I’m going to be really honest with you. I had a hard time getting excited about this product. Maybe it’s because I don’t use teeth whitening strips as often as I chew gum, but I just wasn’t motivated to share my thoughts about this product.
Two important things to know:
1) I am a Buzz Agent for Listerine Whitening Strips, which means they send me free product so that I will try it and tell you about it.
2) The only whitening strips I had used previously were Crest samples from my dentist. Those are stronger than what is available in stores, so this wasn’t really a fair comparison (prescription strength vs. regular strength). But hey, it’s what I had.
The Good:
The main selling point of Listerine Whitening Strips seems to be their ability to dissolve in your mouth. That worked fairly well. It was kinda weird at first….after 10 or 15 minutes, I had bits of the strips left on my teeth, and that felt strange. Everything had dissolved after 20 minutes, which makes this a good product for someone who wants to whiten on their morning commute. (In case you don’t know, most whitening strips must be peeled off after the allotted time increment.)
The other selling point is that the strips taste good and help freshen your breath. The strips certainly tasted better than the prescription-strength Crest strips. The Crest strips tasted like peroxide and made me feel like I was foaming at the mouth. The Listerine strips hid most of the peroxide-taste with a nice, minty flavor, and my mouth felt slightly less foamy (still a little bit, though).
The Bad:
So, the commercials for these strips talk about how they are almost invisible when they are on your teeth. I wouldn’t go quite that far — you can see a thin film when you have the strips on — but here’s the kicker. The strips are almost invisible in the package. When I opened the first package, I thought the strip had been left out somehow, so I threw it away. When I didn’t see one in the second package, I started feeling around for it like I was searching for a contact lens. I found it, but I wrinkled the strip so much trying to grab it that it was unusable. I appreciate Listerine trying to make their whitening strips “prettier,” but I don’t care how pretty a strip is if I can’t get it out of the package.
Did They Work?
Once I got the strips out of the packaging, they did seem to whiten my teeth some. I didn’t see the immediate results I noticed with the prescription-strength Crest Whitening Strips, but I did feel like there was a small difference even after my first try with the Listerine strips. I imagine that someone who did the full regime would notice a nice difference in teeth coloration. (No promises, though!)
Free Stuff!
Four Beyond the Fried readers get to try Listerine Whitening Strips for themselves. The first four people to leave comments will get a few sample strips plus a coupon.
Cool. I’ll try it.
Does it make you gag when you have them in your mouth? I gag over small things like jello, so I’m always a little leery.
But white teeth are purty. 🙂
pls pls pls. My over 40 teeth need it. thx. 🙂
‘Coma — Yes, there may be a small amount of gagging involved.
Okay, two more people can try the whitening strips if they comment. However, I’m going to end the giveaway at midnight on Wednesday, December 12. Comment by then or you don’t get anything!
Thank you for the review. I just saw an online commercial for them, and was interested. Your blog was first to pop up in google search.
I found the Crest white strips to be effective but I hated how slippery they were on my teeth, and the taste was pretty awful as well.
I would definitely be willing to give these a try! Thanks!
Don and Katelin, if you want me to send you samples, e-mail me at clarasax[at]hotmail[dot]com with your mailing address. Thanks!
are there still more free samples available? i would love to try them!!
I tried these…the smell was terrible and after 3 minutes of having it in, I felt like I was going to be sick. They’re disgusting. I wouldn’t reccomend them unless you really REALLY want whiter teeth more than you want to feel sick.
Um, I only tried this once so far, and the info u are given on how to put it on ur mouth is kinda vague and confusing. It’d be best if there was a video. Cuz I kinda ended up trying to put it on, then trying to move it elsewhere. What happens is most of the products tears and sticks to ur fingers where u gotta wash off. Also do they tell u that it doesn’t matter which side must be toucing the teeth? I really don’t know. Also what’s up with those tabs and having to put it the proper way.