.png "English"){kind=small}
 |
| Notice the addition of baking soda |
Neem. ಠ_ಠ
My first thought was, Ugh! No way, no how, no suh. I have some neem oil that I use on my hair as a deep conditioner and on my plants to kill pests. The stink is probably what scares the plant pest away. Neem smells the way I imagine skunk booty would smell like after a meal of beans and cheese. I mean, I don't know, but I'm just saying.
Thank everything in the universe that this toothpaste smells nothing like the neem oil that I have been using right out of the bottle. What a relief. Y'all know that when I review things, I will tell the truth, no matter how ugly (or stinky that truth might be).
The verdict on this toothpaste is that I not only like it but I really, really like it. The taste is pleasant and the smell... the smell is awesome.
It took me a minute to get used to the foam because Closys doesn't foam at all. I think I missed the foam. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The one thing that I did worry about was how far down the list of ingredients were the tea tree and neem. They are way down almost at the end...
 |
| Sea salt has benefits |
But once I used the paste, I realized that it may be a good thing not to have more of those two ingredients. I think the taste would be too overwhelming. Tea tree oil is strong and Lord knows neem oil is very strong. Also, neem has the most bitter taste I've ever touched to my tongue. If the smell reminds me of something I can only imagine, then the taste is what I would imagine wormwood would be like. It's some nasty and special kind of bitter. It's a bitingly bitter taste that you can't wipe off your tongue or wash away. It has to just wear off. I know this because I accidentally transferred some from my finger to my tongue when I was treating my plants.
I want to mention one of the other ingredients in this paste: sea salt**. It's right there at the very end of the label but that's okay with me because sea salt is an abrasive. One of the things it's supposed to be good for in dental health (other than the abrasive/cleaning effects) is that it is a natural source of fluoride. Notice that there is no other fluoride in this toothpaste so... yeah.Anyway, the toothpaste tastes good and works wonderfully. After one use my mouth felt so fresh and my teeth were smooth-clean. I don't think that I will use it for every brushing because it does work so well. I plan to alternate it with the Closys. This toothpaste might be like the Thieves Toothpaste I tried and could be too much for constant and every-day use.
By the way, not only does this make your mouth feel fresh and clean, but it seems to have some whitening effect. Of course, I will have to use it for a while before I can swear to that, but I'm sure that the baking soda has something to do with it. You can tell there's baking soda in there because there's no grit at all.
Finally, I want to address a couple of things about the ingredients:
- This does contain something called carrageenan (which I had never heard of) about which there have been concerns. From what I can tell, this ingredient is "plant-derived' and okay in the toothpaste because it is, of course, not to be swallowed. And that is mentioned on the label.
- Tea Tree Oil can be toxic if ingested. Once again, this paste is not meant to be swallowed. I would suggest not letting a child use it unsupervised and for adults to be careful about swallowing. For children, even a small amount of tea tree oil can be hazardous.
If you wanted to try a neem toothpaste but were worried about the taste or smell, this one will make you happy on those concerns. Just be careful about swallowing - and that goes for any toothpaste.
Peace
--Free
** I will soon be doing a post on the various "natural" ingredients/items that I personally like using for health and beauty needs.
