International Toothpaste Museum

This is the very first toothpaste I've ever reviewed from South Africa. It pays to have friends from all over the world. My buddy Gary and his wife Lori normally live in a suburb of Cape Town. They kindly sent me this wonderful tube to add to the Toothpaste Museum. We've known each other since our firstborn kids sucked in their first breath of air in Nairobi, Kenya. His daughter arrived something like six months sooner than our son. Both attended the same school during our second shared set of years there. Both went on to get master's degrees. (Our son is also second in starting that rite of passage, but only because he elected to get some "real world" job experience before diving into academia.) But this is a blog about toothpaste. Pure Beginnings Organic Care Fresh Mint Toothpaste is lovely. The taste is subtle and mild. The mint flavor is balanced and not overwhelming. I love the natural beige color, knowing that it comes from using no bleach or dyes. Sadly, l

Miswak is a historic method of brushing teeth - reputed to have been used by Muslims over 7000 years ago ( Wikipedia ). Hundreds of years ago, Muslims conquered parts of the world, just like the Europeans. With their domination came spreading Arabic culture. Muslims on Lama Island, off the coast of Kenya, built beautiful buildings with similar architecture to some parts of Morocco, thousands of miles away. Miswak toothpastes are found in the north of England , India, Pakistan and other places around the world. This one's from Turkey. Colgate-Palmolive is a huge multinational corporation based in New York. And obviously, they have factories in Turkey. They sell Misvak toothpaste there but not in the USA. (Companies must adapt to each local market to make money.) Note that the Turkish spelling of miswak is "misvak." This toothpaste has a strong flavor - somewhat anise-like and very clean tasting. It's not as mild as many of the European toothpastes I've reviewed. K