Patrick Sherwin: Changing the World's View on Safe Cooking

INTRODUCTION

Smoke inhalation is one of the world’s leading causes of death due to the nearly 3 billion people who still cook using wood and charcoal.  Every year 2.5 million unnecessary deaths occur due to respiratory infections caused by cooking indoors using these fuel sources. 

Patrick Sherwin, Founder of Applied Sunshine, LLC and creator of the GoSun Stove

Patrick Sherwin decided that there needed to be a more efficient means of cooking, and he felt that his background in solar energy may lead to the solution.  With over 13 years of experience in small business ownership as well as accreditation from some of the most well-known solar energy councils, he was more than prepared to take on the challenge of smoke inhalation. 

Patrick spent years attempting to design an oven that would work using nothing more than the sun’s energy and has finally come to a point where he is happy enough with the design to make it a public product.  The GoSun Stove is Patrick’s answer to the world’s cooking crisis. 

Utilizing a glass vacuum tube as a cooking chamber, the stove essentially acts as a greenhouse.  This powerful little product can cook over 3.5 pounds of food in a single setting and can actually cook at times comparable to the average oven, able to complete a meal in about 10 to 50 minutes. 

The GoSun Stove is preparing to take over the alternative cookstove market, and I am fortunate enough to be a business partner with Patrick throughout the journey.  I sat down with him and asked him a 

few questions about how he got started and what has led him to this point. 

EARLY HISTORY

When asked what inspired him to focus his efforts on impacting the alternative cooking market, Patrick reflected back to a time he had gone on a trip abroad in high school.  He explained, “I began taking an interest in solar cooking at a pretty young age.  When I was 17 I was fortunate enough to go on a trip to Haiti and do some missionary work.  I’m not sure what I was expecting when I went, but let me tell you, it opened up my eyes.  I had come from a suburban area with nice houses and nice cars and running water.  But in Haiti things were a complete 180.  That trip changed my view on the world.”

He went further to say that as soon as he arrived home from his trip he knew what he wanted to do.  From that moment on, he dedicated himself to providing something to help the people of the rural communities worldwide. 

He saw one of the biggest opportunities to positively impact the world in the market for cooking.  According to Patrick, most people who go to help these underprivileged communities instantly jump to what they think are the major factors in high death tolls.  Some of the issues include contaminated water and poor hygiene; however, Patrick looked further into the less known problems of third world countries and discovered that smoke inhalation was one of the biggest threats to health.

According to him, this problem is often overlooked because of the fact that respiratory infections are slow causes of death.  There are no immediate symptoms as there would be with drinking water with contaminants in it. 

After finishing his degree in engineering, he began working for a solar energy company, hoping to gain better insight into the industry.  He reminisced of a time when solar energy was believed to be a futuristic technology that may never come into existence, “when I told people that I was working with solar energy, everyone believed that I was working with some giant panels to create energy.  Although we did do some work with panels, there were so many other aspects of energy usage that we focused on.  Look at the GoSun Mini, it uses a small tube the size of your forearm and can cook meals using 

solar energy.”

GoSun Mini

The idea for the GoSun came to Patrick during a solar energy conference, where a booth had set up a display that showed micro-ovens using small solar panels.  He calls this moment his “eureka” moment, because he realized that he could use his current vacuum tube technology to make a personal oven.  Before this moment he had been concerned with making a communal oven that used a tube nearly 6 feet long. 

During this point of the interview he began laughing and thinking of how the idea of a communal oven would never work in Indian society.  After returning from the conference he recruited Matt, who is a designer that graduated from UC’s DAAP program a few years prior. 

This is when the fun stuff began, he said.  The two began making designs and prototypes still focused around the primary component, the evacuated tube.  After several designs, they finally chose one that they believed would offer the best sun tracking and most efficient capturing of energy. 

This is the model that has been made available to the public today.  While the new design is great and provides what the team wanted, they are looking to develop other models specific to various regions worldwide. 

