Minty Fresh
I’ve been a big fan of a particular brand of environmentally neutral personal hygiene products for many years now. Ron’s of Vermont (you know of whom I speak) makes everything from toothpaste and mouthwash to deodorant and soap, without animal testing, largely without sulfates or other environmentally detrimental chemicals, and in recycled/able and biodegradable packaging. They also donate a percentage of their profits to environmental protection organizations. Almost as importantly, I don’t have to special order their products by carrier pidgeon from a Tibetan-Gnostic commune two hours east of Eugene–I can get them at a variety of local drug and grocery stores.
There is one problem: packaging. Years ago, RoV started with different flavors of toothpaste, packaged in the standard aluminum toothpaste tube we all know and love (though I think it is recycled aluminum). They are white with green or blue or brown trim (depending of flavor) and generally behave exactly as tubes of toothpaste should, though I never will be able to abide the abomination that is called wintergreen.
Later in their growth as a company, RoV brought out a line of shaving cream–and it was good. It possessed all of the afore mentioned benefits of the RoV brand, plus I’m not allergic to any of the ingredients (many perfumes and dyes cause me problems) and the stuff works well on my coarse and persistant facial hair. Sadly, in their infinte wisdom the good folks a RoV decided to use the same aluminum toothpaste tubes to hold their shaving cream. This has the benefits of being portable for camping or other travel, and it also reduces wasteful packaging. I’d also guess that it was easier/cheaper for them to not commission a new design and tool factories for an extra container type.
However, as a man with coarse and persistant facial hair, I shave every day. Further, I generally prefer to shave at the sink, in front of a mirror as it helps me to avoid grievous grooming faux-passes and Van Goghian emergency room trips. This, combined with the fact that Brandy and I prefer to brush our teeth at the same sink leads to the crux of the problem:
The toothpaste and the shaving cream, which are embodied in virtually identical aluminum tubes, have been Feung Shueied into the same medicine cabinet.
Now, I have been aware of this problem for as long as I have been a user of the RoV shaving cream line, and I would love to guarantee you that one only brushes one’s teeth with shaving cream once. Unfortunately, while the frequency of this sort of mixup does decrease dramatically with experience, in the dark, at night, or in the morning, in a hurry and before coffee, accidents will happen. Yesterday, however, I entered into a new realm of experience.
I think I can safely say that one only shaves with toothpaste once.