ATOMIC TOOTHY TABS

I think I am a bit of a Lushaholic and my husband thinks our bathroom is actually a subdivision of the shop as I spend so much money in there and love to try out all the new products. I am working my way gradually through their products either by buying them or cheekily asking for samples.
I know all their products are not 100% perfect but I do like the ethics of the company and am so pleased that they have not sold out to some great US multi national like Body Shop did and I feel their products have lost some of the charm that they had before. Lush is proudly British but they do also make a big effort to support other countries and Fair trade when ever they can. One of the things that the owners of Lush was struck with was some art created by using old toothpaste tubes which was done to bring this shocking waste to the attention of the world.

Lush say that if they had their way everything would come as solids and unpackaged as so much packaging is wasted and not recycled so is filling the world with non biodegradable rubbish which cannot go on for ever without causing damage.

This gave them the challenge to create something for teeth cleaning that would not involve all the plastic packaging.

Lush discovered these shocking facts about just toothpaste and the tubes it comes in:

"* 4% of every tube is wasted because we can't squeeze it out (www.wastegeneration.com)
* This means every year over 70,000 tons of toothpaste is thrown away and ends up in landfill (www.wastegeneration.com).
* The average person uses 276 tubes of toothpaste in their lifetime.
* 2 million tubes of toothpaste are thrown away in the UK every year (figures estimated from the Mintel Toothpaste Snapshot 2009 report)
* 3,000 tonnes of plastic from tubes becomes waste equating to 6.6 tonnes of CO2 emissions (www.co2list.org/files/carbon)"

THE SOLUTION
Toothy tabs were invented and a small matchbox sixed pack holds 40 small often brownish 'pills' which actually do clean your teeth when you crunch them and use a toothbrush.

The packs are all the same, black and white cardboard box - the white inner part is pushed out to reveal a small hole through which a Toothy Tab can be shaken. The box has a sticker with a cartoon picture of the person who made the Toothy Tabs and the expiry date. This is just card which can be recycled in the normal paper or card system and anyway it is, unlike the plastic and aluminium toothpaste tubes which end up in general waste.

FLAVOURS
Aquatic which is supposed to be sensual with jasmine in it
Atomic which has clove and cinnamon and ginger in it
Breath of God with sandalwood, fennel and vanilla
Dirty with spearmint
Sparkle with lemon. Grapefruit oil and vanilla
Ultrablast with lavender, spearmint and peppermint
Chou Chou with rose


There are so many different flavours in these Toothy Tabs that there will be certain to be one that you like. Some are there all the time and some are only released for limited times.

Simon Constantine of Lush, comments: "I was really keen to take perfumery up a gear and be able to actually perfume someone's breath ... wouldn't that be something!"

SOUNDS ODD
Now you do only need one Toothy Tab for each brushing and in fact I find that half is enough most times so it could last you either 40 days or 20 depending on your usage and how often you clean your teeth each day. The pack costs £2.50 for 40 which is not bad value really for over a month's teeth cleaning.

PACKING
Yes it is in the small matchbox sort of pack with a sliding inner. The box is pretty easy to open and then you punch out the hole for the tabs to be tipped out of. It is small enough to fit in your pocket or handbag and it weighs nothing. Because it is cardboard you do have to keep them away from water so away from the wet in the bathroom otherwise the pack will go soggy and so will the tabs inside.

ATOMIC
The first Toothy Tabs flavour invented was the 'Dirty' flavour, which is a minty one but they proved so popular that other flavours quickly followed including this which is my personal favourite 'Atomic'. Atomic tabs are Fairtrade, and carry the official Fairtrade logo with pride and the flavour is very different and quite spicy almost Christmassy with clove, cinnamon, cardamom and ginger.

They have a slightly spicy scent but the main hit comes after you have crunched the tab in your mouth. It leaves that slightly numb tingly feeling that you get from cloves which is pleasant and all the ingredients help with freshening your breath.

So you take one or a half I have found is fine and crunch it in your mouth. Once you have the tab crunched then take your toothbrush rinsed with water and use it as normal. The tab froths lightly so that you get the cleaning froth needed to clean your teeth and make your mouth taste nice and breath fresher.

I find that there is more than enough froth or foam created to get a really good brush clean and i use mine with my electric tooth brush and very occasionally when I have forgotten to charge it I use them with a normal toothbrush and they work just as well with both methods.

After brushing, rinse your mouth and if you want to then use mouthwash or floss or your mini tooth brush like I have that cleans between my teeth.

The only thing I do find is that I get lots of bits still left in my mouth which I haven't crunched enough but as they taste quite nice I don't worry too much if I find a small bit hidden in my gums.