Patrick then began to comment about our partnership (since I am coordinating the design and research of the Indian market model).  He explained, “I’ve been blessed to come into contact with individuals along the way who are passionate about helping the community and the world.  Without the contributions of these people, the GoSun would still be a six foot tube that nobody could carry around!” 

He laughed and then began to discuss what he sees the GoSun becoming in the next year and beyond.

THE FUTURE

Patrick sees a bright future for the GoSun that not only allows the company to continue progressive growth, but also to drastically cut down on the number of deaths in third world countries.  After a successful Kickstarter campaign (raising $188,000), he is more focused than ever to create a great product.

In order to reach the target developing markets, the price of the stove will need to be reduced greatly.  Currently the cost of a western designed GoSun is $279.  This price is far too high for the low income families of the developing nations (these areas are where we’ll find families still cooking using wood and charcoal). 

After spending a short amount of time experimenting with various materials, the team has created a version of the GoSun that can enter the market at a reasonable $25.  Additionally, if a family cannot afford the stove at that price, there will be micro-financing options offered.  These two basic cost structures will allow the product to enter into several low income markets due to its competitive pricing. 

Making iterations to the original GoSun models

Patrick explains, “…we found a way to make this a realistic dream.  Now that the technology can be utilized for less than $30, we have a real shot at gaining market segments.”  He then went on to admit that the price may still be high, but over the course of the first year will save the consumer money.  Currently the Indian community pays just over $2.50 per month to get gas powered stoves.

He also admits that the GoSun may not be a complete substitute for other ovens, since it utilizes the sun’s energy.  If a family cooks dinner at night, they cannot use a solar stove and must resort back to a gas powered or wood burning stove.  Although that means there will not be a complete elimination of smoke inhalation, it does decrease the amount greatly. 

As the GoSun continues to develop and have iterations take place, it will only gain more appeal to the target market of third world countries. 

SUMMARY

Patrick Sherwin is a man with a vision.  He was able to identify a huge problem in a foreign market and decided that he wanted to change the world, and that’s exactly what he’s doing.  Patrick is an inspiration to product designers and entrepreneurs around the world, and he has shown that one man truly can impact an entire population.  

For more about the GoSun Stove and ways you can help contribute to the mission of ending premature smoke-related deaths, please visit www.gosunstove.com

Why We Need to Love Kanye West

 “The Bible had 20, 30, 40, 50 characters in it…you don’t think that I would be one of the characters of today’s modern Bible?”

The world watched in horror as Kanye West rushed the stage at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, grabbing the microphone from award winner Taylor Swift to voice his objections.  Kanye looked out at the audience and shouted, “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you…I’ll let you finish. But Beyonce had 

one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!” 

Kanye West and Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards 

He handed the microphone back to Swift and walked off stage, and that was that.  An uncomfortable silence suddenly took the stage and all the audience could think about was what just took place.  America’s sweetheart had been interrupted and disrespected by an arrogant rapper who had too much to drink before the show.  In that moment, Kanye West became one of America’s most disliked men.  Disliked so much, in fact, that he felt it necessary to move overseas and re-evaluate his career and personal life.  To this day, many people still refuse to support Kanye, claiming that his antics have made him nothing more than an egotistical bully in the industry. 

Despite his outbursts and somewhat ridiculous off-stage behavior, Kanye West has been one of the most influential individuals in modern culture.  He has made major contributions to the world of fashion, music, and design.  From his 21 Grammy Awards to his million dollar shoe contract with Nike to his charity work dedicated to keeping kids in school, Kanye West has seemingly conquered every aspect of modern culture.

A recent article published by Complex gave a great insight on the dedication that Kanye devotes to each of his projects. 

His most recent tour, the Yeezus Tour, is comprised of massive stage props and complicated lighting setups; while most artists would allow an outside source to handle all of these specifications, Kanye has been hands-on in the entire process.  He helped design the aesthetics of the precise arenas and even made sure to have video and audio pieces specifically tailored for certain venues.  This means he not only created an expression for one consistent show type, but for several shows that vary depending on the city.

