Melissa Meisel, Associate Editor08.25.11
Peppermint toothpaste is the norm, but today’s personal care marketers are stepping up to please the palate of the most discerning gourmands…even in oral care. Purveyor of natural skin care Lush is making a foray into the category with Toothy Tabs ($3.95 a box)—a tablet toothpaste scented in exotic varieties such as sandalwood and grapefruit.
According to the company, the unnecessary tossing of toothpaste tubes can easily be avoided by using its latest invention. A patented idea, these solid tabs eradicate the need for both packaging and preservatives and come in a handy 100% recycled box. Each pack contains 40 tabs. Users pop the candy-like tablet into the mouth, crush it a little and continue to brush as normal with a toothbrush and water.
“We use beautiful ingredients such as essential oils and fine spices, which is unique in the world of toothpastes,” explained Helen Ambrosen, Lush co-founder and inventor of the product. “Toothy Tabs create a foaming effect which people love, they give the mouth a squeaky clean feeling and a freshness that lasts and lasts.”
Lush's Toothy Tab in the Sparkle variety. |
Toothy Tabs have a mild base of sodium bicarbonate and cream of tartar, both ingredients found in commonly used baking powder. A gentle surfactant creates the foaming effect that helps dissolve the bacterial buildup on the teeth. Sodium bicarbonate helps to thoroughly clean and whiten and the cream of tartar helps to make the solid form. Dicalcium phosphate is included to help polish the teeth, glycerine acts as a humectant while saccharin sweetens.
There are six flavors to choose from in Toothy Tabs, created by head perfumer Simon Constantine and inspired by London-based molecular mixologist Paul Tvaroh, who created the drinkable perfumes at Lush’s Gorilla Perfume galleries.
According to Constantine, “I was really keen to take perfumery up a gear and be able to actually perfume someone’s breath … wouldn’t that be something?”
Variations include Dirty, a simple formulation made from spearmint and neroli; Sparkle, a whitening palate cleanser with a blend of lemon, grapefruit, black pepper and sea salt; Breath of God, an exotic mix ofsandalwood, myrrh, benzoin, fennel and vanilla; Atomic, a palate cleanser containing Fair Trade coffee and herbs such as cardamom, clove and ginger; Aquatic, an exquisite combination of lime, jasmine and green tea; and Ultrablast, which features green pea powder, wasabi, dried mint and sea salt.
The Lush website is already lit up with glowing reviews of the product; for example, “They take up a lot less space when traveling and like solid shampoo, are far more likely to go through security…foams beautifully and give the tongue a pleasant tingle.”
More info: www.lushusa.com