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Whiten On The Go

I think I've said this here before, but if not, when it comes to my teeth, the thing that I'm secretly the proudest of is my lifelong dental overachievement of never having had a cavity. Not one single one.  Which is great, except that now I've kind of built getting one up into THE WORST THING EVER and picture my dentist coming at me with like, a chainsaw if I ever do.  So let's all just cross our fingers and hope my streak continues forever or everyone might hear me scream the first time it happens.  So when I discover something that can keep my teeth healthy and looking good, I grab on and hold tight with both hands.  GO SMiLE's Dental Pro on the Go - Sonic Blue Teeth Whitening System is a quick and easy way to keep your teeth clean and white, even when you travel.  Using it is simple - you charge the toothbrush by using a USB connection (perfect for people who are on the go a lot, but also easy if you're just at home) and then put both your favorite toothpaste and the Teeth Whitening Gel on it and brush.  The bluelight wavelengths that the toothbrush emits get rid of bacteria and help with stain removal to get (and keep) your teeth looking whiter than usual.  The brush itself is bigger and thicker than most toothbrushes of this kind, so it really helps the light penetrate and get the best results possible.  I found the system super easy to use (seriously, a child could do it) and my teeth definitely seem whiter after a few weeks of using it twice a day.  This'll definitely be my every day (and travel) toothbrush for the foreseeable future.  (Maybe my teeth will start to sparkle like they do in commercials!)  Grab it and go yourself!

Note: A sample of this product was sent to me by a PR representative working with GO SMiLE

Whiten In A Hurry

Even though I'm pretty happy with the whiteness of my teeth, they do seem to get a little dull every once in awhile, so I touch them up whenever possible.  (I'm too scared to get them whitened professionally because my sister had it done once and she said that it hurt WAY more than she ever expected it to.  The results were amazing, but seriously, they were so white that every time I looked at her, I kept picturing that "Friends" episode where Ross had it done and his teeth ended up glowing in the dark and I would laugh every time she opened her mouth.  I can't imagine why she was so annoyed with me!)  GO SMile has launched a new Smile Whitening Light System (that's Whitney Port checking it out above) that's the first efficacious (don't feel bad if you don't know what that means, I had to look it up too) white LED light whitening device available over the counter.  I'm intrigued because it's clinically proven to whiten teeth up to 6 shades in only one 30 minute treatment.  (That's less time than I waste watching one "Jersey Shore" episode!)  I've tried their whitening ampoules before and really liked them, so I'm definitely going to have to get my hands on this to test it out.  (The 30 minute treatment is comprised of 3 consecutive 10 minute light sessions used along with the Smile Whitening System ampoules, so it seems really simple and straight-forward).  You can find the system at Nordstrom stores or on gosmile.com.  Let us know if you've tried it!

Whiten Your Smile

I'm totally not bragging about this, but my teeth are pretty white.  There are many, many things about myself that if I could wave a magic wand I would fix, but the color of my teeth aren't one of them.  (I would, however, make myself five inches taller because it is SO annoying that everyone in my family is tall and I'm 5'3".  I totally got the short end of the stick on that one.  Think of all the ice cream I could eat without gaining weight if I was that much taller!)  But even though my teeth are definitely on the white side, every six months or so I like to use an over the counter whitening product to help freshen them up a little and make sure they stay that way.  This time around, I chose Rembrandt's Whitening Strips.  To use them, all you have to do is swirl some water around in your mouth for 15 seconds or so (I guess to give the strips a better surface to stick to) then take the strips out of their daily packages and put them on.  Unlike other whitening strips that I've tried, Rembrandt's have these sort of tab things on them that you fold behind your teeth to keep them in place, which was a little tricky the first time I used them, but which totally makes them stay in place.  You leave them on for 30 minutes, which is the perfect amount of time to read a magazine or watch a trashy reality show (hello, "Keeping Up With the Kardashians"), then swirl your mouth with water again and peel them off.  (This is kind of important because I found that if I didn't swirl the water around my mouth, the strips stuck to my teeth and were hard to take off).  There are a few things that I really liked about the Rembrandt strips over the other ones I've tried.  First, they're mint flavored, which means that even when you're wearing them, there's no weird medicine taste.  It just kind of feels like you've gargled with mouthwash or chewed a piece of gum.  Second, a lot of other strips I've used may not need the extra step of using the water to get them off, but all of them seemed to leave a lot of the teeth whitening gunk (I'm pretty sure "gunk" is the scientific word for it) behind on my teeth, which is actually kinda gross.  With the Rembrandt strips, I didn't have that happen, which I really liked.  The box comes with 7 strips for each of your top and bottom teeth - the normal course of treatment is 5 days, but the instructions say that you can use the full week long treatment for even more whitening, so I totally did that.  I didn't have any issues at all, except for a little sensitivity on my teeth for the first 2 or 3 days, but that usually happens to me when I use any of these products, so it didn't really bother me.  I'm really happy with the results, too.  Although my teeth were pretty white to begin with, these strips definitely made them a shade or two lighter and they're a little sparklier (always nice).  Definitely worth the 3 1/2 hours of total wear time that it took over the course of a week.  (Plus, it gave me an excuse to find out what Kim, Kourtney and Kloe have been up to).  