Even the merchandise pieces that fans can purchase at the concerts were designed by Kanye.  For co-creation, he reached out to Sam Lang, an American artist who is known for his controversial artwork.  Together the two created a total of six separate shirt designs, as well as seven others done solely by Kanye.  Shortly after images of the shirts surfaced on the internet, an unsurprising amount of controversy followed. 

Yeezus Tour Merchandise 

The shirts depict images of the confederate flag - an image widely viewed as having racist roots - and draped them over skeletons and skulls.  In a later interview, Kanye stated that this was his way of repurposing the flag’s connotations, and that he wanted to make the flag “his.”  Although this is an extreme example of his contributions to the world of fashion, it is significant nonetheless.  Several fashion icons are saying that the edgy shirts are exactly what the industry needed, and are calling members of the community out for being too tentative.

Maison Martin Margiela, a high-end fashion line created by Belgian designer Martin Margiela, was responsible for the wardrobe that Kanye will wear during the tour.  Margiela said in a recent interview that, “We tried to fit Kanye's vision as closely as possible so we spent a lot of time discussing alterations, fabrics, new colors, textures. Creativity was maximized as we realized Haute Couture pieces in our Parisian Atelier; we had no creation limits.”

This indicates that Kanye was highly involved in the process and had ultimate control over what his fans would see and experience at the show.  It is incredibly rare for an artist to show such great passion for the art and visual aspect of a live show, and it has gained Kanye respect within the business as a true “artist.” 

As I mentioned before, Kanye West has had a great impact in numerous charitable organizations.  Unfortunately, most tabloids don’t report about his contributions to charities because it doesn’t make for an exciting story (at least not as exciting as Kanye West Attacks Paparazzi). 

What many people don’t know is that he actually created his own charity called the Dr. Donda West Foundation, with the goal of reducing the dropout rate in the school system.  One initiative that the foundation pushed for was called Loop Dreams; it focused on directing children toward music writing and production as a way to keep them in classes and help them off the streets. 

Kanye West and his late mother Donda West

In addition to his own foundation, he also was widely known as a contributor to broad ethical issues.  He donated frequently to organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam America.  He also recorded a compilation CD that took profits and donated them to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina.  One of the rarely seen deeds by Kanye was footage from his work with young Iraq War veterans, helping them battle debt and PTSD after returning home from war.  In total, it has been documented that Kanye donates to 18 different charities, all with 18 different causes.  

Not only has Kanye influenced the areas of fashion and charity, but he has been able to do so all while being consistently rated as one of the greatest rappers and overall musicians of all time.  Here are a few basic statistics on Kanye West’s music career that may help explain why he’s such an inspiration to aspiring music stars everywhere:

1)      He has released five solo studio albums, all of which have gone platinum.  With the release of Yeezus, he has released five consecutive albums that entered the charts at #1. 

2)      He has had 6 separate songs sell three million or more digital copies, and has a total digital copies track record of 30 million+ (making him one of the best-selling digital artists of all time).

3)      He has won an astounding 21 Grammy Awards, which makes him one of the highest awarded artists of all time.  To put this into perspective, the only two commercial artists who have won more times are U2 and Stevie Wonder, each with 22 awards.  By the next Grammy Awards, Kanye could move up yet another position in the list. 

Kanye West and 3 of his 21 Grammy Awards at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards (where he received ten nominations)

Whether or not people agree with his sometimes absurd antics, he is undeniably one of the greatest musicians of all time.  Rolling Stone has credited him with changing the structure of the hip-hop industry through his consistent release of great, yet distinct, records.  They believe Kanye to be “a rapper who mastered, upped and moved beyond the hip-hop game, a producer who created a signature sound and then abandoned it to his imitators, a flashy, free-spending sybarite with insightful things to say about college, culture and economics, an egomaniac with more than enough artistic firepower to back it up.”

