*This post is sponsored by Smile Brilliant! All opinions are my own. 

I’ve noticed over the years that my teeth haven’t been as white as I’d like them to be. Perhaps it’s the red wine and coffee? (#nevergivingthemup), but I notice it the most in pictures. I also have the dubious distinction of having to have had braces TWICE, once in adulthood, so I really would like to straightened teeth of mine to look DARN GOOD. And white! Blinding white! Celebrity white! All the white!

Ha.

But, I also have really sensitive teeth. As in I need a numbing gel to get my teeth cleaned at the dentist, I use sensitive toothpaste, and would die before biting into something really cold. And should I mention I don’t have the time or money needed for in office procedures?

 

Enter Smile Brilliant. I was totally intrigued by the idea that I would have custom-fitted trays that I could do at home ( I mean, I can barely schedule regular dentist appointments, much less go…) And I’m also a sucker for teeth whitening reviews….

Here’s how it works:

1)You get the kit and mix two types of molding putty together and squish it into your mouth with the trays they send you. It takes a couple of minutes and isn’t messy or gooey. You then send them in with a prepaid package.

2) You’ll then get your custom fitted trays back and you can begin whitening! You’ll get two types of syringe cartridges: one is the whitening gel and the other is the sensitivity gel you use after. A little goes a long way. You can start with using the whitening trays for anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours. I would start at the smallest amount and go up as need. I find 1 hour is good for me, as more time makes my teeth really sensitive for a day or so after, and I see good results after the hour. I also have done every other day when I need to when beginning, but you can do what you want time wise depending on what you have going on.

3) I typically whiten my teeth after I put my kids to bed and I am done eating. I clean my teeth and put the trays in and read. When my time is up I rinse the trays and then do the sensitivity gel for another 30 minutes. Again, you may feel sensitivity based on how your own teeth are. I can’t do more than an hour at a time, but you may be able to handle the 3 hours. This is a trial and error kind of thing! I tried more time and my teeth ached a bit after, then I tried less time and they were fine.

Now for the results! I saw results after a couple of uses, and got compliments after 3 uses. Which lets you know it is working! I typically use my custom-fitted trays about once a week now, and sometimes I miss a week, but I find the results stay. I also like that it is up to you how white you want to go. You use your own discretion about how much you want to use it and how white you want to be. (Also, can teeth be too white? Lol.)

Now for the giveaway! It will be open for a week and is eligible for U.S. residents only.

 

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How Much Is Teeth Whitening

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This month I decided that every night before I went to bed that I would write ten things I was grateful for. And honestly? It’s been easy. Sometimes its small things, like the color of new leaves against a blue sky, or a good nap in the middle of the day. Often the smallest things are something to be grateful for, and I’m really enjoying taking the time to think about them throughout the day and storing them in my mind for later.

It’s easy to be grateful when things are going well, right? When life is cruising by and we are all healthy and happy. But what happens when things aren’t awesome? When people get sick and die, or children you know are diagnosed with horrifying ailments? I’ve known so many people who have lived through the unlivable and still get up each day and soldier on. These people are my heroes.

If you know me personally, you might have seen that we had to let our cat go on Monday. It was really hard to make that decision for her and on that morning I woke up dreading the day. She’s been our fur baby for fourteen years and despite the fact that she was ill and not doing well, we cherished her. Watching her die was so, so hard for me. The second the vet said, “her heart has stopped,” I just lost it. The finality of it was horrible. I’ve been heartbroken for days and I didn’t expect it to hit me this hard. I knew I loved her and knew this was the right thing to do, but the emptiness she left behind is palpable. My heart is broken.

But you know what? That night, laying in bed and making my list of ten things I saw the magic in it all. Some of the things I was grateful for:

Being able to pet her and lay my head next to her while she passed, telling her I loved her.

Getting texts from my mom all that morning and right after letting me know she was there for me.

Receiving a poem via text from a friend that made me smile (have you read the “rainbow bridge?”)

A picture my daughter drew for me at school about the cat going to heaven.

The stuffed kitty my son let me sleep with “so I wouldn’t get lonely”

I came up with ten things I could be grateful and happy about, even on a really hard and emotional day. It was actually easy to come up with them, too. So many ways I could think of how blessed I am and I believe, truly, that there is something to be grateful for no matter what. Even on dark days there is something beautiful to be grateful for.

I’ve always been a big believer in being positive and knowing that I am lucky to have what I have because there is always someone who would be thrilled to be in my shoes. I think knowing this and living it really cements the fact that if you have a grateful heart, good things will come to you.

Tell me, would you write down ten things to be grateful for each day for a month?

 

St Tropez on left//Tanwise on right

I’ve been a big fan of one sunless tanner for a couple of years now, and even wrote a post (that is one of my most viewed posts EVER about it.) SO, I haven’t had to experiment much with tanners since then. Which is good! But then I kept hearing about the wonders of St Tropez and decided that I would be a human tanner guinea pig FOR YOU GUYS (ha ha ha), and try them both out and compare. I’ll do some pros and cons for you to compare.

