Luxury oral hygiene brand Selahatin, was founded after a stroke left Swedish-Turkish designer Kristoffer Vural ‘trapped in [his] own worst nightmare’. Partially paralysed and with a jarring hypersensitivity for taste and smell, he realised ‘that when you’re stripped of everything, it’s the small things that make up 50 per cent of your life. If you can fix the small things, you have a really good baseline.’
Brushing his teeth, a seemingly daily mundanity, held the utmost importance for Vural during his rehabilitation. But he felt that the act ‘actually made my day worse’, he recalls. ‘[Toothpaste] tastes so synthetic, so chemical, so strong. It’s got to be the most loveless product with no meaning.’ It was here that Vural saw an opportunity to elevate toothbrushing and dental care to a ritualistic part of self-care, via mindfully flavoured toothpastes, mouthwashes, oral sprays, and elegant accessories to accompany the act.
Selahatin makes luxury oral care products to elevate the act of toothbrushing
The brand’s name pays homage to the founder’s Turkish heritage. (It’s his grandfather’s name.) But Vural felt it was also perfectly ‘poetic and clinical’, and also harnessed his personal experience of scent and flavour as a vehicle for memory. ‘I remember that as a kid in Turkey, we would be served cloves after dinner to chew on, cleanse the palette, and feel fresh,’ he reflects. ‘I thought it would be really cool to bridge the two cultures I come from and expand the collective notion of what “fresh” is.’
The oral hygiene industry has, for the most part, been dominated by big pharmaceutical companies and bound up in clinical regulations. In launching Selahatin, Vural faced the challenge of convincing developers to work with a boutique brand, which would order a fraction of what competitors were selling and demand niche specifications (like the product being in an aluminium tube, and not plastic).
‘I met this team in Switzerland, and the Swiss are really dedicated to craftsmanship,’ he explains. ‘They really got it. With [this team], we were able to create a product that is superior to anything else out there.’ The resulting items produced by Selahatin respond to market regulations, while innovating, both aesthetically and functionally, what oral hygiene can be. Think: sensory palettes and sleek packaging that create a truly pleasurable bookend to the day.
The success of Selahatin lies in Vural’s ability to manipulate flavour and aroma as a perfumer does, with a concept and story behind each profile. ‘Everyone is sort of primed to think about the clinical aspects of toothpaste, but no one has really connected to the oral aspect as an experience,’ he says of unique, holistic approach.
Take, for example, his toothpaste Hypnotist: the harmonious blend of anise, honey, and peppermint is designed to help calm down the nervous system before bed. Such deeply personal products twist the sterility of oral hygiene into a thoughtful, luxurious act of self-care. ‘These products can have an emotional impact on you,’ he explains of the psychology behind his designs. ‘They can essentially shape your brainwaves and put you in a different state of mind.’
Selahatin’s latest collection, Four Seasons, takes this personal approach one step further with a range designed to match the seasons (and the moods that come with it). From a summer profile that embodies the inimitable high brought on by long days and short nights spent on the beach, to a winter flavour that translates the slow, insular nature of the darkened months, the range encourages the consumer to adapt their choice to both their inner and outer landscapes. ‘This ritual becomes an act of meditation because it centres you, and aligns your mind and body,’ says Vural. ‘It makes you more present.’