As far as pop stars go, Kanye West has proven to be one of the most outspoken and honest men in an industry that has become fake and generic.  He stands up for his beliefs and whether he’s right or wrong, he doesn’t back down from his feelings.  While this has sometimes landed him in hot water, I believe it makes him one of the most admirable characters in Hollywood.  When the world is constantly changing, the one thing we can rely on is that Kanye West will always be Kanye West. 

And one last note, if you still think Kanye is simply an arrogant ass, just watch this video of him performing at the 2008 Grammy Awards.  This was his first live performance of “Hey Mama” (a song written for his late mother, Donda West) since her passing.  Tell me that this man isn’t one of the greatest musicians of all-time.  And good luck not crying, enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqHxOC_kCP0

Production 101: A Basic Walkthrough of the Production Process

Note: I made a SoundCloud account last night and the music player below includes some uploads of my past work.  Feel free to shuffle through the songs or pause the player altogether. Enjoy!

Laugh all you’d like at the worn-out lyrics and generic instrumentals found in popular music, but deep down we all listen and sing along to the songs when they come on at a party. As a producer, I can safely say that anyone in the industry would love the opportunity to produce a “sell-out” record that gets heavy radio play. 

Sure, it’s not cool or unique to produce anything other than underground music, but sometimes it’s a fun challenge to create a song that has mass appeal (not to mention that most pop songs draw influence from the underground scene).

Not only do pop tracks gain popularity in the industry, but it’s also where the money is at.  I’ve been producing music since the age of 13, and within the past five years I have worked with major labels and learned quite a bit about how to effectively create music with general appeal. 

While there are no set methods to production, there are some efficient tips that I have learned along the way.  Crafting a radio-friendly record is no walk in the park; however, here are some great starting points to get you well on your way to becoming the next Timbaland (maybe not that big, but we can all dream can’t we).

The Basics (Pre-Production)

The first essential step to creating music is to have production software on installed on your computer.  A plethora of software already exists, ranging from the fantastic price of free all the way up to several thousands of dollars. 

Personally, I have taken a liking to Logic (which is only available on Mac computers, so I apologize to all you PC users out there).  However, one of the most common software choices that I see used is Fruity Loops Studio (FL Studio). 

This software is free or very cheap to upgrade, and has actually been utilized by high end professional producers for years now.  It is one of the most user-friendly products out there and while I have not used it, I believe it may be a great place for the beginner producer to start.

The second essential step to creating a song with a radio potential is to listen to current hits as well as underground successes for inspiration.  The most popular producers are able to combine underground trends with mainstream trends to develop a cross-genre record.  

Some of the recent examples of the fusion between underground and mainstream components include dup-pop and EDM songs, which are now heard on all of the current top 40 stations.  Being able to stay emerged in both cultures is essential to creating the next big radio hit. 

A final optional tip to consider before beginning production is the incorporation of hardware to the equipment setup.  Some individuals prefer to have a physical MIDI keyboard to play, whereas some are content using the computer keyboard that they already own.  This is all personal preference.

The Fun Part

So now that the basics are covered, it’s time to have a little fun and begin the process of making the instrumental.  However, keep in mind that this is my personal process and that there are several ways to go about this. 

Also be weary that to utilize these steps it may be beneficial to have a slight knowledge of how to operate your chosen software.  Some of the terms you may see in this section are important to familiarize yourself with and may require some outside work. 

Some Useful Terms:

-          Plugin – a plugin is an additional component of software that can be added to the already existing software to create more options for the producer.  For example, if someone is using Fruity Loops and they purchase a techno plugin, they will now have access to a new techno instrument within FL. 

-          VST (Virtual Studio Technology) – this is the interface in the software that has all of the effects and audio editors.  It also includes access to the virtual instruments found within the software. 

-          Bars – this refers to the segment of time on the audio track (think of a metronome counting out 4 bars).

-          Quantization – this is a process that allows you to set drums and other notes to a specific beat or fraction of a beat.  This tool helps with imperfections seen when recording and can help to place all notes on a uniform beat.