(Note: I applied both with the same tanning mitt I buy generically at Ulta, after showering and buffing with a loofah and body polish.)

St. Tropez Express Foam before & after

St. Tropez Sunless Tanner Express Foam

Pros:

Goes on easily and dries QUICK!

-After the initial chemical smell, it does not smell as it develops. You could easily put this on and get dressed and enjoy your day.

-After you apply it you can still go out. It isn’t streaky as it is applied, and you just look tan right away. I would just stay away from water or rain or sweat as the bronzer will wipe away.

-I find the tan to be a perfect color. It also can be lighter or darker depending on how long you leave in on before showering. It is okay to rinse off after 3 hours, whcih is pretty fast for a self tanner.

-Does not transfer to clothes.

Cons:

-Honestly? The only con is that it is more expensive, but in my opinion it is worth the splurge.

 

Tanwise lotion before & after

Tanwise Tanning lotion (I used to use the foam, but the bottle kept malfunctioning, so then I switched to the lotion.)

Pros:

-It smells REALLY good when you initially put it on.

-It is inexpensive and you can get it on Amazon or at Sally Beauty Supply.

-There is very little streaking and I have only seen bad results once (most likely user error on my part!)

-The color is really pretty and realistic.

-The color lasts about 5 days before fading. Fades well, though!

Cons:

-Once it is on it starts to smell very bad, just like self tanners do. It transfers to clothes and I don’t feel like I can leave the house after I apply it. I typically apply after I go to the gym, put on sweatpants, and don’t leave the house till I shower it off that night.

-It doesn’t look good after you apply it until you wash the bronzer off. Very dark and streaky and obvious (though it looks good after a shower!)

-The color can be darker than I want sometimes, and it can make my feet and legs really dark (even with lotion application and a light hand.

Results! You guys, I hate to do this (because I love when the cheaper version wins!), but the St. Tropez Express Tanning Foam is just amazing. The tan it gives is just GORGEOUS. It is quicker and easier to use, and you can put it on and just go (which is more convenient for most people, including myself.)  I still recommend Tanwise, it is a great product for the price and I don’t have a lot of complaints about it. BUT. St. Tropez is better if you can swing the price.

Left/Before starting BBG, Right/ After approx week 32 of BBG

I get a lot of questions about my fitness routine and when I do different parts of it, so I figured I’d do that here for you! I am about to start my 34th week of BBG (2 weeks short of my third full round!), and I am so happy with what I’m doing. I’ve seen some big changes physically in the time I’ve been doing this program, and feel even better on the inside. Self confidence and KNOWING that you can do anything you put your mind to is everything. I’m 36 years old, I have two kids, and I’m in the best shape of my life. If I can do it, you can do it, I promise.

Here we go!

Monday (28 minute circuit, plus 10 minutes of a treadmill warmup and 10 minutes of stretching after): I do BBG legs on this day and it is often the hardest day of the week for me. I add weights to anything I can and recently started using ankle weights on top of that to make it harder. I typically limp out of the gym that day and I am sore for 2-3 days after.

Tuesday (40 minutes cardio, 10 minutes stretching): This is the lone “cardio only” day I do. I go back and forth between a brisk walk on the treadmill at a fairly steep incline, OR I do the stair climber. If I do the stair climber I do 5 minutes walking up regular, 5 minutes walking up sideways on the right, 5 minutes walking up sideways on the left, 5 minutes skipping a step, and then I repeat until I’ve done 40 minutes. I do this at a  6-7 pace. I listen to podcasts during my steady state cardio and it makes it a little less boring;)

Wednesday (28 minute circuit with 10 minute treadmill warmup and 10 minutes of stretching after): I do BBG arms on this day and again, add ankle weights to make it harder. This day tends to be the biggest struggle for me as there are a ton of push ups and it really wears me out! I am shaking when I’m done.

Thursday (28 minute circuit with 5 minutes of a treadmill warmup and 10-15 minute HITT warmup after): I do BBG abs and then I finish up with a HITT workout, as the ab workout doesn’t totally exhaust me as the other days do! My HITT workout varies depending on my mood that day. I either do 30 second intervals of running up double steps at a 16 on the stairmaster, followed by 30 seconds of walking at a  slow pace (5) to recover (for 10-15 minutes total); OR, I do sprinting intervals on the treadmill at 30 seconds running full-out and 30 seconds where I jump on the side rials and rest for 30 seconds.

Friday (28 minute circuit, with a 10 minute treadmill warmup and stretching after): I do BBG full body and then really stretch after. Every once and awhile if I’m felling it I will do another HITT workout, but I am usually pretty tired by then, lol.

Notes: I am working on varying my warm ups, either with jumping rope or the rower machine. I am also looking into more varied HITT workouts, but for now this is my routine! I take the weekends to rest and I count my macros for my eating plan.

Thats’s it! Tell me, what HITT routines do you like that you’d recommend? Help a sister out!