acne safe toothpaste testing results are in!

acne safe toothpaste testing results are in!

acne safe toothpaste testing results are in!
we have some good news and we have some sad news about acne safe toothpastes:

first the sad news: our beloved kiss my face toothpaste gels that our clients have been using successfully for many years have been discontinued, as the manufacturer - kiss my face - appears to have shut down. they are no longer available.

the good news is that kim found several natural great looking alternatives and we have been testing these out on ourselves and on our clients for the last couple months. the testing results are in and the following toothpastes and gels have been deemed to be acne safe and can be found online and at many whole foods stores.

AS ALWAYS, make sure to double and triple check the ingredients of what you are looking to buy and use, because manufacturers often will change up ingredients to non-acne-safe ones without any notice. rest assured that skinSALVATION brand products are always acne-safe, and we would never reformulate with cloggy ingredients!

the safest bets



schimdt's wondermint toothpaste is our favorite, and is so minty! most natural and acne-safe toothpastes are very mild and not minty at all. rainbow grocery doesn't carry this, so you'll have to find it at a whole foods or online. we've only tested the wondermint so far, and will update as we test out other flavors. to be safe, avoid the coconut-lime flavor!

ingredients: water, hydrated silica, glycerin, xylitol, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, magnolia acuminate bark extract, sodium phosphate, zinc citrate, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, stevia rebaudiana leaf/stem powder, melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) leaf oil, lycium barbarum (goji berry) fruit extract, punica granatum (pomegranate) extract, ubiquinone (coenzyme q10), tocopherol (vitamin e; sunflower-derived), natural flavor, xanthan gum, sodium methyl cocoyl taurate, sodium benzoate

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this spry xylitol peppermint toothpaste was also safe, easily found at rainbow grocery here in sf.

ingredients: water, glycerin, silica, xylitol, erythritol, lauryl glucoside, sodium methyl cocoyl taurate, zinc citrate, cranberry extract, aloe vera, xanthan gum, cellulose gum, stevia, natural peppermint flavor, sodium benzoate, titanium dioxide

the maybe's


this nature's gate creme de peppermint one has mixed reviews - kerry broke out the first day she started using it, so took a break to clear up. but the second time around, she didn't break out. we have another client who said that this broke her out too, so it may be best to avoid this one to be super safe, but are including it on this list for folks who can't find the others above.

ingredients: calcium carbonate, glycerin, water (eau), aloe barbadensis leaf juice, sodium lauroyl sarcosinate, xanthan gum, flavor (aroma/arôme)*, mentha piperita (peppermint/menthe poivrée) oil, quillaja saponaria (soap bark/buisson à savon) root extract, camellia sinensis (white tea/thé blanc) leaf extract, punica granatum (pomegranate/grenade) fruit extract, vaccinium macrocarpon (cranberry/canneberge) fruit extract, vitis vinifera (grape/raisin) seed extract, zingiber officinale (ginger/gingembre) root extract, sodium bicarbonate, calcium glycerophosphate, bisabolol, menthol.

sensodyne has long been a questionable one as well. christine, skinSALVATION's first esthetician hire, cleared up dramatically after seeing kim for several months. she still broke out around her mouth though, and once she stopped using the acne-safe-on-paper sensodyne and switched to kiss my face, she cleared up completely. thus, we've always written it off as not acne-safe.

however, another long-time sS'er AK has used this exact sensodyne pronamel gentle whitening formula with no problems. so, we've included it here for those brave enough to try.

active ingredients: potassium nitrate 5%, sodium fluoride 0.25% (0.15% fluoride ion) inactive ingredients: water, sorbitol, hydrated silica, glycerin, peg-8, cocamidopropyl betaine, flavors, xanthan gum, sodium saccharin, titanium dioxide, sodium hydroxide

the definitely not's


this would include most all toothpastes commercially available - even ones marketed as being 'natural' (like tom's! big eye roll). if the ingredient listing reads any of these 4 cloggers, move on to investigating the next tube!
  • sodium lauryl sulfate
  • sodium laureth sulfate
  • carageenan
  • coconut oil

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