It’s no secret that us mamas live on caffeine to get us through the day, but it’s starting to show in our smiles…
RiRi may shine bright like a diamond, but I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I do. I’m talking about my pearly whites, of course, those ivories that only get tinkled with endless cups of tea and coffee in the office. Which, over time, have stained and stained and stained some more. Was it time to get the professionals in for a spot of teeth whitening? You betcha, and so I headed over to The Smile Bar in Wan Chai.
Director of Operations and SmileTender Julien greeted me at the pristine sanctuary one morning and went through the whole process from beginning to end, putting me at complete ease throughout. See, I’d never had my teeth whitened before, and as I’m sure many others can attest to, a visit to the dentist is never the one – the overbearing lights, the sound of the drill, the taste of medicinal mouthwash. Why would I put myself through all that? Just no.
All that was completely different at The Smile Bar. Sure, there were bright lights (how else was Julien going to take a look at my gnashers properly?) and only five minutes of a funky taste in my mouth at the end (ahem), but it was a completely comfortable experience and definitely one I’d go for again.
What happens? Well, Julien will consult with you and run a check using the shade guide to first see what number you’re at. I was at 26. Not great, but not bad. Those complimentary coffees at our gorgeous Garage Society space have been catching up with me.
With a completely safe gel from Sweden, the process goes a little something like this: brush your teeth, rinse with a mouthwash and put on a bib as if you’re eating lobster. After that, Julien will line a mouth guard with the whitening gel (that’s 100% safe and won’t affect your teeth, enamel and gum in any way), have you bite down on it and hook it up to an LED light so it can work its magic.
A swish of Vaseline around your lips, and you’re good to go for one 20-minute session. I settled into one of the egg chairs with some Bose headphones that Julien handed me when I sat down and browsed Spotify on my phone. And of course, took a number of selfies to document how ridiculously stylish I looked at that moment. I flat out refuse to share any of those pictures with the world, but if you bribe any of my friends, you might get lucky.
After two rounds of 20 minute sessions, I rinsed the excess gel out and consulted with Julien again on how my shade had improved. My colour had improved by four shades, which was awesome. If you want to see a huge difference in your result, you can opt to do it a third time to get your choppers looking even whiter, but I chose to leave it at that. I’d rather my smile looked natural than as if I’d been at my teeth with tippex…
You can’t put a price on a stunning smile, so I know you’ll love the reasonable prices at The Smile Bar. A single whitening (20 minutes) is $588, a double whitening (2 x 20 minutes) is $988 and a triple whitening (3 x 20 minutes) is $1,388. You can also buy a yearly package (12 x 20 minutes) for $4,888. The Nano Seal is an additional $250.
You know we scour around town to find you only the best, Sassy Mamas. So The Smile Bar is pleased to offer 15% off all treatments until Saturday, 30 April, 2016. Simply mention that you’re a Sassy Mama reader at the time of booking. Appointments are subject to availability.
The Smile Bar, 1/F, Hang Wai Commercial Building, 231-233 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, 2620 0615, [email protected], www.the-smile-bar.com