Ciao a tutti! One usually doesn’t think of toothpaste (dentifricio) as being the top of the list…until there isn’t any left. It is a sometimes forgotten, but very important item. Anything we use 3 times a day (once after every meal!) is important!
For vegans it can sometimes be challenging finding toothpaste that is cruelty-free and vegan. If you do find it, it may still have fluoride in it which has been linked to several health problems.
If you are looking in local pharmacies (farmacie) or supermarkets (supermercati), you are going to have a difficult time. Most of the time the health products they carry are from big industrial giants. So to begin, we have to look at the health food stores or the herbal shops (erboristerie).
You will be able to find most of what you need at some health food stores. Stores like NaturaSi carry several health and toiletry items. One popular brand that can be found pretty internationally is Weleda. In fact, they make several items that are holistic, natural, Eco and vegan friendly.
The toothpaste is usually carried at stores in Italy. But every store is different. Sometimes you will have to do an online search and order it directly from the Weleda website. You may find the toothpaste in one store, but not another. The toothpaste you would look for is:
- Gel dentifricio vegetale – Weleda
Bjobj Toothpaste can be found at most stores. The name you would look for is: Dentifricio Gel Eucalipto e Malva: Toothpaste Gel with Eucalyptus and Mallow and it costs around 6 Euros.
Argital is another brand that is cruelty-free and does not add fluoride in their toothpaste. To make sure they are vegan friendly look for the “vegan OK” certification. Some of their toothpaste is not vegan. The toothpaste listed below is not certified vegan since they are made with bee products/byproducts:
- Dentifricio Dentie e Propoli (Toothpaste with propolis)
Another brand you can try is called Kingfisher Fennel. They have versions with fluoride and versions without fluoride and are 100% vegan and cruelty-free. You can purchase it online. It is made in the UK and they will ship to Italy.
If you don’t mind about the fluoride and want a more economical toothpaste, you can go with vegan-friendly LaVera. They make 2 toothpastes that are vegan:
- Lavera Basis Sensitiv – Dentifricio alla Menta
- Lavera Basis Sensitiv Dentifricio
You can find it on their websites, which is also in English or you may try searching the words directly in Italian.
If all else fails, you can always make your own! It is actually pretty easy and ingredients are readily available in the local supermarket. Thousands of recipes can be found all over the internet. This would also be the most cost effective option! After all, before the invention of toothpaste and toothbrushes, did you know that the Roman Gladiators used only a sage leaf to clean their mouths??
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