Brush up with the Bad Breath Bible author

The same week I’ve been cleaning out ancient products from my mother’s bathroom closet, Dr. Harold Katz’ TheraBreath products came into my life. Orange, green and white packaging looks as old-fashioned as the stuff I’m weeding out of the closet, but the doctor’s products and their claims are reassuring. Makers say that today we are more careful about artificial stuff in our kids’ peanut butter than we are in what is in their toothpaste. 
Dentist and national oral health care expert Harold Katz, author of “The Bad Breath Bible,” (www.therabreath.com) invites us to avoid

FD&C blue dye No. 2, Sodium lauryl sulfate, Triclosan and Saccharin and aspartame.

He advocates that buyers should look for natural ingredients, such as aloe vera juice, which cleans and soothes teeth and gums and helps fight cavities. Aloe vera tooth gel is said to kill disease-causing bacteria in the mouth, Katz says.

His naturally oxygenating Fresh Breath toothpaste comes out of a tube looking like petroleum jelly. It’s simple, basic and has no flavor. The aloe vera concoction is “24-hour guaranteed. The gum in this line is tasty, and I love the powerful lozenge. They’re designed to wet the mouth, as is the rinse that feels like you haven’t used anything. By that, I mean there’s no sting or “medicine breath.” The Perio Therapy line for gum care offers a gel toothpaste with sodium fluoride. It has an old-fashioned blue and silver look. Give the doc a try.

Tara Walker’s Dream

Little tubes of Tara Walker’s dream have a winged look. It’s all part of the design to keep products bacteria-free. Products arrive packaged in hermetically sealed tubes with less than three ounces per tube in a sleek metal tin. Don’t worry about any unseemly ingredients in the plastic, or cross-contamination from your germy fingers. Tara is keeping it fresh. What’s inside is worth keeping in good condition, like Rejuvenating Dream Serum® +100 Concentrate, with 109 antioxidant-rich bioactive botanicals. This little dose of elixir packs essences of flowers, leaves, fruits, seeds and stems of plants sourced from every continent. Look for marine ingredients, too. I’m sampling a cleanser, that reminds me of a good oil cleansing, plus day and night treatments that are just-right for feeling great while traveling. Keep it clean with Tara.

Polish me

I’m not exaggerating when I tell you Zo’s polish is a highlight of my day. It’s one thing I’ve tried in the ZO® Skin Health line, created by renowned dermatologist Dr. Zein Obagi M.D., and designed to restore skin to “bright, beautiful and youthful glory.” I feel a luxurious heat when I apply ZO Skin Health Offects® Exfoliating Polish. It’s a super-fine paste with magnesium crystals to immediately remove dead surface cells and offers vitamin A to improve cell turnover. Antioxidant vitamins C and E fight free radicals and repair damaged skin cells. That’s the facts, but I just have to say, it feels good going on and I’m better for it having been there.

Other stuff from ZO:

ZO Skin Health Ossential Daily Power Defense with time-released retinol, antioxidants, and DNA-repairing enzymes is a disguiser for dark spots, blotches and discolorations to minimize UV damage that causes uneven pigmentation:

ZO Skin Health Olluminate Intense Eye Repair deals with that stuff you don’t want around your eyes: wrinkles, uffiness and dark circles.

ddoiron@panews.com