Burt's Bees Whitening Toothpaste

I was relieved, to say the least, when I finally reached the end of my tube of Tom's Toothpaste. After going through the entire tube, it did grow on me, but not enough to the point where I'd say I actually enjoyed it. So, I went in to Whole Foods to see what other options were available and there weren't that many brands. Tom's really dominates the shelves (and probably the cruelty-free toothpaste market). Other than Tom's, there were a handful of other brands from some I recognized (like Burt's Bees and JASON) and a few brands I don't know. I decided to stick with a brand I knew and chose Burt's Bees Whitening Toothpaste.

Opening it up, it had some visual similarities to Tom's, with it's off-white/beige hue, which still requires a little acclimation on my part. I need to get used to the notion that the shiny aqua gel with the little sparkles in it is not exactly 'natural'. So, I squeezed the toothpaste onto my brush and started my routine. Right away, it definitely had a better taste than Tom's. Not that it was similar to Crest or Colgate, but it was just less...I don't know...gritty. It just had a smoother taste, better. This was promising.

One difference between Tom's and Burt's that I haven't yet discussed, but ended up playing a key factor, is the material used to make the tube. Tom's is some kind of metal, while the Burt's tube is plastic. I know absolutely nothing about the manufacturing process that goes into the production of a tube of toothpaste, but I not have a new appreciation for it. The reason being that about a week into using my new tube of Burt's toothpaste, the seam along the side popped, just a little bit. From that point on, every time I squeezed the tube, toothpaste would come out the top as it was supposed to, and a little would come out the side. This created a bit of a mess, to say the least. But I persevered, and put the toothpaste in a ziploc bag, so only the top was sticking out. After another few days, however, the bag just became this giant mess of smeared toothpaste and eventually just became more trouble than it was worth. So, I ended up having to toss the tube out while it was still about half-full.

So, while I may have liked the toothpaste more than Tom's, the tube seam issue is a big one. My luck so far hasn't been too good with the cruelty-free toothpastes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my next one will be better.