Happy New Year! I wanted to start 2013 off with something a little special and I'm super excited about this post - I've practically had to sit on my hands to hold off on p
utting it up until today! I discovered
Earthpaste while searching for glycerin free toothpastes. For years, I've read about how glycerin in toothpaste can affect your teeth, but it's only in the last few months that I began actively looking at glycerin free options. There's nothing wrong with glycerin in other body care products, but in toothpaste or mouthwash, it creates a film or coating that doesn't rinse off your teeth. This coating is problematic because it prevents the teeth from remineralizing, thereby weakening them and leaving them more prone to decay.
Unfortunately, realizing that glycerin is not the best thing to have in toothpaste is the easy part. Finding a toothpaste that's glycerin free can be much more difficult. Generally it's used to help prevent toothpastes from drying out and I'd venture to say that virtually every toothpaste on the market today, both mainstream and natural, contains glycerin. If you're open to using tooth soap or tooth powder, alternatives are more readily available, but for regular toothpaste, there are very few. I reached out to Earthpaste and they were kind enough to send me some toothpaste to try out. They even included some for a giveaway! (More on that later.)
In addition to being glycerin free, Earthpaste contains none of the other nasties commonly found in toothpaste. It contains no sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) or other foaming agents and no fluoride. It also contains no titanium dioxide or artificial coloring to make the paste white.
Ingredients
Food-grade Redmond Clay - a polishing cleanser with antibacterial properties
Purified Water - to hydrate the clay into a creamy paste
Xylitol - a natural sweetener that has been shown to promote healthy teeth
Redmond Real Salt - to enhance flavour and lend antibacterial properties
Tea Tree Oil - supports oral health and has anti-viral and anti-fungal properties
Peppermint, Wintergreen and Cinnamon Essential Oils - add flavor and other health benefits
Menthol - leaves your breath fresh and mouth feeling clean (only in peppermint and wintergreen flavors)
Price
4 ounces for $7.99 from
Earthpaste or $5.12 from
iherb
My Thoughts
After my first time using Earthpaste, I was amazed at how smooth my teeth felt. That smooth, polished feeling you get after a professional teeth cleaning?
With Earthpaste, I get
that feeling every day in my own bathroom. (How much did that just sound like an infomercial?)
Earthpaste comes in three flavours - peppermint, wintergreen, and cinnamon - and I was able to try them all.
In the beginning they all tasted
really salty to me, but after just about three weeks of use, I don't notice the
salty taste anymore. I like all three flavours, but the peppermint and wintergreen are definitely my favourites. The
cinnamon has a much milder flavour and it doesn't leave my mouth feeling as
cool and fresh after brushing,
probably because it doesn't contain
menthol like the other two.
I will say, if you're used to more mainstream toothpastes, Earthpaste may take a little getting used to. It doesn't foam and it isn't the bright white most of us have come to expect in a toothpaste. Instead, it cleans your teeth without suds and looks a little like mud on your toothbrush. It's lovely, tasty, and effective, but the colour and texture might be a little
offputting at first.
The Bottom Line
I'm not in the habit of giving ratings, but suffice it to say, if I were, Earthpaste would get a perfect 10/10. Ingredient-wise, it's incredibly clean and exactly what I was looking for. The tube even tells you to "rinse or swallow at your own discretion" - a far cry from your Crests and Colgates - which just goes to show how safe it is. If that wasn't enough, in terms of performance, I think it's the best toothpaste I've ever used. I'll definitely be purchasing the peppermint and wintergreen flavours once I run out. I've never gotten that polished feeling at home before and my teeth have never felt cleaner.
Giveaway
Now for the exciting part! Earthpaste was generous enough to send me three extra sets of toothpaste to share with you, my lovely readers! Apologies to international readers, but because of the weight and because I am shipping this myself,
I'm going to have to limit the giveaway to Canada and the United States. I promise I'll have more international giveaways in the future.
Good luck! To enter, just fill in the Rafflecopter widge
t below. You can enter as many or as few ways as you like.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclaimer: Product provided for my honest review. I was under no obligation to write a positive review in return for free product, nor was I compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.