Step 1

Create a basic one note melody progression

The easiest way to start the melody creation is to go into the software and select 4 bars of the project and set them to loop.  What this does is sets those 4 bars to continuously play back, which can be helpful when creating a simple melody.  

In order to play the melody within your software, you must first find a list of virtual instruments and select one that you think fits the song concept well.  Now begin the process of finding small combinations of one or two notes that sound good together.  

From there continue to add notes until you reach a nice sounding melody pattern.  Depending on the track, notes can be similar or even run a full octave apart.

Please be aware that you may have to look up the simple steps such as creating a new file or setting up the loop pattern on your selected software.  There are several different programs that have different interfaces and would take forever to explain on here.

Step 2

Build on the melody that has already been created

This process is similar to Step 1 with respect to the method.  At this point you already have the first lead melody created, so building on it is much easier.  Often times, the quickest way to build onto the first melody is with the incorporation of chord progressions.  

These add complexity to the track and provide a more “full” sounding record.  A simple way to add chords is to take the individual note you have in the melody, and use that note’s full chord simultaneously.  For example, if you have a C note in the beginning of the melody, add a C chord behind it to add depth. 

Step 3

Develop a basic one note drum pattern

Once you have the core components of the melody, you can begin the process of adding drums.  While there are no set portions of the drum pattern to start with, a common starting place is with the kick drum.  

Navigate to the software’s drum VST section and open the digital drum.  There should be a menu that displays several different drum sounds; within this menu, find and select “kick drums.”  With the melody playing, begin to experiment with simple one note drum patterns.  Remember that this is only the first step to drum sequencing, so if it sounds a bit weak or empty after this step, don’t worry at all!

When producing some styles music, drums are edited with heavy amounts of reverb and depth.  To do this, you can simply go to the reverb section of the plugins menu and select “echo,” or something of the like.  Once the control comes up, play around with the reverb echo until you have a mellow, down-tempo drum foundation.    

Step 4

Add depth to the drum pattern

Just like the melody, the drum pattern needs more depth to create a full sounding instrumental.  Often times, this is the step where the hi-hats, toms, and snares come into play.  The most difficult portion of this section is being able to keep on rhythm in order to record the drums accurately.  

So you may be sitting there worried because you don’t have any rhythm and couldn’t keep beat if your life depended on it.  Well guess what?!  There is a simple solution to your rhythm deficiency and it’s called quantization.  

If some of the drums notes seem a bit off beat, simply find the quantize tool within your software and open the plugin.  From there you can select the specific beat that you would like the notes to “snap” to, and voilà!  A perfectly timed pattern.

Step 5

Create a fitting intro build

Although it seems strange to add intros so far into the process, I find that it allows for a better understanding of how the song should be introduced to the listener.  Also, this allows the producer to take snippets of the melody and stretch them or minimize them to create a well-fitting intro.  

A simple way of making an intro is to take the chords of the melody along with a downbeat drum component and add that on loop to the first 8 bars of the song. 

Step 6

Create an outro fade   

This step can be done by essentially taking the intro and “reverse engineering” it.  For example, let’s say the intro was 4 bars of chords, and then 4 bars of chords with quiet drums; the outro for a song like this could be 4 bars of chords with quiet drums followed by 4 bars of plain chords.  

While that is the simplest way of creating an outro, a lot of producers like to get innovative and create entirely new melodies to close out a song.  One way of changing the outro without having to produce a new melody is to highlight the 8 or so bars and change the tempo to halfspeed.  

This can be done by finding the tempo control within the software and simply entering a number that is half of your current tempo.  For example, if the instrumental was 120 BPM, change it to 60 BPM for the closing bars of the song. 

In Closing...

Although these tips may not provide the most in-depth instructions for music production, hopefully they do provide some insight into the process of getting started.  Improving within the music industry is just like improving within any other field; it requires a great amount of dedication and practice.  Whether you're a beginner or a professional, you must work hard to stay relevant and up to date on trend changes.  

