I'm just gonna say it: I hate mint.
I hate mint tea. I hate chocolate chip mint ice cream. I hate mint gum. I even hate Thin Mints. And I especially hate mint toothpaste and mouthwash.
But I really love clean and healthy teeth.
For years I religiously purchased Arm & Hammer baking soda toothpaste, the original flavor. But a few years ago, this mysteriously disappeared from store shelves. I wrote a letter to their customer service asking about it, and they responded to me as if this product never existed.
For awhile I bought hippie brands from health stores, since those are the only places I can find anything other than 'fresh mint' or foul 'cinnamint' (which tastes nothing like cinnamon, even when you factor in the mintyness) flavors. But I couldn't find a flavor that satisfied me. I just wanted one that tasted like clean.
I tried to make my own toothpaste, but since I don't have glycerin lying about, and I didn't fancy rushing out to buy some, I ended up with toothpowder, and I wasn't happy with it. About a month ago I finally broke down and just bought a minty Arm & Hammer toothpaste.
I'm still hunting for solutions.
In a related matter, recently someone at work left a giant bag in the break room filled with travel-sized body products, free to a good home. Amongst these treasures was a Fresh Mint Molton Brown Mouth Wash. It was free. I love free things, even if they're mint. So I took it home.
The bottle may have said 'Fresh Mint' but the flavor was in actuality pure ambrosia! I took a closer look at the bottle and found that it was actually mint and marsh mallow flavor (as in, the actual flower). It left behind a tingly mouth glow, spicy like cloves and ginger, but light and airy, like... well, mint. Except delicious.
The travel-size sample ran out quickly, so I searched the Google-machine for a vendor from which to purchase a larger quantity - and found that such things do not exist. This luxurious mouthwash is apparently so elite that it is only available in 4 oz bottles in posh hotel bathrooms. Or eBay, if you want 30 travel sized bottles.
I admit, I was tempted. It's that good. But, alas, I just couldn't make myself buy that much plastic. So, until I find myself in a rich person's hotel bathroom, I will try to recapture the flavor in my own mouthwashy brews.
First try: Cardamom and Clove Mouthwash. It's basically just cardamom and clove tea. Supposedly, cloves have antiseptic properties, so it's not just for tastyness. It leaves a similar spicy tingly sensation, but it's much more subtle (I probably should have left it steeping longer).
Maybe for my next try, I'll attempt to get a hold of some actual marsh mallow root.
I hate mint tea. I hate chocolate chip mint ice cream. I hate mint gum. I even hate Thin Mints. And I especially hate mint toothpaste and mouthwash.
But I really love clean and healthy teeth.
For years I religiously purchased Arm & Hammer baking soda toothpaste, the original flavor. But a few years ago, this mysteriously disappeared from store shelves. I wrote a letter to their customer service asking about it, and they responded to me as if this product never existed.
For awhile I bought hippie brands from health stores, since those are the only places I can find anything other than 'fresh mint' or foul 'cinnamint' (which tastes nothing like cinnamon, even when you factor in the mintyness) flavors. But I couldn't find a flavor that satisfied me. I just wanted one that tasted like clean.
I tried to make my own toothpaste, but since I don't have glycerin lying about, and I didn't fancy rushing out to buy some, I ended up with toothpowder, and I wasn't happy with it. About a month ago I finally broke down and just bought a minty Arm & Hammer toothpaste.
I'm still hunting for solutions.
In a related matter, recently someone at work left a giant bag in the break room filled with travel-sized body products, free to a good home. Amongst these treasures was a Fresh Mint Molton Brown Mouth Wash. It was free. I love free things, even if they're mint. So I took it home.
The bottle may have said 'Fresh Mint' but the flavor was in actuality pure ambrosia! I took a closer look at the bottle and found that it was actually mint and marsh mallow flavor (as in, the actual flower). It left behind a tingly mouth glow, spicy like cloves and ginger, but light and airy, like... well, mint. Except delicious.
The travel-size sample ran out quickly, so I searched the Google-machine for a vendor from which to purchase a larger quantity - and found that such things do not exist. This luxurious mouthwash is apparently so elite that it is only available in 4 oz bottles in posh hotel bathrooms. Or eBay, if you want 30 travel sized bottles.
I admit, I was tempted. It's that good. But, alas, I just couldn't make myself buy that much plastic. So, until I find myself in a rich person's hotel bathroom, I will try to recapture the flavor in my own mouthwashy brews.
First try: Cardamom and Clove Mouthwash. It's basically just cardamom and clove tea. Supposedly, cloves have antiseptic properties, so it's not just for tastyness. It leaves a similar spicy tingly sensation, but it's much more subtle (I probably should have left it steeping longer).
Maybe for my next try, I'll attempt to get a hold of some actual marsh mallow root.
