Spotlight Oral Care teeth whitening system
Buy now £39.95, Beautybay.com
- Steps: Strips and toothpaste
- Duration: 14 days
- Active ingredients: Hydrogen peroxide and fluoride
- Rating: 9/10
Most at-home teeth whitening options come in the form of strips or toothpaste, but this kit offers both. Inside the minimalist, Instagram-friendly packaging you’ll find 14 days worth of strips and 100ml of toothpaste.
Both couldn’t be easier to use. We followed the recommended order, first applying the strips to dry teeth for an hour each evening before using the toothpaste in our usual nighttime routine.
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We were dubious about the strips at first, just because we expected them to feel sticky or uncomfortable in your mouth for such a long period of time. They took some adjustment, but it became easier and easier to forget you’re even wearing them as the days go by. Although they left a bit of residue, this was easily scrubbed off by the toothpaste.
As we were fully prepared to wait two weeks to see the results – if there were any results – you can imagine our surprise when, on day two, a friend noted that our smile looked brighter than usual. After a solid 15 minutes of examining our teeth in the mirror that evening, we noticed that they did in fact look like they’d lightened slightly.
It didn’t stop there. By the end of the fortnight, there was a definite improvement. Our tester’s canine teeth have always been a bit more discoloured than the rest, but the difference was far less obvious after using this kit. In fact, all of our teeth looked lighter than usual. Thanks to the toothpaste, we also felt like our teeth were fresher and cleaner than after using our usual go-go. Also, as it contains fluoride, it’s just as efficient at protecting your teeth as it is whitening them.
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Of course, the results were never going to be as dramatic as after a professional whitening, but we were very impressed by what such a low percentage of hydrogen peroxide could achieve. There was no increase in sensitivity afterwards either, which was a big worry. While these kits often leave you vulnerable to very hot or cold foods and drinks, our tester’s already very sensitive teeth had no trouble with either after a full fortnight of using this kit.
The results were our priority, but there are a few other nice touches that boost this kit’s reputation in our eyes. It’s all vegan and cruelty-free, and you get a handy bag in case you ever wanted to whiten your teeth on the move.
The verdict: Spotlight Oral Care teeth whitening system
We’re usually pretty sceptical of at-home versions of beauty treatments, but this kit from Spotlight Oral Care was a happy surprise. At a fraction of the cost of a professional whitening service, it lifted the discolouration on our teeth more than we expected. And that was just after one 14 day round of strips – we can only imagine how much better the results would be with repeated use. For now, however, we’re content with brighter pearly whites.