Something I have never seen before is the click-on top. It only requires about half of a turn to put the lid on. The product name wouldn't fly in America - too close to "Everclear". If you live near a Hema...

'Contains "purified salt" to make your gums come alive.' Reminds me of when baking soda was touted as a decent toothpaste. I have tried that, and it does work - though your mouth is left wanting to drink a lot of water to avoid feeling thirsty. This toothpaste does not leave me feeling thirsty. It is fairly refreshing. Salz is from Thailand. Only a small amount of the text on the front is in Thai script. (The ingredients on the back side are about 95% in Thai.) Check out their website page . It has an image that would not be used in American advertising. (Extra points to those who can tell why.)

This one hails from Dubai. For those of you who need a refresher in geography, that's a small country in the Arabian Peninsula. It's very wealthy and boasts the largest man-made spiral island I know of. Anyhow, Dabur is a brand from India. I bought it in Nairobi, Kenya, so this tube was made for Africa and the Middle East. The other side of the tube is English. This one's Basil flavor . Surprisingly, it does not taste like Italian food. In fact, the taste is quite refreshing. It is a chalky green, though - so I don't think it would sell very well in these old United States. I love the flavor, though. It's a great palate cleanser to ready the mouth for enjoying something different after a sugary snack. I've also bought this same flavor with the toothpaste made in Uttar Pradesh, India. The packaging was bilingual: French and English.

This lovely paste comes from China. "Everything's from China," you say. I mean this tube was bought in China and given to me by a friend. It's peppermint-flavored and has a pretty basic taste. It's white paste. The other side of the tube is completely in English. But that's not as interesting as this side!