Tom’s of Maine Wicked Fresh–Review and $50 Giveaway

This post brought to you by Tom’s of Maine. All opinions are 100% mine.

What Is It?

Tom’s of Maine came out with two new natural dental care products recently – Wicked Fresh toothpaste, and Wicked Fresh mouthwash (which is supposed to get your mouth super-fresh cleaning without the burn of other mouthwashes).

My Thoughts:

Let’s talk about the toothpaste first. I like toothpaste. At one point in my life, I was brushing my teeth basically every time I went to the bathroom… I’d pee, wash my hands, then brush my teeth, and come out feeling totally fresh and new. Then the dentist told me I had to cut back because I was too aggressive with the tooth-brushing thing and my gums were being pushed back. Gross. Opposite effect of what I wanted.

I also like baking-soda based toothpastes because they make me feel so CLEAN… but many of them are too bitter or salty tasting, and leave me wanting to chew some minty gum, plus wanting to drink 2 glasses of water because I’m so thirsty.

Tom’s of Maine Wicked Fresh toothpaste is a nice balance. It has a baking-soda-clean feeling, but not the bitterness that goes along with it (it’s sweetened with xylitol), and a very minty taste. Like mint, not like candy. The first few times I used it I noticed a licorice aftertaste which I hated … but I must’ve gotten used to it because I don’t notice anymore. And I really like the toothpaste. Yum.

Cons? Well, if you’re buying Tom’s it’s likely you want a more natural product. I know a lot of people looking for that are NOT in love with sodium lauryl sulfate (the stuff that makes it “lather”) or glycerin. Not 100% sure why you folks hate those ingredients – please, someone tell me. It also has fluoride, which you folks don’t like. I think it’s probably fine as long as you’re not eating it from the tube.

Another con is the metal tube. While kitchsy and fun, if you don’t know how to use it, it can blow up in your face – almost literally. With metal tubes, you really do have to squeeze from the bottom up (or risk trapping some toothpaste that will be rendered unusable), BUT if you squeeze with the cap still on to push the toothpaste up, then remove the cap, it’ll spew uncontrollably for a while. It’s ridiculous. And it reminded me of when Ramona got all mad and squeezed all the toothpaste out from the middle of the tube in a fit of rage.

The mouthwash… neither one of us feels the mouthwash is minty enough to feel “wicked fresh”, you know? but it IS pretty… like snow or something, all pearly. I think by taking out the “burn” they removed some of the freshness. And there isn’t enough mint to compensate. My husband said, “It probably does get your mouth fresh, but it doesn’t FEEL or taste fresh.” Tom’s of Maine, back to the drawing board on this one, please!

Buy It:

You can buy Tom’s of Maine Wicked Fresh! wherever naturalish products are sold.

Win It:

Not toothpaste, but one of you will win a gift certificate to Target! (Where you can stock up on Tom’s of Maine toothpaste if you want.)

The gift certificate is worth $50! Except if it’s worth $100 (a few of them are going to be – surprise! – worth $100)

To enter the giveaway, you must leave a comment with your most memorable “Wicked Fresh” moment. Interpret that as you will, but please keep it clean (clean like my teeth).

Be sure to use a valid email address when commenting, otherwise I won’t be able to contact you if you win!

I need to double-check about when the contest ends.

Also, Tom’s of Maine has another place where you can win lots of prizes, including a $500 Target gift card. Click That’s Wicked Fresh contest page for more info and to enter.

Extra Entries:

If you’d like an even greater chance of winning, you may leave an extra comment for each of the following:

• Follow @TomsofMaine AND @JoyfulAbode on Twitter (1 extra entry)
• “Like” Tom’s of Maine AND Joyful Abode on Facebook (1 extra entry)
• Grab my button and put it in your blog’s sidebar*. (2 extra entries)

The SupaFine Print:

Tom’s of Maine provided me with a free sample of this product to review, but I promise these are my real thoughts and opinions of the product. If you win, I’ll contact you via email and you will have 48 hours to respond with your shipping information, otherwise I’ll pick another winner. Sorry, Charlie, but that’s how it goes.

*It has to be a real blog, not one of those “I made a blog so I can enter giveaways” blogs. And it can’t be scrolling with 100 other buttons. You know who you are.