Flavor Review: Janty Polar Mint

Janty Polar Mint is probably my most favorite liquid out of the ones that I have tried. If you're looking for a liquid that emulates menthol cigarettes, this is NOT the liquid for you. Instead, Polar Mint resembles more of a cross between a powerful minty gum, and mouthwash (not a bad thing). The result is a crisp, refreshing vape with an excellent throat hit and vapor production. This one just really satisifies my craving more than other liquids do. Unfortunately, I'm out of it right now...but I will definitely order more in the future.

Score: 9/10

Ms T's Bakery: 5 Flavor Review

A five flavor review of Ms. T's Bakery: Bacon Maple, Strawberry Cheesecake, Orange Juice, Blueberry Muffin, and Pumpkin Pie Spice Cappuccino.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRbkNRXTQ2A

Flavor Review: Ms. T's Strawberry Cheesecake

After tasting how accurate and tasty the Blueberry Muffin, Orange Juice, and Pumpkin Pie Spice Cappucino flavors were, I was pretty disappointed with this one. It's hard for me to pinpoint the flavor...I would probably relate it to one of those little strawberry shortcake snack rolls that you buy in the stores. It tasted very artificial, like a cheap copy of strawberry cheesecake. I didn't vape this one very long, and I don't think I'll go back to it.

Score: 2/10

Flavor Review: Ms. T's Blueberry Muffin

If you're looking for a blueberry muffin in liquid form, look no further than this one. It's almost ridiculous how much it tastes like a blueberry muffin, right down to the balance between blueberry and muffin. However, it's not something I would care to vape all day. In fact, I have a habit of finishing my bottles before I move on to the next flavor, and I simply couldn't do it with this one. It was too sweet for my tastes, but pretty good for an occasional vape to break the monotony.

Score: 7/10

Flavor Review: Ms. T's Bacon Maple

This tastes exactly like it smells and sounds...absolutely disgusting. Seriously, it was horrible. I forced myself to take three or four vapes just to give an adequate review. Then I promptly threw it in the garbage. It was like swallowing an entire glass of maple syrup...the taste was overwhelming and gooey.

Score: 0/10

Flavor Review: Ms. T's Orange Juice

Wow, it tastes just like orange juice...however, it has a WICKED throat hit. Almost unbearable. I find myself having to take shorter drags, because a longer one just kills my throat. Still, it's a nice refreshing citrus vape.

Score: 6/10 (would've been an 8 or 9 if the throat hit was less harsh)

Flavor Review: Ms. T's Pumpkin Pie Spice Cappucino

I like this flavor, it has a nice cappucino flavor to it...but I can't really taste any pumpkin in it. Still, I would order this one again. The throat hit is good, the vapor is warm, and the taste is nice and mellow. I would give it an 8 or a 9 if I could taste the pumpkin.

Score: 7/10

Study Shows E-Cig Inhalants Do Not Contain Carcinogenic TSNAs

Worried about the harmful effects of inhaling vapor, or second-hand vapor inhalation? A new study has been released:

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/study-demonstrates-njoy-electronic-cigarette-inhalants-do-not-contain-carcinogenic-tsnas,1118867.shtml

4 Flavor Reviews Coming Soon!

Just received two new flavors in the mail today: Liquid Xpress Caramel Macchiatto and Tasty Vapor Dulcis from dietsmokes.com today. I'll be doing reviews on them soon in addition to Janty RY4 and Janty Polar Mint.

New to Vaping?

For those new to the world of e-cigarettes, this is a very informative (albeit lengthy) article that covers all the basics on things like models and e-liquid amongst other things. Full credit goes to DonDaBoomVape. Check out the article at the link below:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/new-members-forum/36180-wonderful-world-vaping-illustrated-guide-e-cigs-parts-1-through-6-a.html

Are Electronic Cigarettes Safe?

This is an excellent article by Kristin Noll-Marsh (full credit goes to her). I've posted the full article here, or you can read it at the provided link.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/health-safety-e-smoking/42094-electronic-cigarettes-safe.html

You can also check out a fill list of Kristin's wonderful articles at the link provided below:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/624909/kristin_nollmarsh.html

Are Cigarettes Safe?
by Kristin Noll-Marsh

Recently, there has been media coverage about the safety of electronic cigarettes, which may be confusing and a bit scary.

History

Electronic cigarettes were intended to be a less-toxic (or “safer”) option to smoking tobacco cigarettes, but not a treatment to quit smoking. Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik invented the e-cigarette in 2003 with a patented ultrasonic technology. Hon Lik was inspired to invent this smoking alternative, because his father was dying from lung cancer. Since then, most e-cigarette manufacturers use a heating element that vaporizes the nicotine liquid instead.

Read more: http://emerging-business-markets.suite101.com/article.cfm/sources_for_imported_ecigarettes#ixzz0TNTSptUJ

Nicotine

It’s well documented that currently available treatments for smokers, nicotine replacement therapies such as patches and gums, are largely ineffective, with just a 7% success rate after 12 months. This is largely due to the fact that smokers aren’t just addicted to the nicotine; they are addicted to the actual habit and ritual of smoking a cigarette. It is a comfort system for them. That is even stronger than nicotine addiction.

