It’s been a little while since I’ve talked about some favorite products on here, so today I thought I’d share what I have been loving recently. I’ve discovered some new to me products and also re-fallen in love with some products I already owned. Have you discovered anything good lately?

Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask in Smashed

After hearing so many talk about how amazing this is, I finally picked up my own while in Chicago last month. Since then, it hasn’t left my purse and gets applied almost every day. I love the slight red tinge because it wakes my lips up and enhances their natural color. This is the best lip moisturizer I’ve ever used, as it doesn’t contain petroleum!

Mac Extra Dimension Skinfinish in Superb

When I moved at the end of August, I went through my entire personal makeup collection and got rid of about 75% of it! I only kept things I knew I wanted to continue to use, which is when I rediscovered how much I love this Skinfinish as an every day blush and eyeshadow shade. It’s so easy to swipe on and gives you a nice sheen too, so you can totally skip the highlighter too on days when you’re in a rush!

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer Radiance

This product was sent to me by Influenster for free for reviewing purposes and I fell in love with it! It reminds me a lot of Loreals Glotion, except if it was a primer. I love using it for days when I don’t wear full coverage foundation because it makes my skin super glowy and healthy looking.

Kaja Beauty Moon Crystal Sparkling Eye Pigment in Rose Quartz

My best friend Margaret and I discovered this brand in a Sephora in Madison, Wisconsin in November and both picked up a few products from them. These Moon Crystal sparkling eye pigments are amazing as quick and easy eyeshadows for day to day use! I love the Rose Quartz shade because it’s super warm and reminds me of when I wear blush on my eyelids. I can’t wait to pick up more shades. The formula is easy to apply with your fingers and blend out. Then it sets well and lasts all day. I also love that it is the perfect amount of glitter for daily use; not too much.

Hydroflask 40 oz.

I’ve had my Hydroflask for awhile now, but I haven’t talked about it on the blog yet, so I figured I’d throw it in too. There is no greater feeling than waking up in the morning super thirsty and having ice still in your water bottle from the night before. I love the straw top because I drink more water with straws. I take this water bottle EVERYWHERE I go. The only thing I would warn you about is if you want yours to fit in your car’s cup holder, you may want the skinnier bottle shape. It doesn’t bother me because I put it on the passenger front seat when I’m driving.

Kitsch Spiral Hair ties 8 pk for Brunettes

These are my new favorite hair ties. I love how they simultaneously hold my hair in so tightly, yet don’t feel tight at all. They are tight enough from running which is a must for me too. I also love how comfortable they are when they are on your wrist. Bonus, my niece loves them so they are a great baby entertainer when you’re in a pinch! hahaha

Quip Rosegold Toothbrush

I have been using this toothbrush for over 6 months now and I LOVE it. I love that it’s a subscription, so every 3 months a new tube of toothpaste and a replacement head comes in the mail without me every having to think about picking them up from the store. I love the rose gold handle because it looks beautiful in the bathroom. Even though I sometimes feel like a kid, I secretly love that when you turn on the vibration, it does a special buzz every 30 seconds, and turns off when you’ve brushed for long enough. One less thing I have to think about!

Weleda Skin food Light

I received this as a birthday present from my friends last May and I have fallen in love with it. I will do an updated skincare routine soon because I’ve discovered some new products, but I wanted to let you know that if you have loved the Original Weleda Skin Food in the past, you have to try this one out too. I keep them both on hand and use whichever one is more necessary for my skin, that day. I will always keep both the Original and the Light on hand now because they mix well with other skincare products and are awesome on their own as well!

Have you discovered anything great lately? Let me know in a comment below!

Have a beautiful day,

Andrea

Disclosure: Amazon links are Amazon Affiliate links meaning that I make a small commission off the purchase of the product through my link. This does not affect the price of the product. I would never recommend a product that I didn't love and all opinions are my own. I am thankful for you choosing to purchase through my links, as it helps me create more content for Andrea Fontana Beauty.

Today I’m back with a post that I’m really excited to be sharing. There’s even something exciting for my readers at the end so make sure to read through!

As many of you know, I quit drinking coffee on a regular basis a few months ago. I have always loved my smile, but in the last few years I had noticed how my coffee habit was affecting the color of my teeth. I figured that since I’ve kicked the caffeine habit, now was the time to look into whitening my smile, as it would be easier to maintain without the daily coffee consumption.

It’s funny how life works, but after spending a little time researching at home teeth whitening, I opened my email inbox to a message from Smile Brilliant wanting to do a collaboration! If that wasn’t a sign, I don’t know what is.

I was excited to work with Smile Brilliant because they wanted to send me a teeth whitening system and share my honest feelings with you guys about the process. Now this is not a sponsored post but I did receive the teeth whitening system for free. However, my opinions on it are completely my own and I hope you already know that I would never recommend a product I didn’t like!

