International Toothpaste Museum

Brandless is another company that was founded on a few good ideas and just hasn't worked out - because it cost more to be financially viable than was expected and the products cost more to produce than they were selling for. Updates:   On February 10, 2020, Brandless closed down . In August 2021, they got $118M of funding to start back up! I bought this tube of Brandless Fluoride-Free Peppermint Toothpaste for $3, plus shipping (along with a few other products) in early 2018. Now it's selling for $5. The concept is that you aren't paying for a big brand's marketing and advertising, fancy package design and added unhealthy chemicals. Another benefit to buying from Brandless is that every time you check out at Brandless, they donate to someone facing hunger through our partnership with Feeding America . (But the Brandless website doesn't say how much they will donate per order - it could be one cent.) A priceless irony is that "Brandless is a brand...

I did not visit Lithuania to grab this toothpaste. Rather, I found it in Haarlem, Netherlands, in the Dutch equivalent to Walgreen's (US) or Boots (UK). Ecodenta Whitening Toothpaste is one of the most delicious toothpastes I have ever encountered. The unique mix of bergamot and lemon essential oils lend it a taste that is simply indescribable. Frequent flyer visitors to this website know that I enjoy observing the work of non-English translators on the packaging. In this instance, an all caps declaration of "ANTI Coffee & Tobacco" possibly implies that using this toothpaste will help you quit those nasty habits. The company that makes Ecodenta is based in Vilnius , the capital and largest city in Lithuania. Biok is a manufacturer of healthy cosmetics and oral care products. Their website does not list this toothpaste. This toothpaste was definitely made for the Eastern European market since its tube has ingredients in eight European and Slavic languages. Du...

It's rare for me to review a toothpaste from the USA. But I couldn't resist taking advantage of a coupon for this toothpaste by Colgate. I've reviewed Charcoal toothpaste before - both from Japan and from China . Finally, this trend in toothpaste has made its way across the Pacific to these shores. Colgate's interpretation of what makes a toothpaste "Charcoal" is certainly different. Both the Japanese and Chinese pastes had a much darker color. They were, as you might guess, black. Colgate went for a mere hint of charcoal, producing a silky grey paste. And the flavor - not a tiny hint of burnt anything. Colgate went for the American mainstream again - mint. This paste has a very refreshing clean minty flavor. And as you might expect, being a mainstream brand (albeit part of a niche line) means it has fluoride. I quite like the taste. It leaves my mouth feeling cleansed and ready to take on the morning. Brushing just before bed might cause me ...

I love the often rough translations into English on the packaging of international toothpastes. Veldent , from Thailand, has several interesting choices in their marketing messages: "Nutrition Toothpaste" would imply something you could eat in North American English. Thai English might convey a different meaning. The " Extreme Awake " flavor does not seem to relate to a sleep prevention stimulant, like caffeine. After I ran the website through Google Translate, they claim the toothpaste "awakens your mood in every beginning of each day." Apparently, moisture in the mouth is a thing in Thailand: "Helps increase the moisture in the mouth." (This might be a great toothpaste if you suffer from a dry mouth.) On the box, one of the active ingredients is listed as cyclodextrin, which sounds a bit scary. Wikipedia says it "confers solubility and stability" to other drugs - which would not make it an active ingredient but rather an en...

Canada is a different place than my home, the larger country south of its border. It's generally more liberal and inclusive. (The entire country now has legalized recreational marijuana. To my limited knowledge, they are the only country in the world with that law.) One way their inclusiveness is reflected in toothpastes (and all Canadian packaged products) is their bilingual packaging. 20% or less of Canada speaks French, yet their packages give 50% of their descriptive real estate to the French language. My family and I ventured into Alberta during this past summer to explore the Canadian Rockies. I discovered they are bigger (yet shorter in altitude) than the Colorado Rockies. For those of you who have been to Colorado, you may have seen the Maroon Bells , our most-photographed mountains - stunningly gorgeous. Alberta's Rockies were like seeing different versions of the Maroon Bells over and over - we never ran out of "OOOOHS" and "AAAHS!" And of...

Blue M toothpaste is clean, fresh, and very minty. My sister Amy sent Blue M to me by mail, and as I opened the package, the fresh minty smell reached my nostrils - which is very unusual. My sense of smell is very muted, due to a childhood sinus infection that wiped out much of my olfactory nerve center. But back to Blue M... it's blue, as you might expect. The paste falls loosely into the gel category. As you can see from the package, it's fluoride free, which is great if you live in a place that has a high natural concentration of fluoride in the water supply. I went to college at Texas Tech, in Lubbock. Water in the Texas Panhandle does have a high concentration of fluoride. Local natives who have lived there their whole lives and haven't undergone teeth whitening sometimes have slightly brown teeth - a strange side effect of too much fluoride. But presumably, they have strong teeth! But back to Blue M... it's from the Netherlands. Their uniqu...

My friend Ted A. visited Japan and brought me back this fun kids' toothpaste. Joy! Lion is a company based in Japan that produces health, beauty and cleaning products. Their corporate philosophy is based on much more touchy-feely stuff than American companies would delve into: "Our corporate slogan: 'life. love.' encapsulates the meaning of our corporate message. We chose the word 'life' for all its meanings: the natural force of life, the day-to-day experience of living and the journey that is a lifetime. Similarly, 'love' evokes a range of meanings, such as compassion, caring and tenderness." Since the package is entirely in Japanese, except for the words "Lion" and "toothpaste," I am not able to interpret what this particular toothpaste aims to do - other than to get kids to brush their teeth. Lion's toothpaste listings  web page wasn't very helpful either. Its strawberry flavor is fairly straightforward. I...