Marvis Ginger Mint.

When I first started the Inland Empirical in 2006, I thought my bread and butter would be posts about my craft projects and reviews of fancy toothpastes. I followed a different path. Has anyone actually read my blog header recently? I know I haven't in a long time. One of my earliest posts though, was a review of the fanciest toothpaste I ever used [republished for your enjoyment].

It's not like I don't like fancy toothpaste. No, actually I like it A LOT. I've tried a few other specialty toothpastes since, but none worth reviewing. Until now. Here's a little something that citizenrobot brought back from Rome for me.



I'm really into ginger flavor. I bought a package of old-timey ginger candies and keep them at my desk at work. People eat them and it makes them sweat, but not me. No, I prefer something even spicier, like those Indonesian ginger candies that come wrapped in wax paper. When I heard about a ginger ale so spicy it makes grown men cry, I tried to reroute my travels, just to get a case from the bottler in the South--it didn't quite work out.

The ginger flavor in this toothpaste is not so obvious. The mint is, however. This toothpaste is surprisingly refreshing. Had I not seen the packaging, I wouldn't have picked up on the ginger at all.

But the packaging may be the best part of all. Silver foil on recycled paperboard. That cameo and the little Italian face in it. The fonts. I'm in love with the box.

I don't speak or understand Italian, but after watching Fellini over and over--most specifically, the very first time I saw 8 1/2 as a teenager--I knew this is a language I like. I like when Lidia Bastianich breaks out her Italian when she's showing me how to cook a ragu. And, I recently began watching the Sopranos, and when a character says anything Italian, I can dig it even when I know he/she may be saying something quite rude. So here's the thing... This is what I do...

I read the box out loud, like I'm saying something really meaningful.

La formula Marvis: denti bianchi e protetti, alito fresco tutto il giorno, aiuta a prevenire carie, tartaro e placca.

Yes, prevents cavities, tartar and plaque. I know. But in the 1960s Italian black and white film that is my life, what am I really saying? Maybe I'm talking about toothpaste but it's a metaphor for something really heavy. Say it angrily and maybe I'm like a capo telling the guys to go clean up the mess in the basement already!

I leave you with my favorite passage from this masterpiece which I'm sure says something about not letting the babies have more than a pea-sized amount of the toothpaste in case of accidental ingestion, but to me it's as profound as anything Dante wrote. Isn't this the beauty?

Bambini fino a 6 anni: utilizzare una piccola quantita di dentrificio sotto la supervisione di un adulto per ridurre al minimo l'ingerimento.

Yep. Time to put some heavy liquid liner on, and re-read the box.