Rio Beauty smile white advanced teeth whitening
Buy now £39.99, Lookfantastic.com
- Steps: Apply once daily for 15 mins
- Duration: 20 days
- Rating: 7.5/10
Everything in this kit looks very clinical. Each contains an LED blue light mouthpiece, which is powered by USB, or even an iPhone or Android phone port. After applying the pre-treatment spray, you just coat the tray in gel and pop it in for 15 minutes.
A lot of whitening gels have an unpleasantly strong minty taste, but this was an exception and had no particular flavour. While it leaves a bit of sticky residue afterwards, you just rinse and continue with your evening as usual.
That was the easy part. While 15 minutes is a very short amount of time spent whitening compared to other kits, we felt every last second. The mouthpiece is one of the least comfortable we’ve ever used. It’s rough on your gums, and also didn’t quite reach the gumline on our top teeth. We struggled to keep it in our mouth at times and had to hold it in. You can grin and bear it, but it really isn’t the most pleasant experience.
Read more: Can Pro Teeth Whitening Co’s charcoal strips brighten your smile?
However, we were motivated to keep it up when we noticed improvement after the first 15-minute session. Stains lifted slightly across our front teeth, especially at the top. We expected a similar change with each subsequent evening, but it took about a week after the first to see more improvement.
Each kit contains enough gel for 20 sessions, and we were impressed with how far our teeth came in this time. There was still some mild discolouration, but it definitely lifted the worst of the staining. Although we wouldn’t go so far as to say they were 5.4 shades lighter – as Rio Beauty claims the best results can be – the colour was a lot more consistent than before across both rows of teeth.
The only thing we weren’t entirely sold on was the necessity of the pre-treatment spray, as we ran out after 14 days and didn’t see any major difference when we went without. We also felt like we were stretching the gel a bit thin by the end, so could have done with more of that too.
Also, we’ll admit that we were worried about increased sensitivity, as the blue light does look alarmingly harsh. However, even after the full course of treatment, there was no change in sensitivity either way.
The verdict: Rio Beauty smile white advanced teeth whitening
Now that we know it’s possible to whiten your teeth in just 15 minutes per day, we can’t imagine ever going back to sitting down for a full 30 minutes of whitening trays or strips. It may not be the most comfortable method in the world, but it’s bearable and gets the job done within 20 days.
It’s important to be realistic about the results. Without a professional, you can’t get a blinding white Hollywood smile. What this kit will do, however, is lift those painfully obvious surface-level discolouration caused by food and drink. Expect reduced staining, no sensitivity, and a quick confidence boost.