I really LOVE this spicy flavour and the feeling of tingliness that I get from this flavour. If you are not a fan of cloves or the other ingredients then give these a miss as the tabs do taste quite potent. My teeth always feel REALLY clean and as I run my tongue over my teeth I get no residue or plaque sort of feeling left so they do a good job of cleaning. The flavour is certainly very different from the usual tooth cleaning stuff and makes a pleasant change.

DO THEY DO THE JOB PROPERLY?
Lush have been running a dental trial all year, in which volunteers use the tabs twice a day and attend regular monitoring sessions. I am not sure what the conclusion is but presumably nothing untoward has been found as they would have stopped making them.

Tooth paste is actually only to make brushing more pleasant as it is the action that does the job. Fluoride is added to most tooth pastes as it has been found to help strengthen teeth but it can be dangerous. Many places have fluoride in their water so adding more is not always necessary. My son's teeth have been discoloured by fluoride as I gave my children fluoride pills as suggested when they were young and it was obviously not needed. My teeth are really weak and so I was concerned that my children's would be too.

I have to use a toothpaste with high fluoride now as mine are so weak so I tend to only use these when travelling as I can pop a pack in my bag for using on the plane. I take them when we go away for a couple of days and so on.

HOW DO THESE WORK THEN?
The ingredients in this are interesting : Dicalcium Phosphate Anhydrous, Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar, Glycerine, Lauroyl Sarcosine, Kaolin, Flavour, Fair Trade Organic Coffee, Fair trade clove, Fair Trade Organic Cardamom Powder, Fair Trade Organic Cinnamon Powder, Fine Sea Salt, Fairtrade Ginger Powder ,Fair Trade Organic White Pepper Powder, Citric Acid, Sodium Saccharin,

Quite a few of the ingredients are there for their scrubbing quality and these are Dicalcium phosphate dehydrate which is a gentle abrasive that helps to remove plaque from your teeth. Sodium bicarbonate and cream of tartar also scrub and cleans and help to whiten teeth . Salt does the same job which is scrub and whiten as does the kaolin but probably only scrub in that case.

In the war and when times were hard Bicarb was used to clean teeth but has no real flavour of breath freshening quality.

Glycerine helps create the slippery quality to the froth.

Sodium lauroyl sarcosine is a surfactant so creates the foam and helps break down the stuff that builds up on your teeth. It is found in many toothpaste brands, that helps to create foam. A surfactant also helps to dissolve the residue that builds up on the teeth.

Sodium saccharin which I am not so thrilled about is an artificial sweetener to make the ingredients more palatable

Apart from the scrubby ingredients there are the flavouring ingredients which in these toothy tabs are all Fairtrade . These include organic coffee, clove, organic cardamom powder, organic cinnamon powder, ginger powder and white pepper powder. No wonder I get a tingly warm feeling in my mouth when i use these as they are all great warming spices.

Another plus is that these Atomic tabs contain absolutely no animal-derived ingredients, so are fine for vegans.

None of the Toothy tabs contain fluoride so if you think you need that added you can take supplements or use the toothy tabs alternatively with a high fluoride toothpaste.
Many people are against fluoride in toothpaste and so these do give the option for those who want to avoid it.

WOULD I RECOMMEND?
Yes I think these are a great idea, novel and earth friendly both in the ingredients and the packing. They are perfect for popping in your pocket or handbag with a foldway toothbrush (those that come in half and the top tucks into the handle) for freshening up on the move. I always have these in my handbag when we travel as I can brush my teeth on the plane or at the airport or wherever I find a basin.

I do like the flavour of these as they are really tingly spicy and leave me feeling breath confident. My mouth feels slightly numb as well from the cloves which is not an unpleasant feeling at all, in fact I like the sensation.

I am not sure that Ii would rely upon these solely for my mouth and tooth hygiene as they are quite expensive compared to most toothpaste brands and also I do need the fluoride in the toothpastes to stop my teeth crumbling away according to my dentist.

They are however a positive in so many ways for the environment as there is so little packaging and what there is can be recycled easily, they are full of Fairtrade ingredients and so help farmers in other parts of the world and also many ingredients are also organic.

They are perfect for travelling as they weigh nothing and can go in your bag as they are not liquid. They would be great for festivals and also keeping in your bag for emergency freshening up needs. I will always have at least one pack of these for the times I have mentioned but would not totally get rid of the regular extra strength fluoride my dentist has recommended that I use.

I have tried a few of these flavours from Lush and this is one of the most original and different and yet really nice flavour. If you have not tried these I would say give them a try. If you prefer the minty ones go for those first. The lovely people at Lush will advise you as to what each one tastes like and may even give you a couple to try if you ask nicely.

Thanks for reading. This review may be posted on other sites under my same user name.
©Catsholiday