This was a gifted treatment, but the review of the treatment is completely unbiased.
Teeth whitening has always been something on my (endless) list of beauty treatments I'd love to try.
Let's face it - is there anything better than feeling fully confident in your smile? While I wouldn't say it's necessarily life-changing, whiter, brighter teeth can do wonders for your self-confidence.
Recently, I was sent along to try a teeth whitening treatment in The White House who have just opened up in Brown Thomas, Dublin.
While I definitely enjoyed the experience, I certainly learned a LOT along the way and today, I'm telling you everything you need to know before you splurge on your smile.
Before.
Starting with the basics: to book my appointment, I simply used their online booking system. I chose my treatment, (Full Advanced Teeth Whitening treatment) picked a date and time that suited me and hey presto, I was good to go.
Something that really stood out to me was the fact that The White House offer evening appointments during some days of the week, meaning I didn't have to sacrifice an hour of my Saturday - I could just pop in after work.
The only preparation you really need to do before your appointment is to brush your teeth - it's an obvious one but needless to say, a super important part of your prep.
As well as that, from personal experience, I would advise that you have a "last supper" of sorts. After you get your teeth whitened you can only have some foods - mainly plain white foods like chicken breast, white bread, bananas, etc, for 24 hours after your appointment. That means no tea, coffee, green tea, chamomile tea (yes, I asked) as all of these have the capability to stain your freshly whitened teeth. (The White House have a really handy pre and post appointment section with all of this information as well as a list of what you can and can't eat here). So make sure you eat well before the treatment and have a big cup of the beverage of your choice to curb any cravings for the rest of the day.
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The appointment.
When I walked into the White House, I was greeted by two lovely consultants who made me feel so at ease. I was then led into one of two treatment rooms and was asked to fill out a form with my details.
Afterwards, my consultant explained exactly how the appointment was going to work. First, she had a look at my teeth and decided what shade they were already. She then told me that their treatment allows for your teeth to go up to six shades whiter, and showed me what that would look like for me using a scale. Once I was happy to go ahead, the consultant popped a retractor into my mouth and applied a gel. Then, she gave me some sunglasses to put on and brought the laser up to my face and, perhaps most importantly, gave me the remote that controlled a television in the corner. I sat back, turned on Friends and relaxed (well, as much as you can relax with a retractor in your mouth).
The treatment lasted 45 minutes in total but this was broken down into blocks of 15 minutes. Once the 15 minutes were up, the consultant came back in, reapplied the gel and gloriously, removed the retractor for a couple of precious moments.
All in all, the treatment flew in, was completely pain-free and was actually quite relaxing. It sounds silly and I wouldn't have believed someone if they told me this before, but with your feet up and the TV in front of you, you do kind of forget where you are for a little while.
After.
OK, I'm not going to lie. I absolutely adored my bright shiny teeth - but I suffered. I really struggled with having no caffeine for the 24 hours after the appointment, to the point where I got a thumping headache while working the next day. Not good. So, I would recommend making sure you don't have to get up early and work a full day after getting this treatment if you're quite caffeine-dependent.
As well as this, I wasn't very prepared for the whole "white food only" thing. I definitely should have brought in a packed lunch, but my sleepy caffeine-free brain simply forgot, leaving me with very little options for lunch (unless a plain bread roll is your thing).
Bottom line - be prepared.
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All in all, I would definitely recommend this treatment to anyone and I was really happy with the result. My teeth were definitely whiter and The White House use a very low level of peroxide, so you don't have to worry about extreme teeth sensitivity or damage. They also offer aftercare kits complete with professional whitening toothpaste and at-home top-up treatments that extend your new smile.
