| |
How you can look 10 years younger in an hour
Staring at my calendar as I finished my morning coffee,
I panicked. It was less than a month before my wedding. Suffering
from terrible hot flashes, weight gain and seriously cranky moods,
I was far from feeling young and beautiful for my “big day”. Despite
the joy of being a first-time bride at the age of 46, I was menopausal
and desperate to find a quick beauty solution. Feeling unattractive,
and tired from night sweats that guaranteed months of sleepless nights,
I had never felt so old. And I was looking like the Pillsbury Dough
Boy after recently gaining a whopping 17 menopausal pounds in less
than three months. It was apparent I was barely going to squeeze
into my size 10 wedding dress. This is supposed to be the happiest
time of my life, yet during my final gown fitting the salesgirl asked, “Are
you trying this dress on for your younger sister?” Horrified
at the confirmation that I really looked bad, I held back the tears
and said, “No I don’t have a younger sister, this is
my dress and my first wedding… don’t I look like a bride?” Then
salesgirl had the nerve to give me the phone number of a plastic
surgeon, grrrrr. How was I going to look younger without plastic
surgery, get the attention off my ever-growing waistline, and look
beautiful in less than a month?
A few days later, in the lobby of my bridal shower location, a beautiful, vibrant,
full-figured, healthy looking woman around my age caught my eye. Mystified,
I wondered what did she have, that I didn’t? I gazed intently, and
no doubt, rudely, at her for several minutes. After a moment of hating her, I
discovered the simple, quick solution to looking younger fast. What made this
woman stand out in the crowd was her amazing smile with those sensational sparkly
white teeth! Americans consume 400 million cups of coffee each day. And
I was guilty of drinking 3 cups a day. I was also guilty of enjoying red wine,
cola, tea, blue berries and an occasional cigar with my retired Air Force Dad.
By the time I hit my forties those wonderful treats had left lifelong stains
on my teeth as evidence of my heavenly indulgences. And terrifying proof
that the signs of age where becoming very visible.
Dashing home after my bridal shower, I started researching the secrets of a whiter
smile.
From magazine advertisements to on-line teeth whitening websites, I was pleasantly
surprised that there were so many options available on how to whiten your teeth.
The teeth whitening companies promise:
• Looking younger
• Looking more confident
• Looking healthier
• Feeling better
• And even looking more affluent
Count me in. I wanted all of the above. I was ready to try “Operation:
Look at My Teeth, Not My Butt”. But we know we can’t always
believe what the manufactures say, they just want to sell products. So
I started calling friends to find some personal testimonials on results, and
a process that would work for me.
Whitening Strips and Toothpaste
After a dozen phone calls my friend, Teri, confessed that she had
been using the teeth whitening strips and toothpaste. Because Teri is post
menopausal and has a new career as a High School teacher she wanted a bright
smile but didn’t want to spend a lot of money on the process. Teri told
me “there was no rush, so I decided to use the whitening strips and whitening
toothpaste to get rid of years coffee stains.” Her smile
looked good to me, and Teri said “once you get your teeth white in a few
weeks, it is just maintenance.”
Strips are flexible pieces of plastic (polyethylene) which have
been coated with a whitening solution of hydrogen peroxide. You place the strips
on your teeth like a piece of tape. The strips can be effective they are inexpensive,
and easy to use. Because, the bleaching ingredient is a lower dose than that
you would get from home kits or your dentist, the results of 2 to 3 shades lighter
can take a minimum of 7-14 days depending on the degree of stains on your teeth,
and the strength of the whitening solution (either 6% or 10% hydrogen peroxide).
The strips are applied twice a day for 30 minutes over a two-week period. As
we concluded our conversation Teri said, “The strips are easy to use”.
The prices range from $20.00-$40.00.
To order these easy-to-use teeth whitening strips, visit:
• www.amazon.com
Toothpaste with whitener can give good results, but after a
longer period of use. Using whitening toothpaste is easy, and it’s inexpensive.
This process takes the longest before seeing noticeable results, but is a good
place to start if time is not an issue, and money is. Most of the whitening toothpastes
promise results in two weeks, but the end result is not as noticeable as the
other systems. The upside to this process is you can remove surface stains
with repeated use, and every time you brush your teeth you fight off new stains. Prices
range from $4.00-$20.00.
Home Kits
The next day I was at lunch with my long-time friend Sara. I was
excited to tell her that I wanted to whiten my teeth before my wedding. She
immediately told me “ I used the Home Kit mouth
trays with whitening gel before my wedding!” Sara happily
admitted she was “thrilled with the results and felt good
about her smile for her wedding photographs”. Of course, as
any good bride would do, she kept this little beauty tip to herself
so all of us attending her wedding just thought she naturally had
a movie-star smile. Sara’s story confirmed that I was on the
right path to whitening my teeth.
Home Kits are another popular system for teeth
whitening. Results are promised in four days. The
kit comes with whitening gel, syringes that apply the gel,
a bleaching tray and protective case. The first step to getting
started is making an impression of your teeth.
top | next |
|
