Way back in this blogs beginnings I talked about zero waste toothpaste. As I spoke about then, toothpaste is a cosmetic, it’s much more about technique than product, so there really wasn’t an excuse for me to buy toothpaste tubes, and I went for lush toothy tabs instead of my old buying ways. Now that I’m on a mega long trip these thoughts started coming up for me again, and I decided to bite the bullet and try out a toothpaste in a new form whilst away: tooth powder.

When I was talking about toothpaste last time I went for tablets over powder because I was worried about spilling everywhere, but tablets means a specific amount before you run out. With being away for two months I knew that I probably wouldn’t have enough in one pack to last my entire trip and I didn’t want to end up a. stranded somewhere out of toothpaste or b. stuck with an empty container because I can’t find a place to recycle it. So I decided to go for powder because of added longevity, in the hope that it will go the distance and last my two months (and then some). One week into the trip, lets see how it’s going.

Most important: have not yet spilled it! *punches air*

It turns out it’s actually not that easy to spill this powder, the (not virgin and totally recyclable) plastic tub it comes in is a good hand holding size, so it’s easy to handle and I’ve had no disasters despite using this in many airports, in Singapore and now in Australia. The size of the tub is also ideal; when travelling it fits easily into carry on without being too small to find when you’re in a rush, and this tub is the ideal size for reusing to hold something else. AND it doesn’t need to go in the liquids bag.

Beyond that, the powder is pretty easy to use. Just wet the toothbrush a little, dip and then brush. (don’t go crazy here, you want to keep the powder as dry as possible, so the brush just needs to be a little damp). The powder brushes just like normal toothpaste, and the powder form puts ingredients in direct contact with your teeth/gums, meaning it does feel like a really good clean. I went for Atomic which contains a mix of coffee, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and white pepper (~spicy~) and I’m a fan. If you like these spices, you’ll like this product. The dominant smells/tastes are the cloves and cardamom, with an undertone of white pepper, which means this paste is pretty strong in the sense department. I personally like this spice blend as it feels like a deep clean and completely eradicates bad breath for a long time (I recommended cardamom as a natural alternative to breath freshener a few weeks back after all) however it even took me a little time to get used to it, as it’s pretty potent when you first start using it.

Another important thing to note, I’ve been using this for just over a week now and have seen no noticeable difference in the amount in the pot. At this point I would be down by maybe 15 tablets, but instead I still have an abundance of powder to go through. The powder costs £4.95, and it’s looking like it’s going to last until at least Christmas, making it good value for money and avoiding my worst case travel scenarios, thumbs up all round.

Overall conclusions: if you don’t want to be quite as adventurous in your products don’t go for Atomic, however Lush carries a strawberry version and a minty fresh powder if you want something a little less spicy or aren’t keen to stray too far from your original toothpaste ways. If you’re unsure get a few lil samples and see which one works for you; dental preferences are totally personal and that’s ok. But when it comes to travelling I can’t recommend this powder enough: it’s easy, vegan, zero waste and good value for money. And, let’s remember, not as spillable as I once thought! What else could you want?

Until next time, stay magic y’all.