Doctor Burt's Cinna Mint Toothpaste

Immediately my brain fired up a question – why use natural soap bars when you have natural toothpaste? I picked the box up, examined the packaging and ingredients, and to my dismay found the words “plant glycerin” printed on the length of the box. But because of the word “plant”, I was willing to close an eye, and bought it for experimental purposes. I’ve since tried it an hour ago for the first time, and of course I can’t report on any long-term effects, but here are a few things I did notice on first usage:

It was harder (dryer?) than commercial toothpaste. I don’t know if the tube was left on the shelf for a long time, or if it’s meant to be this dry, but whatever it was, it produced very little foam on brushing. I used Braun’s Oral B electric toothbrush, if this is of any importance to you. In my experience electric toothbrushes produce way more lather than manual ones with just a small amount of toothpaste, so I wouldn’t be surprised if people using manual ones find that Doctor Burt’s toothpaste produced no lather at all. I’m pretty convinced the dryness is intentional, since the tube’s opening was sealed with foil and it would be impossible for any kind of evaporation. I attribute the dryness to one of its key ingredients, sodium bicarbonate (or baking soda), which is dry and chalky on its own already.

So, being dryer than usual, I was not used to spreading the stuff over my front teeth. After I got them evenly out on every tooth, I switched the toothbrush on, and immediately made a flying mess of white spots on the mirror facing me. Yeah, it’s that un-foamy. The thing about commercial toothpaste is that they produce so much lather, they cling on and mix around with your saliva, so it’s easier to control the residue and spit. Doctor Burt’s? No such control. I guess I should say I didn’t get a kick out of brushing, because hurhur, I love soap lather and bubbles!

After brushing, it was easy to rinse out – and this I feel is due to it being un-foamy (surprise!). I don’t know how I should say this, but you know it usually takes a few rounds to thoroughly get rid of the slippery, alkaline feel commercial toothpaste produce? Doctor Burt’s one felt clean with just two rinses. It’s like they’re forcing you to choose between inconvenience first (Burt’s), or inconvenience after (commercial toothpastes). Burt’s one also had less of the overwhelming mint flavour found in commercial toothpaste – just a light, natural peppermint breath. It’s fresh, but not sickeningly fresh. This first try was after a meal before bedtime, so I don’t know how this light peppermint breath would fare faced with the crazier morning-breath one. We all know that one’s hell.

As for the actual cleanliness, well, my teeth look clean, and feel clean. No, actually, they feel better than clean! They feel polished. And the best part of everything? My mouth doesn’t feel at all dry. I’m convinced it’s all in the subtle power of being less foamy, because – and I say this without scientific proof – I feel that the lather is the culprit drying up my mouth. Maybe the artificial mint smell backs it up too. Now we all know a dry mouth is a bad idea and the main cause of bad breath, so Burt’s toothpaste scores big time on being 100% natural. I’ll update this post again tomorrow morning to see how it deals with the morning stink. (!)

Meanwhile here are the details of where I got this item:
Location: Honey World (6 Raffles Boulevard, #02-260 Marina Square, Singapore 039594)
Price: S$18 (I got it at 25% off during a sale, so it was S$13.50)
Ingredients: Purified water, vegetable glycerin, calcium carbonate, bentonite, peppermint oil, spearmint oil, cassia oil, sodium bicarbonate, yucca schidigera extract, chlorophyll, parsley oil, xanthan gum

Physical description: Dry-ish, hardened greenish-white paste (not gel). Tube has a large screw-on cap, packaged in a red box. Comes in two flavours: lavender mint and cinna mint. I have cinna mint. And according to the Doctor Burt’s official website, they have discontinued with its production for some reason. Some shops still sell it, but don’t count on it..

P.S.: Upon further reading on the www, I’ve to admit I’m confused about the glycerin issue, because it seems like natural soapmakers are insisting that glycerin is good and that commercial soaps remove it from their products. I don’t believe this is true because I’ve recently checked Dove and Dettol soaps, and they both have glycerin as part of the listed ingredients.