However, the greatest danger in cigarette smoking is not the nicotine. Nicotine, while highly addictive, is a stimulant similar to caffeine and not toxic in low, intermittent doses, which is why it can be used in nicotine replacement therapies. Nicotine, by itself, does NOT cause cancer, but is known to have some side effects. Cigarette smoke, on the other hand, contains more than just nicotine. It contains hundreds of toxic chemicals and dozens of known carcinogens.

Hon Lik seems to have believed that there could be an option for smokers, to still have the act of smoking, while limiting exposure to the chemicals, toxins and carcinogens found in tobacco smoke. He had to have known that the smoker would still need relief from the nicotine addiction, so to get them to switch to the less toxic electronic cigarettes; he had to include doses of nicotine. The typical electronic cigarette liquid contains water, propylene glycol, glycerin, nicotine & food-grade flavoring.

Read more: http://www.drugs.com/sfx/nicotine-side-effects.html

Diethylene glycol

You may have heard that the FDA found traces (1%) of diethylene glycol in one Smoking Everywhere brand prefilled cartridge. Diethylene glycol is a highly toxic substance used in tobacco processing (and in anti-freeze) and is NOT used to manufacture electronic cigarette liquid. Because it used in tobacco processing, cheaper, less refined nicotine may become contaminated with traces of diethylene glycol. It is the most likely explanation of how one cartridge may have been contaminated. The other 17 cartridges were not found to have been contaminated with diethylene glycol. Many liquid manufacturers use U.S. made pharmaceutical-grade nicotine, the same as used in FDA-approved nicotine patches and gums and should not contain any diethylene glycol.

Read more: Diethylene glycol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Propylene Glycol

Propylene glycol is commonly confused in the media with diethylene glycol as the toxic ingredient found in antifreeze. (Anti-freeze is actually most commonly made with ethylene glycol.) While propylene glycol can be found in some antifreeze, it is actually added to it to make it LESS toxic.

“Antifreeze typically contains ethylene glycol as its active ingredient, but some manufacturers market propylene glycol-based antifreeze, which is less toxic to humans and pets. The acute, or short-term, toxicity of propylene glycol, especially in humans, is substantially lower than that of ethylene glycol. Regardless of which active ingredient the spent antifreeze contains, heavy metals contaminate the antifreeze during service. When contaminated, particularly with lead, used antifreeze can be considered hazardous and should be reused, recycled, or disposed of properly.”

Read more: http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/materials/antifree.htm

Propylene glycol is actually approved for human consumption by the FDA and approved for human inhalation by the EPA. It is a common ingredient in many foods and medicines, such as McCormick (and other brand) imitation food flavoring, toothpaste, cough syrup, hand sanitizer, lotions, cosmetics and more.

Read more:
http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/pro...glycol_red.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol

Tobacco-specific Nitrosamines

The FDA analysis found “tobacco-specific nitrosamines” in the samples tested. These nitrosamines are created during the curing and processing of tobacco and would be expected to be found, in trace amounts, in nicotine extracted from processed tobacco. In tobacco smoke, they are found in high concentration and are a leading cause of tobacco-related cancers. These carcinogens were found in much smaller amounts in the electronic cigarette liquid and are found in other tobacco and nicotine products, including chew, snuf, patches, gum and inhalers. A study at Oxford concluded that the highest levels of these nitrosamines are found in the reaction of tobacco smoke and minimal in NRTs. Levels of nitrosamines found in electronic cigarettes are at or below those found in NRTs.

Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco-specific_nitrosamines

http://www.ecassoc.org/downloads/Response-to-the-FDA-Summary.pdf

http://carcin.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/18/3/587.pdf

Flavoring
Most companies use water-based, food-grade flavorings for their liquids. They make up a very small percentage of the total liquid content. These have been approved by the FDA for ingestion, but the effect of long-term inhalation has not been tested.

Most of the ingredients in electronic cigarette liquid has been tested and approved for long-term exposure in humans, but not when they are all mixed together. There are also no set minimal standards for manufacturing and the FDA has not approved any liquid for sale or use. The FDA wants to classify electronic cigarettes as a drug and drug delivery device for smoking cessation and wants appropriate studies done to show that they are safe. It is unklnown if the FDA will compare the safety of electronic cigarettes to that of smoking tobacco cigarettes long term or to using NRTs short term, to quit smoking.

Now you have the facts. You decide, for yourself, if you consider electronic cigarettes are safe (or at least safer than tobacco cigarettes) for YOU.

The Doctors Recommend E-Cigs

The popular TV show The Doctors has named e-cigs one of their top ten health trends of 2009, and call them a healthier alternative to regular smoking. Check out the youtube vid!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuThtjw2D74

2009 Vapy Awards

The 2009 Vapy Awards have been announced! For those looking to get into e-cigs, this can provide some good information as users voted on these awards. Looking for the best smoking experience, best device, or best company customer service? Check out the vapy awards and decide for yourself.

http://vapyawards.com/

Janty eGo Review: First Impressions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XB1OtJRN9g

Welcome to Vapor Paradise!

Looking for reviews and random thoughts on e-cigs, e-liquids, and the vaping world in general? You've come to the right place. In the months to come, I'll be adding more and more content so that you can make the most informed decision on a range of e-cigarette products.