Spend or Skip? Oralgen NuPearl 32X Teeth-Whitening Kit
I’ve written before about why I believe everyone 40+ should whiten her teeth at least once a year—and I shared some of my favorite express whitening options. However, speedy options typically don’t come without some compromises: They may not get you quite as white as formulas that take one to two weeks to work. And they can increase teeth-sensitivity because of the accelerated whitening process.
Thus, because a number of you wrote to me and said you can’t/won’t whiten because of sensitivity, I decided to test-drive Oralgen's new 32X kit because it boasts significant whitening (up to eight shades) sans the ouch factor. It does take about a week to get max results, but I can wear it for as little as ten minutes, once a day, which I plan to do while checking emails or watching Hulu (The Handmaid’s Tale, natch). Note: The Oralgen whitening device looks like an adult pacifier—and it lights up (to activate the whitening gel), bathing your face in a blue LED-light glow. So, wearing for carpool duty (or really anywhere in public) is probably a no.
Angie Everhart, longtime model (and fellow Midwesterner; she grew up in Ohio), is the face of Oralgen's new 32x Whitening Kit for Sensitive Teeth.
Other reasons I was drawn to Oralgen: It is made with food-grade ingredients and claims to be less chemical-laden than other options. Model Angie Everhart, 48, (she, of the gorgeous red mane) signed on to be the face of this product and told me that, as a (thyroid) cancer-survivor, she felt more comfortable using Oralgen’s formula than she did using most other options. In her words: “After facing cancer, my view of the beauty products I use shifted. I now try to use only non-toxic, natural products with minimal chemicals.”
Angie also said she’s experienced no sensitivity using the kit and tries to repeat the whitening process every thirty to sixty days. That’s a bit high maintenance for me, but, if I like the results, I may commit to once (maybe twice) a year. Check back in about a week to see how it went (and, yes, I'll include before/after photos).
Interested in checking out the product in advance—or testing along with me? It’s sold on Evine (that's a home shopping network akin to HSN or QVC). If you choose to pick up one of your own, just be sure to use the code Oralgen20, which gives new Evine customers 20 percent off your purchase.
Tip: For those of you who are fine with subtler results (or just can't spare ten to twenty minutes a day to wear the NuPearl whitening device), Oralgen does also make a charcoal-based brightening toothpaste that contains no peroxide, but whitens as well as (maybe better than) traditional whitening toothpastes I've tried. One caveat: The paste is BLACK, which takes some getting used to. You can also just heed the old makeup-artist trick and swipe on a blue-based lip color like a berry, soft pink or deep plum to make your teeth appear whiter. I like Fresh Sugar Tinted Lip Treatment in Passion, and Angie told me her go-to is Revlon Toast of New York.