Daiso's Charcoal Mask, or "Masque" as printed on the tube

This is a really obscure thing I found on the Internet while Googling on how to remove blackheads. I have a lot of them. I used to rely on Bioré Pore Pack to get rid of the blackheads on my nose, but those were pretty expensive considering they could only be used on the nose. I, unfortunately, had blackheads all over my face, far too large an area for the Bioré Pore Pack. First of all, they’re expensive like I mentioned, and second of all, they aren’t shaped for applications on other parts of the face. I used to cut them up for use on my chin, cheeks, etc, but boy was it troublesome.

The Daiso Charcoal Mask can be found at… you guess it, Daiso. Daiso is the Japanese version of thrift stores, but they also have branches overseas. Things go for a fixed price for all goods unless otherwise stated, so for example everything in it costs $2 (or Yen, or US$, wherever that outlet is located). I bought the Charcoal Mask from Singapore, so it costs S$2.00. They also sell a variety of other things, from glassware to porcelain, to baskets and stationery, to batteries and snacks. Anyway, back to the mask – it’s a mask, which means you’re now free to apply the thick, black lotion to any part of your body with blackheads, wait for it to harden (about 30 minutes, depending on the atmosphere), and peel it off.

About the application – don’t stinge. A thin layer won’t work, especially if it’s been diluted with water. Wash your face first, pat it almost free of water, but make sure it isn’t totally dry or dripping wet. For even better results, steam your pores open (stand over a basin of boiling water and steam). Squirt a generous amount of the liquid mask on any blackhead-infested area, smudge it evenly, and make it quick as it dries quite quickly. And then you wait. I’ve tried sitting in front of a fan, which helps speed up the drying process. Do not smile, talk, frown, or twitch a muscle on your face, or you’ll break the mask. The “cracks” aren’t visible, but it means areas like the side of your nostrils aren’t in contact with the mask any more. Make sure the mask is totally dry (your face feels like it’s been cast in cement), then peel it off. I don’t have any specific rule on which direction to peel, as long as it’s off your face. You can wash off any residue with water, or you’ll be walking around with an outline of the mask. Enjoy feeling fascinated by the amount of muck stuck to the peeled mask.

This works very well for me, much better than the pore strips, though for others it may be a pain in the ass to peel the mask off. It’s not exactly painful, though if you have sensitive skin, it may sting a little (imagine a cross between peeling dried glue from your fingertips, and peeling tape off your skin).

The Charcoal Mask may not be thorough and you may have to do touch-ups (don’t overdo it!), but for something that costs $2 it’s pretty damn effective. Results are instant and there’s hardly any pain. If you chicken out halfway about peeling, you can always wash it off with water, though I think that would be counter-productive, since you’re supposed to peel the thing off, along with the blackheads stuck to it.

Careful you don’t get the wrong one though – there’s a facial foam and a facial cream that’s packaged almost the same way (it’s the same line of products), and yeah, it’s all in Japanese, but look out for the word “masque” printed in English on the tube. If you’re lucky your store would have bothered to paste an English sticker telling you what it is and what the ingredients are.

I’m definitely stocking up on this.

Note: Apparently there are many swindlers out there fighting to cheat you of your money, selling the Daiso Charcoal Mask at ridiculously high prices, sometimes even renaming the product. While paying more for it may lead you into thinking it being “of better quality” or “safer”, it’s actually still the same product, which you can get real cheap at Daiso itself. Don’t fall for those tricks!

Apple's 13" Aluminum MacBook

It’s been more than half a year since I got my 13″ Aluminum MacBook, and I’ve (sorta) gotten over its… uh, initial charm. The right description won’t come to me, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about – the charm that seduces innocents like you and me into impulse buying. I’m not saying I regret ever getting it, since my 13″ White MacBook started to be a pain in the ass with 5 keys failing to work, and I desperately needed a laptop to work on.

I’m still not sure if I’m thrilled about Apple deciding to abandon their white colour schemes and plastic finishes – I really liked that unique “Apple” look, but the aluminum isn’t the eyesore I expected it to be, even if it does look like an uglier Dell machine. There’s no mistaking that glowing bright Apple logo on the cover, one thing Apple did right.