Continue to develop the craft of music making and familiarize yourself with your own sound. Hopefully one day you'll be accepting your first Grammy and you can look back and thank this blog for sparking your interest and getting you started on music production.  

The American Dream: Dead or Evolving?

On January 12, 1964, a baby boy was born to a teenage single mother by the name of Jacklyn Jorgensen.  As this boy grew up, he took an interest in electronics and developed a strong work ethic due to summers spent with his grandfather on his Cotulla, Texas ranch.

 

Throughout high school and college he made an effort to exert his abilities to all aspects of his life.  Striving for a great education, he was able to make the jump from a lower-class household to the life of a Princeton graduate.

After reaching adulthood, he secured a well-paying job at a New York hedge fund.  However, he heard about this new trend of internet usage taking place across the country and he decided to explore the new field.

During a cross-country road trip, Amazon was created.  The story described above is that of Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of the mega-corporation we know as Amazon.  Jeff was able to work his way through the American infrastructure to become one of Forbes richest individuals, with a current net worth of nearly 30 billion dollars.

Jeff’s story represents the true American Dream.  But as of late, several analysts are making claims that the American Dream may be dead. 

According to the latest report from the Pew CharitableTrusts, entitled “Pursuing the American Dream,” only 4 percent of those raised in the bottom 20 percent will rise to the top 20 percent by the end of their life.  The report states that instead, those raised in a particular class are highly likely to stay in or around that same class. 

One important note from the report states that “Forty-three percent of Americans raised in the bottom quartile remain stuck in the bottom as adults and 70 percent remain below the middle class." 

While these numbers describe the long journey from the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder to the top, there are other statistics that claim that even achieving wealth higher than middle-class is difficult in today’s economy. 

Currently our economy is in the recovery phase, after the “Great Recession” officially ended in June of 2009.  Although there is a clear improvement in some areas of the economy (home sales and unemployment rates), there is no arguing that the median household income has declined.  In fact, according to Sentier Research, the median income is now $52,100.  Once adjusted for inflation, this number shows the average income to be 6.1% lower than the average income in the middle of the recession.

One modern measurement of the American Dream has simply become home ownership.  Many individuals look to the numbers to determine whether or not the dream is still alive, and the numbers are not looking great.  TIME Magazine discusses the issue in more detail and reveals some surprising statistics.

Only 65 percent of Americans actually own their home, down from the pre-recession era.  Another interesting fact is that nearly 1 in 4 Americans are rethinking why they want to purchase a house and what theyre looking for.  For Example, rather than looking for the perfect house with a white picket fence, they are now simply looking at the most affordable housing.  This takes a huge toll on the housing market.

So what do all of these statistics add up to?  It’s now more difficult than ever to get ahead.  Not only that, but it’s now more difficult just to maintain middle-class status. 

The rich are getting richer much faster than the middle-class and lower-class can account for. 

This confirms the belief that economic mobility may not be quite as achievable as hoped.  If you’re born rich or born poor, odds are you’ll remain that way throughout your lifetime (according to this study).

However, not every group is as negative about the well-being of the American Dream.  In fact, some analysts have an optimistic view of mobility and have specified a few groups that are still benefiting from the opportunity to achieve great success here in America. 

A new study posted by the Equality of OpportunityProject depicts massive regional variation with respect to the numbers of people able to escape poverty.  For example, being born in the Northeast or the West Coast provides a better opportunity for upward growth than a city in the South.  The study goes on to show several specific cities that provide higher percentages for economic mobility.  Topping the list is Salt Lake City, Utah (with an 11.5 percent chance to change classes).

Other recent studies and interviews show similar hope for success.  According to interviews conducted by Dr. Fiona Citkin, American immigrant women tend to view the American Dream as something that is alive and well (keep in mind that American immigrant women make up 51 percent of all immigrants).

So it seems that there is a variance in the view of the American Dream and the prosperity that our ancestors saw as they arrived on the shores of this country.  However, there is something that needs to be addressed in this post.  What exactly is the American Dream?

