Pearly Whites

I believe most girls, whether secretly or openly, want pearly whites. And I recently bought bright red lipstick, and just letting you know, that is not a flattering color when your teeth happen to be a little less than snow-white… So when I saw we had run out of the Crest whiteners, I slightly freaked out. Instead of waiting until the next time we went to the store, I took matters into my own hands and looked up a natural way of whitening my teeth.

Sidenote: Personally, I’m sick of the chemical route of whitening my teeth, since it always results in me barely being able to breathe because my gums are that sensitive afterwards. And when I accidentally and inevitably swallow while the whitening strips are in, it burns my throat terribly. Surely that isn’t healthy… Alright, I’m down from my pulpit. ;)

In my search, I found this somewhat delicious and, I believe, darling way of whitening your teeth. (Yes, I just used the word darling to describe whitening teeth…) It’s a fast, cheap, easy and natural way of whitening teeth.
What you shall need:
~3 ripe strawberries (the real recipe calls for 3 to 6 strawberries. I used 4 and had an overabundance of puree…How big do they think our teeth are?! Sheesh…)

~ A blender

~ A bowl

~ Baking soda

~ Cream of tartar

~ Water

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Puree 3 ripe strawberries in a blender then place in a small bowl.

2. Apply puree to your teeth with a toothbrush or a cosmetic brush. The puree should be painted on rather than brushed on. (personally I think they only said paint it on because it makes it seem more artsy and fun sounding.)

3. Make a mixture of 1 tsp. of baking soda, 1 tsp. of cream of tartar, and 1 cup of water. Swish the mixture around in your mouth and then spit it out.

4. Brush your teeth with 1 tsp. of baking soda on a toothbrush.

5. Rinse thoroughly with cold water.

Then it came with a wonderful WARNING sign that always worries you and makes you wonder how safe it really was….

WARNING: Brush your teeth well after each strawberry treatment. The whitening ingredient- malic acid- in the strawberries along with the sugar can cause cavities if left on for too long. Limit the treatment to once per week. (So watch out.)
While doing this, I was slap happy because of the beautiful color the pureed strawberries were, and it was fairly fun “painting” my teeth with strawberries, and my teeth really were whiter afterwards.

I have a few extra warnings for you.

Be prepared about the mixture of cream of tartar and baking soda…it scared me nearly half to death when it began to fizz like some science experiment. I really questioned how safe this whitening endeavor was. But I plowed ahead and I made it out alright.

Be sure you shut your mouth when you’re brushing your teeth with the baking soda. Slobber goes everywhere. You can thank me in advance because no one warned me, so you can imagine how unglamorous THAT was.

Baking soda tastes a lot worse then you think it will. For reals.

And my last warning: you might consider setting aside the rest of that strawberry puree and saving it for after brushing your teeth with that baking soda. Helps to get rid of that horrid taste if you eat some, or so I thought. And who could resist such pink loveliness that tastes good! ;)
After all said and done, I found this to be an effective and unique way of whitening your teeth and thought it would be fun to share.