As you may or may not recall, I am a double bridesmaid this summer, starting in an alarmingly close ten days with wedding #1. Which led me to the decision that it was time to break out the Whitestrips again. Because wedding photos last forever.
I would say I'm fairly brand-loyal to Crest, but to be honest, I didn't even know anyone else made Whitestrips until my field trip to Ulta the other day after I used the last of my Crest strips. I was just figuring on a refill. But as it turns out, those Crest strips are more expensive than I remember. I think it may be because of their increased extra-strength formula. Which is inconveniently now all they offer. (Don't you hate when companies do that? They come out with some new advanced product but stop selling the cheaper version that worked just fine. Makeup companies do that a lot.) So I'm sitting there looking at a package of 20 strips that cost $30, and sitting next to it, a box of 56 strips that cost $20, by Listerine. I have tried Listerine whitening mouthwash, and in that arena I am brand-loyal to Crest (Theirs works way better.), so I was a little skeptical about the white strips. But being as broke as I am, I can't make an argument against the cost-effectiveness. Nearly three times as many strips for $10 less. So I'm trying them. Even if they only work one-third as well, I have three times as many. Totally logical, right?
The thing about the Listerine version is they dissolve on your teeth. Kind of weird. But still, I was willing to give them a shot. I have only been using them for two days, but I kind of already wish I had splurged for the Crest version. I mean, it's not enough time for my teeth to have been whitened, so I may take that back. Maybe these just take some getting used to. But they claim to dissolve in "5-10 minutes". It actually takes about 25 minutes, during which time you can't eat or drink anything. And unfortunately, they don't completely dissolve at all. The pieces that end up between your teeth, just from pressing them on, get kind of stuck there, and then you have to pull them out. (Or swallow them, which is safe, since you're swallowing all the dissolved bits anyway.)
It's not all bad, though. It is kind of nice to just sit there and let it happen, not be checking the clock to see how long they've been on, or have to get up and rinse your mouth out from the gel of the Crest Whitestrips. And they have a minty flavor. (It says it's supposed to freshen your breath, but it's more like they taste nice while they're on your teeth, but afterwards, there's no effect.)
Of course, all of this, good and bad, makes no real difference compared to how well it turns out they whiten my teeth. Which, of course, only time will tell. And by time, I mean only ten short days. Yikes! But Operation Try Listerine is underway, for better or worse. We'll see how it goes!
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