I know that a lot of you reading this are getting ready to celebrate either your own special events, like your wedding, or have many close friends and family members celebrating special events and you want to look your best for them all. If your schedule looks anything like mine these days, there are photo ops every month.

I was excited to try out Smile Brilliant because it’s a professional whitening system that you do at home, yet is still really customized and effective. Not only that, it’s REALLY easy to use. No awkward lights to put in your mouth; just custom trays that fit perfectly and you can go about your activities while whitening. I had only ever used Crest Whitestrips in the past, which were easy but took a lot longer to see results; plus I always experienced sensitivity. Smile Brilliant has a few different system options, and I chose sensitive which has really helped me not feel any side effects in my day to day life while whitening. One thing that is really great about Smile Brilliant is that if you are not happy with your results they will give you a full refund! Click here to visit their website and get even MORE info on the whitening systems!

When you get your kit in the mail, the first step is to make your impressions so that your trays fit perfectly. The kit comes with very detailed instructions for the whole process. Once you make your impressions, you pop them in a pre-paid envelope and send them back to Smile Brilliant so they can make your trays. This whole process was pretty quick too, which I liked because I was excited to get started!

Once you start the whitening process, it’s simple.

Brush your teeth with water.
Fill your trays with the whitening gel and leave in your mouth for 45 minutes up to 3 hours.
Brush your teeth like normal (including brushing out your trays).
If you’re doing the sensitive version, you add the desensitizing gel to the trays, leave on for 15-20 minutes and then don’t drink any liquids for at least an hour.

It takes anywhere from 7-14 sessions to get your teeth where you want them, and they send plenty of product! Now I’m sure you’re really curious about my thoughts. Below are some photos of my before and after and then we’ll get into the pros and cons of using Smile Brilliant.

Let’s talk about the cons first. The thing I found most challenging about using the whitening trays was that I had to plan out my life accordingly. I preferred to whiten at night after dinner, but then I couldn’t drink water before bed which was kind of annoying. Sometimes I simply get home too later and need to sleep and don’t have time to whiten so I would have to skip a day or two before I could get back on schedule.

The only other big con was that I did notice some sensitivity with my gums. Now most of this is probably due to the fact that my labial frenum (google it) on the top of my mouth was supposed to be clipped when I was younger and they never ended up doing it. So this means that it is attached lower than it is supposed to be and the trays really felt too tall for my mouth and scratched up against this. Again, this is more so my fault, not Smile Brilliant’s, but I have to say that I received lots of tips and help from Sierra over at Smile Brilliant, with how to increase my comfort level. I ended up coating my gums in coconut oil before hand and trying not to talk or move my mouth much while whitening. I also decided to whiten every other day, which helped cut back on irritation and I don’t think it skewed my results. If you end up trying this system out, I highly recommend the coconut oil on your gums for decreasing sensitivity! Works great!

Now let’s talk about the PROS! I cannot believe how quickly this system worked. I noticed my teeth being whiter after one use, but ended up doing 10 sessions. Plus I still have whitening gel that I’m going to keep for touch ups before my sister’s wedding this fall! I loved that the trays were customized and molded to my teeth because having a tray in your mouth for over an hour that is big and doesn’t fit would be super annoying. One big thing I loved too was that even if I accidently got some gel in my mouth, it didn’t taste TERRIBLE. I had a bad experience once....can you tell? Haha

I’m really excited to enter the fall season of weddings and events that I have being more confident in my smile. I think we can all agree that a whiter smile makes us feel more confident as we go about our daily business. As a makeup artist I am always taking pictures of my own face to share makeup looks, meeting new clients, and even taking photos with my brides. I am happy now that my smile is free of the coffee stains and would highly recommend you give Smile Brilliant a look if you are looking for teeth whitening.

Here’s what my teeth looked like before and after 10 uses of the Smile Brilliant Sensitive Whitening System.

These photos have not been filtered and have had absolutely no retouching. These ARE MY TEETH!

Now for the exciting part! I am doing to be doing a giveaway with Smile Brilliant that will allow one of my amazing readers to win a whitening system of their own! Click the link below to enter the giveaway that is being hosted on their website for all of you! Good luck!!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER GIVEAWAY! (Giveaway close one week from today - September 3rd

You can also use the code andreafontanabeauty15 to recieve 15% off store wide at Smile Brilliant!

Please be sure to message me or leave me comment below if you have questions about the Smile Brilliant at home whitening system. Also let me know if you try it out for yourself and what you think about it! I’m excited to have been able to share something like this with you guys.

Have a beautiful weekend,

Andrea

Tooth Whitening Gel