Regular readers of Reboot and Rally know that I have a somewhat unusual obsession with personal hygiene products (see the Razors Wars of March 2, 2007 and the Old Spice review of Oct. 3, 2008). This week, a new product caught my eye: the Colgate Wisp.
The Wisp is an index finger-sized, plastic mini-toothbrush-toothpick hybrid, or a "brushpik," purposely misspelled to look cool. The bristles on the brush end are made from the same plastic as the pick itself and surround a freshening bead. The bead is a glorified breath mint, and comes in three flavors: peppermint, cinnamint and spearmint.
I picked up a four-pack of Colgate Wisps from Topside the other day for $2.50 of not-real-money, but that's about what they sell for in the real world at CVS.
An extensive trial of the Wisp revealed that the pick end of it means business. Being made of plastic, it was fantastic. Actually, I found it to be more durable than a regular wood toothpick, but also sharper and potentially more painful for those with sensitive gums.
Using the mini-brush on the Wisp was indeed a cleansing and freshening experience. It felt like I was using a soft and gentle toothbrush. The fact that there's no water, rinsing, or spitting needed to use the Wisp really increases its convenience factor. I can imagine many situations where having a Wisp at hand might increase confidence or comfort while reducing shame and regret.
My time spent using the Wisp made me lament the demise of a similar product from years ago, the Oral-B Brush-Ups. The Brush-Ups were little textured wipes that you slipped onto your finger so that you could brush your teeth with your fingers.
In comparison, Colgate's Wisp is more expensive, less portable and not as fun to use. To me, that means they will be even less successful, which means that not even someone with a weird personal hygiene product obsession will remember them in four years.
And now for my token attempt to adhere to this week's theme so my editor will publish my ramblings about a toothpick/mini-toothbrush.
The Mirror is talking about environmentalism this week, so I decided to highlight two cell phones that are doing their part to save the world. First is the Motorola Renew W223. This very basic phone has a case made completely out of recycled plastic water bottles. It comes in a box made from recycled paper. The phone is even colored an obnoxious green to remind you that it is saving the world. Besides that, though, it has almost no features to speak of. The Motorola Renew is $10 with a contract from T-mobile.
Higher up the fancy scale is the Samsung Blue Earth, a touch screen phone also made from recycled water bottles. It has a special "eco" mode that adjusts the power settings to save electricity, which is probably a good idea for all cell phones. Additionally there is a gimmicky "eco walk" application that acts as a pedometer, and tells you how much CO2 you did not emit by walking instead of driving. Finally, the Blue Earth has solar panels on its back so it can recharge itself under the yellow sun. Price and availability of this Samsung eco-phone have not yet been announced.
