TOOTHPASTE as a beauty product?
Why not, according to Georgia Geminder, an international model and daughter of an Australian billionaire.
Georgia is branding an all-natural toothpaste as an oral health care product that is glamorous.
She first looked at the novelty at the age of 17 as a teenager in Melbourne and the dream lived on even after Georgia modeled on in London, Los Angeles and Down Under.
It was in Los Angeles that she realized there was no chemical-free toothpaste around. “So I went on a two-year quest to create my super toothpaste where I took out all of the s**t in the conventional toothpaste and put all the good stuff back in,” Georgia told news.com.au.
She started research and found what she calls “toxic” ingredients some of which are even used in rat poison and as toilet cleaner.
Georgia then found the good stuff, like hydroxyapatite, a coconut-based product which she says remineralizes the tooth enamel.
Now. 27, she didn’t waste time during the lockdown last year. She launched Gem, the brand that carries her toothpaste and oral care products made of natural ingredients, just as the pandemic hit Australia in March.
The brand is already available in many dental clinics in Australia and carried by retail giant Mecca, reports news.com.au.
“Traditionally, people dread going to the dentist and people don’t love brushing their teeth and I wanted to bring out the enjoyment of oral care,” she tells the news site.
“The beauty world has always been so glamourized and I don’t think the same has been happening in the oral care world, so I think it’s time for a trendy, millennial-focused brand to really disrupt the category.”
It helps that she has exposure in the glamour world of modeling. “Because we have the mission of positioning oral care with a beauty lens, it helped esthetically just being in the industry.”
It also helps that her mother Fiona Geminder is Australia’s third richest woman while her daddy Ralph Geminder has a 40 percent share in a plastics manufacturing company.
It helps because investing wisely runs in Georgia’s genes. “One of the big lessons my dad taught me is to just launch a business, get it done and then fix it later, so COVID really aided that opportunity,” Georgia told news.com.au.
“I funded the business based off my savings from modeling and my mum and dad helped me a little with stock and initial opening orders, but it’s basically been off an oily rag like most start-ups,” Georgina tells the online news site.
Georgia’s toothpaste, which sells for 15 Australian dollars (about P555) per tube, comes in four flavors: apple mint, cinnamon mint, coconut mint and the best-selling crispy mint.
A plant-based, biodegradable floss sells for A$10. A mouthwash goes for A$18.
A chewable toothpaste costs A$15 per container of 60 bites.
“It’s a toothpaste tablet, so you bite down on them, wet the toothbrush and brush. It’s great for the consumer who doesn’t want plastic and they still want that sustainability angle and fresh mouth feeling and it’s also great for travel,” Georgia says.
“I would love to get into all products that are in your most sensitive spots, so getting chemicals out of products that people use in the most private places and extending into personal care,” she says.
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Dr. Joseph D. Lim is the former Associate Dean of the UE College of Dentistry, former Dean of the College of Dentistry, National University, past president and honorary fellow of the Asian Oral Implant Academy, and honorary fellow of the Japan College of Oral Implantologists. Honorary Life Member of Thai Association of Dental Implantology. For questions on dental health, e-mail jdlim2008@gmail.com or text 0917-8591515./PN
