I’ve been looking into various teeth whitening options for a while now… not the most glamorous of topics, or treatments, but a beautiful smile comes second only to eyes in my book. It amazes me the number of people who look beautiful until they open their mouths and then… eek! Many of the ‘culprits’ are TV stars, so constantly in the public eye - perfectly coiffed from head to toe - and then a mouthful of wonky discoloured teeth… I just don’t get it.
So anyway, I’d like mine to be several shades whiter. I blame coffee and red wine.
I bought a home whitening kit from Groupon last year - sorry I can’t remember the name - but it came with a little infrared light that’s supposed to make the whitening gel more effective. The gel was supposed to be kept refrigerated but I left it out for a while so would worry that it wouldn’t work properly and it got binned!
I was tempted by the BriteSmile home whitening system (admittedly after hearing that Made in Chelsea’s Cheska was attending for treatment!) - it’s a new treatment from the US (Simon Cowell teeth anyone?!) and sounds pretty amazing, but requires a visit to the London Smile Clinic for bespoke moulds, so unfortunately another one crossed off my list.
After hearing it recommended on Twitter, I picked up Eucryl Tooth Powder in Fresh Mint at the local chemist - it cost less than £2 so seemed worth a go! It’s basically a tub of white powder - you dip your damp toothbrush in the powder and brush your teeth as normal. I know some people found this worked brilliantly for them, but for me the effects were way too subtle… admittedly I didn’t use it for a long period of time as the results weren’t dramatic enough for me!
Then a couple of weeks ago I watched a YouTube video by my blogging friend, Stina of Chic Beauty Blog where she was raving about Crest Whitening Strips. I’d heard her mention these in the past, but in the video she said she’d found them more impressive than any other whitening treatment she had tried. That was enough for me! I ordered a set that night and am now using them.
I had no idea what they’d look like or how exactly they’d work, so thought I’d share incase any of you might be interested in trying them too…
The strips come individually wrapped in little sachets like this, each containing 1 long strip for your upper teeth and a shorter one for the lower.
They are attached to a piece of clear plastic film, which you peel them off and apply directly to your teeth, a bit like a piece of sticky tape or a band aid! They are fine, like gossamer and easy to work with… the shiny side goes against your teeth, which is easy to figure out as this is the only side that will actually stick!
Short strip - bottom teeth, long strip - top teeth. They don’t reach right around your entire teeth, which is kind of annoying, but I guess it would be difficult to get them to fit over the big gnashers at the back.
As you can see above, the strips look rather fetching when applied *cringe*…
What do they feel like? You leave them on for half an hour - it doesn’t hurt (me) at all - and they’re not that uncomfortable until the last 5 or 10 minutes, when the gel starts to feel a bit gloopy and sticky. They peel off quite easily, just like removing a plaster (minus the pain!) and I brush my teeth straight afterwards to remove the residue of gel. I used Oral B’s new toothpaste for sensitive teeth, just incase.
Pain? It’s worth mentioning that some people do find their teeth are sensitive after using Crest White Strips but from reviews I’ve read, this seems to diminish after a few days and definitely once they’ve stopped the treatment. If you have sensitive teeth to begin with you might be best to try the Sensitive Whitening Strips.
How long does it take for them to work? I just bought a set of 10 to start with as I was worried that my teeth might be sensitive to them, but not at all. I’ve used about 5 so far and am now going to order a set of 20. I’ve noticed a definite difference already… my teeth definitely aren’t as white as I’d like them to be just yet, but I’m confident they will be after 20 days. They cost around £42.99 for 20 days’ worth and are available at crestwhitestrips.co.uk
Smile! I feel uncomfortable showing my teeth when I smile, especially for photographs (and have been told off for not smiling in blog pics) so I’m really hoping this treatment will give me a more confident smile… I shall report back!
If you’d like to watch Stina’s video that inspired me to try these, here is a link (be sure to subscribe while you’re there!).
I’d love to hear about any tooth whitening treatments you’ve tried and whether they worked for you or not… thanks for reading and please leave a comment below. Nic x
