The end of summer is always a very stressful time of year for me–getting back into the balancing act of school, work, a full 8 hours, and adequate amounts of doing nothing tends to leave some casualties by the wayside. My skin, and personal hygiene in general, got chucked into a ditch somewhere around the 17th. In fact, I’ve been out of toothpaste since mid-August because none of the stores around here carry what grudgingly I’d come to accept as my new brand (some kind of sensitive/gentle Tom’s of Maine). Much like my deodorant dilemma, my all-time favorite toothpaste (Dr. Burt’s Lavender Mint) is no longer available, and I’ve been flitting from one all-natural SLS-free brand to another since my freshman year of college. So, it’s been baking soda for the past month or two with the intention of finding a more permanent solution as soon as I had the time. The good thing is that despite my four to six-cup-a-day coffee habit (up from my usual two to three, thanks also to this coming-of-Autumn anxiety), my teeth have remained white as the driven snow. Most days, however, I wake up dreading the gag-a-maggot-on-a-gut-truck experience of brushing my teeth with plain baking soda. But, as the weather is finally beginning to cool off and I’m getting settled into my new routine(s) (school, work, etc.), I am finding time to get around to those things I’ve been meaning to do like make toothpaste. I’ve learned from the whole deodorant dilemma that a big bonus of making my own toiletry staples is that if I run out it’s my own damned fault for being lazy–there’s absolutely no way I won’t be able to make these unless coconut oil and baking soda are discontinued.
I used an only slightly modified version of The Yummy Toothpaste Recipe from Seeking The Old Paths:
2 T coconut oil
3 T baking soda
10 drops wintergreen essential oil
1 packet of stevia
I poured everything in a pimento jar and mixed it all together, and the result is much better-tasting than I’d expected (especially considering it’s mostly baking soda). I’d like to try some variations like spearmint, peppermint, or even cinnamon, but all the local health food store had was wintergreen, which is pretty tasty.