Rick Owens Released a Toothpaste With Selahatin. Is It Good?

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who brush their teeth because they have to, and those who treat it like a ritual. The Selahatin x Rick Owens toothpaste and mouthwash are firmly for the latter camp. This collaboration, which released in late December, takes the most ordinary act—standing at your sink, half-awake, scrubbing away the day from your mouth—and turns it into something aesthetically pleasing and kind of ceremonial. The result isn’t just oral care: it’s atmosphere. It’s mood. It’s mint with intention.

The custom aroma, developed specifically for Owens’s collaboration with the Swedish oral-care brand, is magnetic—sharp verbena and Madagascar vanilla up top, cutting into juniper, dark citrus, and rosemary, settling into black pepper and peppermint for a clean, metallic afterglow. It’s unorthodox, slightly aggressive (in the chicest way), and far more complex than anything you’ll find in the drugstore aisle.

Alongside the whitening toothpaste, the Of Course I Still Luv You mouthwash delivers a layered freshness, a citrusy verbena and bergamot brightened with cardamom, grounded by pine and juniper. Founder Kristoffer Vural, who created Selahatin after a stroke changed his life, built the brand on the belief that essentials should be made special. You don’t need more things, you just need better ones. And once your morning and evening routines become this considered, going back to basic mint feels… off-brand. Below, four editors tested the products and shared their honest thoughts:

Kyle Munzenrieder, Senior Editor, News and Strategy

Describe your current oral-care routine.

You know, all the things we’re supposed to be doing…especially if my dentist is asking.

What did you think of the Rick Owens x Selahatin products?

I became aware of Selahatin when the dark lord of fashion himself raved about its font in an interview. At that time, I was under the impression that the primary appeal was simply good package design. When I received the boxes of toothpaste and mouthwash, however, Selahatin’s real value proposition became clear: flavor and scent notes were listed on the box like a Fragrantica page. This is an oral-care brand, sure, but it’s all about offering a niche scent for your mouth, one that is more akin to perfume. Clever. It’s a slightly subversive mix of design, health, luxury, and sex that fits perfectly with the Rick Owens brand. If you’re worried about what your perfume smells like when someone leans in for a kiss, why not worry just as much about your breath?

What was your experience using the products?

The taste of the Rick Owens line is a bit unfamiliar, but pleasant. “Dark citrus” is listed as one of the flavors, and the aroma does transport you to an alternative world where brushing your teeth after drinking orange juice tastes pleasant (another little subversion). My one question was, how much mouthwash should I use? I ended up pouring myself a capful, which seemed to do the trick.

Would you incorporate these products into your daily oral-care routine?

The thing about normal toothpaste and mouthwash is: it’s, like, $5 and available at dozens of locations within walking distance of my apartment. In the long run, I’m not sure these products can compete with simple utility.

However, I’m now intensely curious about what Selahatin’s other flavors taste like, and something about the brand does make you want to have it on hand before a big date. Suddenly, it seems there may be a time when simple wintermint won’t cut it.

Carolyn Twersky Winkler, Staff Writer

Describe your current oral-care routine.

I have a pretty simple yet consistent oral-care routine. My dad was an oral surgeon (not quite a dentist, but likely just as annoying about his kids’ dental care), so he long ago conditioned me in the ways of regular brushing and flossing. I brush my teeth twice a day, and floss every night without fail. Mouthwash was never a major part of that routine, though I did use whitening mouthwash in the weeks leading up to my wedding last year. I also recently started using Parodontax toothpaste to help with some minor gum issues.

What did you think?

The first thing I noticed upon receiving the products was the flavor note information: top, heart, and base. I thought that was hilarious. Was this a perfume? Whatever happened to mint? After doing more research, I discovered Rick Owens’s initial use of the Selahatin paste came from his love of the font, which is charming. I realized this was no regular toothpaste. This is bougie toothpaste, obsessed with its aesthetic. (Why else would an oral-hygiene brand collab with Rick?)

Using Parodontax helped prepare me for Selahatin. Parodontax isn’t your traditional mint flavor, nor is Selahatin. Conversely, if I went from my usual toothpaste to Selahatin, the shift may have shocked me more. I’ve never experienced anything quite like the toothpaste Rick Owens made. The flavor is complex, slightly sweet, fresh, and not overpowering, though it still took me a few uses to get used to it. It’s light and pleasant, but the mouthwash is slightly more floral and less to my taste.

Would you incorporate any of these products into your daily oral-care ritual?

I actually brought the toothpaste on a trip with me, and while I didn’t love it, my friend was obsessed (I let him take it home). I have sensitive teeth, so I need a more advanced toothpaste. I know my friend will get use out of it, though. I still have the mouthwash, but since I wasn’t a big mouthwash user previously, I likely won’t work that into my routine, either.

Maxine Wally, Senior Digital Editor

Describe your current oral-care routine.

My oral-care routine is definitely a task to complete, not a ritual I value. Since I was a child, I always dreaded the dentist. It runs in my family. My father was the same way.

What did you think of the product?

I like the minimal, black-and-white packaging, which is consistent with the Rick Owens brand. The toothpaste and mouthwash definitely felt different from my usual stuff—that is, a tube of Crest and a mouthwash I bought in bulk at Costco.

The scents here were surprising: light, but still minty, only it’s the kind of mint flavor you’d find at an artisanal ice cream shop, not in the dental aisle at Walgreens. I loved how delicate it was, and I know this sounds cliché, but using luxe oral-care stuff actually made the experience more enjoyable. The only thing I struggled with was the cap on the toothpaste, which is small and at times wieldy.

Would you incorporate these products into your daily oral-care ritual?

I would definitely incorporate these products into my everyday routine. As a person who has avoided the dentist at every turn my entire life, it’s safe to say I put oral care on the backburner (luckily I have good genes, dentally speaking, and I’m milking that rationale to the bone). This actually makes me look forward to my morning and nighttime oral-care moments.

Che Baez, Visuals Editor

Describe your current oral-care routine.

My oral-care routine is sacred—don’t talk to me until I’ve brushed, sacred. I was raised on the reminder that your oral health is connected to your heart and brain health, and that information lodged itself into my head permanently. So now I brush and floss like I’m protecting my organs (because I am).

What were your immediate impressions of the product range?

The sleek packaging is what immediately got me when I first learned about Selahatin. This collab is obviously very Rick Owens-coded—chic, moody, like it listens to experimental music. I’ve tried Selahatin before, so I knew the vibe, but seeing it all together felt elevated, like my toothpaste is more put-together than I am.

What was your experience using the products?

I love when something ordinary gets a glow-up. Brushing your teeth is mundane, but not when it tastes like a boutique hotel experience. The flavors are light but still minty, and not aggressively so. It’s mint with manners. I stand firm on the belief that luxe oral care can be important, because if I’m doing this twice a day for the rest of my life, I deserve something I enjoy.

Would you incorporate these products into your daily routine?

Absolutely. I’m committed to romanticizing my life, and that includes brushing my teeth.