Neat keypad that unfortunately wears out too soon.

Still, things do experience wear and tear after a while, and the 13″ Aluminum MacBook (“AMB” from now) isn’t spared. One thing I’ve discovered is the keys do wear out a lot faster compared to the older white models. It could be because the AMBs have black keys that the shiny, worn-out surfaces are more noticeable, but I remember first catching sight of them just two weeks after purchase. I’m a heavy user (> 7 hours usage per day), but I was just as heavy a user when I had the white one. The keys definitely feel like they’re wearing out faster than the older models, and they don’t feel as bouncy as the white keys. I am a person who loves hearing that satisfying, noisy “clackity-clack” rebounding of keys, so if you love working on a quiet keyboard, this wouldn’t be an issue.

But speaking of wear and tear, it’s quite pleasing to note that the shiny trackpad problem hasn’t surfaced with the AMB’s glass trackpad. It’s still extremely smooth to the touch, the way it felt when I first ran my fingers over it. It also feels safer to clean, i.e. you don’t feel as paranoid that cleaning would cause dirt to embed themselves into the less-smooth surface of the white models. Imagine using a damp cloth and wiping a slightly rough surface – most of the time dirt just gets smudged. Since the AMB’s trackpad is made of glass, wiping it keeps it clean, like wiping a window.  

Another thing I’ve noticed is that my AMB has a higher frequency of kernel panics (screen freezes, a grey layer appears with instructions telling you to restart your computer). Maybe that’s just my set, but so far I’ve experienced more KPs in the past months than a whole lifetime on the old machine (2 years). I don’t know if its any cause for alarm, since all you need to do is hold the power button down like the instructions says on the screen and restart it.

Kernel Panic On A Mac

I’m starting to think I got an unhealthy set since I’ve also had to experience extremely long charging cycles each time the juice runs out of my battery. Here’s what happens: the battery icon on the menu bar says 0%, it goes to sleep, yet when I tap the trackpad it comes back from sleep. I know this isn’t the usual sleep mode when the set is inactive, since this sleep happens when I’m literally still on the computer, in the midst of typing or scrolling. It most definitely is the sleep that happens when you’ve totally run out of battery, yet mine comes back! I get to surf about 30 minutes more before it totally dies on me without sleeping, needless to say without saving my work. And every time it does this, I take about 9 whole hours to fully charge the battery to 100%. A usual cycle should take only about 4 hours, from what I’ve read, since the set speed-charges from 0-80%. It’s extremely annoying since I’m always in danger of losing my work.

In the event when it does go to sleep normally (i.e. it doesn’t wake), I get a grey screen whenever I fit the charger in, with a loading bar before I can resume my work. I don’t know if this is a new feature (the loading screen), since my old white model didn’t have that.

Screen borders don't "pop out" - screen protectors would just look shitty.

Another annoyance is how glossy and reflective the AMB screen is, especially in bright room conditions. Since the screen border has been designed such that it doesn’t physically ”pop out”, I can’t stick an anti-gloss sheet on the screen without it looking funny.

Other than the above inconveniences though, I’m extremely satisfied with the wider range of screen brightness and volume, the multi-touch trackpad, and the lever used to get the battery out (no more searching for loose change!). The AMB’s lid also shuts gently compared to the rather rough “snapping shut” of the white model. I guess they did something to the magnets?

Lid doesn't snap shut, it closes gently instead. I like.

But best of all, the aluminum case doesn’t conduct electricity, giving you shocks every minute or so! I know this sounds idiotic – what laptop manufacturer would create something that shocks you every 1.5 seconds – but this problem does happen on the Powerbooks and the older notebooks with metallic cases. Some argue that it doesn’t happen when it isn’t charging, or that it won’t happen if you use the earthing plug/wire/fuse that comes with it, but I’m telling you now that the AMB doesn’t give out any form of electrical current or static, charged or not. This is probably the best improvement, second the multi-touch trackpad.

One final thing to note: the AMB uses the same magnetic charger as the white versions, so that’s convenient if you have an older white model and have a habit of using something till it completely breaks down. I still have the AMB’s charger packed in the box!