For the sake of this informational piece, I have been referring to the term to be something of a material success measure.  To clarify, this is not the all-encompassing definition of the dream.  However, it is one of the few ways to measure individual growth with factual numbers. 

For example, it’s easy to look up the average income amount in modern America.  It is much more difficult to get factual evidence for feelings of equality or fairness.  While these areas may be prospering, they are nearly impossible to gather data for. 

The technical definition for the American Dream (as stated by the all-mighty Merriam-Webster Dictionary) is “an American social ideal that stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity; also, the prosperity or life that is the realization of this ideal.”

Despite what society may say or what the dictionary may claim, when all is said and done, the American Dream is different for every individual living in this great country.  Some may place a high value on feelings of democracy and respect, while some may concern themselves with achieving great wealth.  

No matter what the American Dream means to you, it’s important to understand the fact that it is – as the name suggests – a dream. 

And dreams never die.  

How to Win the Battle for Whiter Teeth: A Review of Colgate Optic White

We've all seen the commercial on TV; you know, the one that shows the woman with yellow teeth who sprints into the bathroom for five minutes and emerges with a smile bright enough to make the sun look like a flickering candle.  How did she do it?  A miracle teeth whitening product appears to have saved the day! She returns to her handsome date, who has now fallen in love with her due to her white smile.  While the commercials may exaggerate the situational uses of their whitening products, many of them claim that the visuals seen in the commercial are not far from the toothpaste’s capabilities.    

With teeth whitening products flooding the market, it is becoming more difficult to select the proper method and product.  Many people claim to have seen results from a specific product type, and lately it seems as though whitening toothpaste is the popular choice.  According to BU Today, Americans spend nearly 1.4 billion dollars annually on nonprescription teeth whitening products.  Well, I have decided to put one of the leading whitening toothpastes to the test to see if it could back up the hype.  I spent a full week (the exact amount the company claims needed) trying Colgate Optic White in hopes that it could deliver its “three shades whiter” promise.  Found in all major retailers and coming in at around five dollars, Optic White is an economical product to test the waters of the home-whitening world.

The Packaging

The first noticeable thing about Colgate Optic White is its bright red packaging.  The design of the box is truly eye-catching and it stands out in the crowd of white and blue boxes that typically fill the shelves.  The toothpaste truly shines once the tube has been removed from the packaging.  A shiny, glittery tube emerges from the holographic box; Colgate Optic White is the true Lamborghini of all toothpaste tubes.  It also has a cap that is connected to the body of the tube, meaning that the old problem of lost toothpaste caps is a thing of the past.  While my attention had been stolen by its looks, it was time to get to the important question: could the toothpaste deliver what it states on the box?

How It Performed

It’s important to start off by saying exactly what the box of toothpaste promises.  According to Colgate’s website and packaging, Optic White provides up to three shades whiter teeth, with results starting in one week.  The recommended use is brushing twice a day for four weeks (to achieve optimal whiteness).  I followed the directions for use and I can safely say that Colgate Optic White can back up the claims.  It’s difficult to judge the whiteness of my own teeth, but it feels as though they have improved.  Also, all whitening effects aside, this toothpaste is great.  It kept my mouth feeling fresh all day and it seemed to do a superior job cleaning my teeth.  Maybe I only felt extra clean because of all the bubbles that this paste creates, but it did the job!  The one downside to Optic White is that it causes quite a bit of teeth sensitivity.  This was also a common complaint in other reviews; however, it was the only negative statement about the toothpaste.

Conclusion

While I am far from a dental expert, I would recommend Colgate Optic White to any consumer looking to have whiter teeth and a brighter smile.  Although the product states that it may react differently to each individual’s teeth, it is worth a chance.  With a price that is comparable to any other type of toothpaste, there is little risk in purchasing the product. 

Where to Buy

Shop online at Colgate Optic WhiteToothpaste or purchase in stores at all mass retailers.