The brand vision, founder Kristoffer Vural explains, is to treat oral care as ritual rather than utility.
— It sits between flavour, fragrance, and design, he says, where taste carries mood and repetition carries meaning. It’s for those who believe the everyday should be worth returning to.
Tell us about the Rick Owens collab. And how did it come to life?
— It came to life very simply. Rick wrote about brushing his teeth with Selahatin because he loved the font in a magazine. I saw it. He later saw an image we made using his quote. He reached out. That was the beginning. What connected us was ritual.
— Rick builds a world where the everyday carries intention — clothing as ceremony, repetition as identity. Selahatin comes from the same place, just closer to the body. Brushing your teeth as a quiet, grounding act. We didn’t approach it as a traditional collaboration. No logo politics, no audience-merging. Only alignment.
— I developed a monochrome, architectural aroma — stronger and more uncompromising than before. Rick kept pushing to go harder. That tension shaped the work. Eighteen months and over 150 iterations later, what remained felt inevitable.
What is it like to work with such a creative mind?
— It’s demanding, but in a very specific way. Rick doesn’t demand more. He demands less. Less compromise. Less noise. Less decoration. Working with him is about reduction. You bring something forward, and he asks, ‘Is this necessary?’ If it survives that question, it stays. If not, it goes.
— There’s no ego in the room. Just conviction. He knows exactly what he wants, and he has the patience to wait until it’s right. That’s what’s inspiring. The discipline, the refusal to settle, the trust in restraint. You leave sharper, calmer, more aware of what matters — and what doesn’t.
What else is going on in premium oral care?
— I’m honestly not very interested in what others are doing. Premium oral care right now is largely about surface signals: better ingredients, nicer packaging, louder claims. Function elevated just enough to feel new. It’s competent. It’s crowded. And it’s often reactive, Vural claims. He continues:
— I’ve chosen a different position. I’m devoted to mouth care as ritual. As something intimate. The everyday as something worth returning to. That conviction leaves little room for watching the category too closely, because comparison tends to dilute intention.
— If you spend your time tracking the market, you end up responding to it. If you spend your time refining a belief, you build something singular.
What are the keys for you to continue to grow as a brand?
— Execution. Always. Ideas are easy — most of them are obvious. What’s difficult is carrying one idea all the way through without losing its shape. Without diluting or rushing it.
— For me, growth is about finishing what I’ve already started. Giving the ideas the time, discipline, and care they deserve. Seeing them through until they feel inevitable.
— It’s also about protecting focus. Learning to separate signal from noise. Many things look attractive in the moment, but only a few will still feel true in five or ten years.
— So the work is restrained. Choosing what belongs, and having the confidence to ignore the rest.
What else do you look at now?
— To stop benchmarking and start deciding. Trends feel safe because they come with validation, but they also come with dilution. By the time something is proven, you’re not leading. Decide what you actually want to stand for — not strategically, but existentially. Then build everything from that position, even when it costs you speed, scale, or short-term relevance.
— Most brands fail not from lack of ideas, but from weak follow-through. They adjust too early. Explain too much. Chase approval. The brands that last are stubborn in the right places. They execute fewer ideas, better. They protect their point of view. They accept that clarity takes time — and that not everyone needs to understand it immediately.
— So, the real insight isn’t about ingredients, formats, or platforms. It’s about conviction. Choose a direction that can sustain years of repetition. Then do the work — quietly, precisely, relentlessly.
— And for me, personally, if a small ritual can bring clarity in a noisy world, that feels like a step forward, Vural concludes.