You can buy Rembrandt's Whitening Strips in your local drugstore or on drugstore.com for only $23.99.   

A sample of this product was sent to me by a PR representative working with Rembrandt.   

Touch Up Your Smile

Now that I've gotten all obsessed with GO SMiLE's Smile Whitening System (you can read my rave about it here), I'm also obsessed with keeping my teeth as white as the system gets it.  Between uses, I'm relying on their Touch Up Smile Perfecting Ampoules.  They're basically an extension of the whitening system - same small little tubes that are perfect for tucking away in your pocket or bag - and you apply them the same way.  You can use them any time (I try to bust one out after I've had something that could stain my teeth, like coffee or wine) and as a bonus, they also make your breath fresh and minty when you're nowhere near a toothbrush.  (I'm one of those people who hates gum.  I don't think I've ever bought a pack of gum in my life.  I think it's residual anger from being practically the only kid in my junior high who couldn't blow a bubble no matter how hard I tried.  It was super embarrassing).  Each set is $35 and contains 30 ampoules, so it'll last you a decent amount of time.  (Uh, unless you're a coffee addict like me...)  They're available in three flavors - Fresh Mint, Watermelon Mint, and Green Apple.  I've been using the Fresh Mint and love them - they're definitely keeping my teeth white and my breath fresh - especially during long days where the blast of mint is practically the only thing keeping me going late at night.  Who knew I could get so excited about teeth whitener?  Somewhere, my mom is laughing at me right now... 

Go Smile

I am all about the teeth whitening products.  I mean, honestly, in this day and age and with so many options, why wouldn't you be?  There's just no reason to be walking around with anything less than white teeth (although apparently the man in line with me at the drugstore this morning did NOT get that memo because those things were nasty.  I wanted to slip some whitening toothpaste in his basket when he wasn't looking.  Trust me, I would've been doing him a favor).

GO SMiLE's Smile Whitening System is my new favorite way to make sure my teeth stay pearly white.  It's super easy to use - it comes with 14 ampoules filled with the whitening serum in a cute little box.  Twice a day (once in the morning and once at night) you take one of the ampoules, flip it around in its container, squeeze until the tube inside pops, then use the tip of the ampoule to apply the solution directly to your teeth.  This also means that (unlike whitening strips) you can make sure you get the solution exactly where you want it on each tooth.  (I do like whitening strips, but the one thing that always bothered me about them is the way they're hard to put on correctly and how they shift in your mouth when you're using them.  There's none of that with the ampoules).  Once you apply the serum, that's basically it.  You're done.  All you have to do is not rinse, eat or drink for 20 minutes while it works, but that's not exactly a hardship.  What's great about this system too is that there aren't any strips to discard.  You know how the commercials for tooth whitening things always say, "You can use them anytime!  Even when you're sitting in traffic!"  While that's technically true, the few times that I did that, all I could think was, "I really hope I don't get in a car accident while I'm wearing these.  How embarrassing would that be?"  (Apparently, Crest White Strips are my version of dirty underwear).  But with GO SMiLE, you really can use it and immediately carry on a conversation with someone else without them even knowing.  Genius!

Also great?  It really works.  It only takes a week to complete the system and it definitely brightened and whitened my teeth.  It's hard for me to say how many shades of a difference it was because my teeth were already pretty white to begin with, but everyone can use a little touch up now and then and if it had that effect on mine, I can only imagine how much it would help those people who were a little more, uh, tooth color-challenged.  (Is that the politically correct term?) And at only $89, it's WAY cheaper than going to get them done professionally.  Definitely an investment worth making if you find yourself wanting to lighten up your smile.

To learn more about the products, check out GoSmile.com.

Smile Wide

I'm one of those minty toothpaste kind of girls. I was never really tempted to try any of those "new" flavors that have sprung up recently, like Vanilla. Toothpaste should be minty! Or at least, that's what I thought before trying GoSMILE's Lemonade Smile. When I was in NYC recently, I forgot to pack my toothbrush and toothpaste and (believe it or not) our hotel was out of them. Which is kind of against the hotel rules, but whatever. It had a pool in the lobby with a bar in it, so all was forgiven by the end of my stay. Being too lazy to go back out at midnight after a long flight, I did that whole brush-your-teeth-with-your-fingers-and-mouthwash thing, but it left my mouth tasting kinda funky. So the next day when I was given a sample of Lemonade Smile, I was about as happy as you'll ever see me over toothpaste. Still, I was prepared to hate it because of my previously mentioned bias against non-minty flavors. Here's the thing - if it tasted super strong, like sucking on a lemon, I probably would've. But it's nothing like that - it's a fresh taste with just a hint of lemon (which comes from lemon extract and essential oils of lemon), so it's actually really pleasant. Add this to the pile of products I never would've bought on my own, but will continue to buy now. (Although at $16 for 3.5 ounces, it is WAY more expensive than Crest). It also comes with whitening protection, and as a bonus, GoSMILE will donate 5% of sales to Autism Speaks. That alone should motivate you to try it. Hey, now that I'm thinking outside of the box toothpaste-wise, who votes that I try Ginger Cookie next?

Photo courtesy of GoSMILE