Review | Crest 3D advanced Professional Effects Whitening Strips

I  have wanted to whiten my teeth for quite some time as I've always felt that my teeth were slightly discoloured and much more 'yellow' compared to other peoples teeth. I had tried whitening toothpastes and even had a go at the whole DIY teeth whitening paste using bicarb soda and lemon, but never really noticed much of a difference. I've never had braces and even though my teeth are in no means particularly crooked, in a world where pretty much everyone these days has perfectly straight teeth, I thought whitening my teeth would be a great confidence boost and a way to make me feel good about my gnashes.

With not much on the Australian market in terms of teeth whitening products and not really having much of a clue as to what brand I should go for, I did what most people do and turned to the internet to figure out what would be the best product for me. The overwhelming consensus seemed to be that the Crest whitening strips is the top dog as far as at home whitening treatments go, and after reading up on a few good reviews I was up for giving it a go. Because Australia does not stock Crest products being an American brand, I had to order mine online. I bought my crest strips from crestwhitestripsaustralia.com, which I highly recomend as an authentic seller, that provides excellent service, fast shipping ( I received mine after about 3 days) and the pricing is really reasonable (I paid around $70). It is really important that you buy Crest products from a reputable seller as there are so many fakes that are sold online, so you have to be particularly careful on sites like ebay.

There are quite a few different varieties of crest whitestrips to chose from, so deciding on which to go for can be kinda confusing. The strips differ in strength and the length of the treatment, which give results accordingly. Naturally I wanted the the best results for the best value and was tossing up between the Professional Effects and the Advanced Vivid Effects strips, but I found good reviews on both and didn't really know the difference between the two. Finally I found THIS blog post which cleared up all my questions and suggest that you guys read too if you're considering using Crest stips, it's really detailed! Basically they are the exact same thing but because you get 6 more treatments in the Professional effects kit you get whiter results at the end the treatment, however if the Advanced Vivid kit came with the same amount of treatments you would get the same results...if that makes any sense?

The Professional effects is a 20 day treatment that comes with 20 upper and 20 lower strips. To apply the stips, stick the adhesive side which has the whitening bleach to your teeth and fold over the excess to the back of your teeth. Leave the strips on for 30 mins and simply peel them off. I personally didn't experience any sensitivity/ pain at all (which says a lot considering I have weak enamel) however if you do, you can just skip a day or so to let your teeth recover. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that they didn't leave any unpleasant taste in my mouth whatsoever! Everything about these strips tick my boxes and even though I was a bit skeptical at first, I am super impressed with the results! But I'll let you guys be the judge of my new pearly whites...

DIY | Easy Ripped knee Jeans

Distressed jeans have always been in fashion, however recently I have seen the 'ripped-at-the-knee' jean trend everywhere! It is the perfect transition piece for the cooler autumn months which creates an effortless look with a grungy edge. I had an old pair of black jeans lying around that I got from Big W for around $15 so I thought I would have a go at distressing them myself. I am really happy with the end results and I think everyone should give this a go if you have a pair of jeans that you never wear or even if you go to an op shop and pick up some really cheap jeans, you can diy them and achieve the exact same results as ripped jeans bought in store for a fraction of the price! This is a fun little project that literally takes 5 minutes to do and is sooo easy, so what are you waiting for?

||STEP 1||

Firstly you will need to try on your jeans and using the chalk mark out where you want the rips to go. I used a light coloured chalk because it is really easy to see on the black denim, draws on well and can easily wash out if you make a mistake. However if you don't have any chalk handy you could use a fabric pencil or marker. Where you choose to make the rips is completely up to you, but I found making my rips mid-knee worked really well to achieve the ripped knee look.

||STEP 2||

 Next take off your jeans, and if you used chalk be careful when removing them so you don't smudge your marks. Then pinch up the fabric where you want to make your rips making sure that the front and back sides of the jeans are separate so you don't end up cutting a hole on both sides of the jeans. Make a small snip where you have made the mark. I used scissors that were slightly blunt rather than sharp scissors to avoid a super clean and perfectly straight cut.

||STEP 3||

 Once you have made the first incision you can slide your scissors in the hole to follow the mark you made. My rips ended about 1.5-2 cms from the side seams.

||STEP 4||

In order to distress the rips you have just made, pull and tug at the loose threads around the edges of the rips. You can also use the scissors to make tiny snips around the edges or use the small bumpy side of a grater and grate around the rips to further distress the jeans or if you find that your cuts ended up too clean. However I found just using my fingers worked fine.

||STEP 5||

 Next I put the jeans back on and bent my knees to rip the slits even more, over time the rips may open up more and become more distressed, but it's all good as a little wear and tear is all a part of the look! Finally put them through the washing machine to get rid of any chalk marks that might still be on the jeans and this also helps to fray the rips even more.

||FINISHED||

  Good Luck 

xx 

Review | Revlon Matte Balms

L-R: Unapologetic, Audacious

The Revlon ColorBurst matte balms and lacquer balms have been on the shelves for a couple of months now, so yes I know, I'm a little late on the band wagon but to be fair every time I went looking for them all of the shades were completely sold out! So it was happy days when I finally got my hands on these two gorgeous matte shades in 'Audacious' and 'Unapologetic'. I didn't really bother with the lacquer balms because I not a big fan of glossy lips so I thought I would just give them a miss.

If you don't know what they are ( firstly have you been living under a rock?) they are a the two new additions to the ColorBurst range, similar to the ever so popular Kissable  Balm Stains. The matte balms have the same creamy formula, yet has a matte finish and is much more opaque then the Balm Stains. They also have the same minty scent and a slight tingling feeling when first applied to the lips. The packaging resembles a crayon stick with a tapered nib, which allows for precise application and also has a retractable bottom that screws up more product when needed. 

Overall these matte balms are absolute winners for me, the colour pay off is excellent and are pretty true to colour however 'Unapologetic' is a true bright pink yet looks it would be slightly more coral on the packaging. The longevity is also really good lasting about 4 hours before it begins to fade. I also love the fact that it doesn't sit the cracks of my lips, and being a matte finish, I would say that's pretty damn good! Although the formula of these balms aren't as matte as some of my other matte lipsticks, it stays smooth and velvety on the lip for a lot longer and doesn't dry them out either. I would highly recommend this lip product if your a matte lip lover like me, as I think they are the perfect addition to every lipstick collection and they come in nine different shades so I'm sure there will be at least one to suit everyone!