I Tested the Viral Teeth-Whitening Kit From IG—and I Have *Thoughts* (2024)

I truly cannot resist a good teeth-whitening product. Despite being a beauty editor, I’m surprisingly very lazy, so most at-home devices (hi, laser hair removal and light therapy masks) are too much effort for me. But a quick whitening kit I can cue up while binging Bridgerton? Yes, pls. So when I saw Snow Teeth Whitening pop up on my Instagram and TikTok feeds for the zillionth time (seriously, every five minutes, I see another Snow Teeth Whitening review), I decided to test out yet another social media trend, all in the name of ~beauty science~. More or less.

For my review, I tested the classic Snow Teeth Whitening All-in-One kit that comes with four tubes of whitening serum and an LED light for $150 (which, according to the website, should get you 75 treatments, so about $2 a session/day). I personally live and die by my Crest 3DWhite Strips with LED Light for $70 (which come with 10 strips, so $7 per session/day). Even though the Crest strips are more expensive per session, they make my teeth look bright white after 10 days. So to compare, I decided to test the Snow Teeth kit for 10 days too.

Snow Teeth Whitening Kit with LED Light

I Tested the Viral Teeth-Whitening Kit From IG—and I Have *Thoughts* (1)

Snow Teeth Whitening Kit with LED Light

How does Snow Teeth LED Whitening work?

The Snow Teeth Whitening kit comes with an LED mouthpiece, a protective case for the mouthpiece, a shade guide, and four twist tubes of whitening serum (three regular strength, one maximum strength). According to the very sparse directions, you just paint the serum over your freshly brushed teeth, pop in the mouthpiece, plug it into your phone (yup, really), and whiten anywhere from 9 to 30 minutes each day, for 21 to 30 days straight.

What are the main ingredients in Snow Teeth Whitening?

The two MVP ingredients in the Snow Teeth whitening serums are hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide, two very common (and safe) ingredients found in most at-home whitening kits. “They’re both acids that are used as bleaching agents,” says Daniel S. Rubinshtein, cosmetic dentist at Bensonhurst Dental in Brooklyn, NY. “Hydrogen peroxide is commonly used in the office at higher doses, and at home in lower doses, which is why it takes so many days for you to see results.”

I Tested the Viral Teeth-Whitening Kit From IG—and I Have *Thoughts* (8)

Does LED light whiten teeth?

No, on their own, LED lights don’t actually whiten your teeth. “There’s no heavy research that proves that LED equals white teeth,” says Rubinshtein. “The active ingredients in a product’s formula are what’s really whitening your teeth, but LED is believed to ‘activate’ the added additional ingredients.” FWIW, I’ve used a ton of whitening products in my life, and I’ve consistently found the most effective to be those that come with an LED component, but I guess it’s (very) possible that the whitening power was really coming from the formula itself, instead of the light.

My Snow Teeth Whitening review

First thoughts on the kit

I’ll be honest: I wish that the kit came with more detailed instructions than just a four-step, four-sentence pamphlet. Definitely good for the people who DGAF, but I was left wondering what the difference was between the two serum strengths (answer: the regular is 6 to 10 percent strength, and the maximum is 12 to 18 percent strength), when to use them, and how to decide between a nine-minute session vs. a 30-minute session.

Like, that’s just too much freedom for my brain. How many days of nine-minute sessions would I need? How much faster would it be if I just toughed it out with 30-minute sessions? And which serum strength goes best with each time option?! In the end, I decided to test 10 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes, just to see the difference in brightness at the end of each session.

My teeth before whitening

As much as I love you, I opted not to take an up-close photo of my tea-stained teeth to live on the internet forever (hey, what if I become president one day?). But I was surprised to find that my front teeth were only a 3.0 on the shade guide (out of 15), considering it had been almost a year since I last used my Crest strips. Usually, my strips would get me pretty close to a 1.5 after 10 days, so that was my goal for Snow: lighten me to at least a 1.5 in 10 days.

The whitening process

  • DAY 1
    I decided to do the bare minimum first to see what we were working with. I started with the regular-strength serum and set my phone timer for 10 minutes. At the end, I spit, rinsed, and…saw nothing. Zero change. My teeth looked absolutely the same. Womp.
  • DAY 2
    I’ll admit that 10 minutes is a brief time (my Crest strips require 30 minutes, FWIW), so I set my timer for the full 30 minutes this time, still using the regular-strength serum. Surprisingly, my teeth still looked the exact same by the end. Double womp.
  • DAY 3
    This time, I switched to the maximum-strength serum, set a timer for 20 minutes to split the difference, and…finally saw a tiny bit of change. Barely noticeable, definitely not impressive, but proof that the kit was, in fact, working.
  • DAYS 4-10
    I continued with the maximum-strength gel and kept the sessions around 20 to 25 minutes, since that was the middle-ish of the suggested timeframe. I had some tooth sensitivity around day seven, but nothing too intense that I felt like I had to stop. Some days, I noticed my teeth looked brighter at the end, but other days, it felt like it hadn’t made a difference at all.

I Tested the Viral Teeth-Whitening Kit From IG—and I Have *Thoughts* (10)

My Snow Teeth Whitening results

After my 10th day, my teeth were a 2.5, maaaybe a 2.25 at best. Definitely a bit brighter than my original score of 3.0, but nowhere near my goal of 1.5. Granted, Snow never promised to whiten my teeth within 10 days—their website clearly suggests 21 days for a reason—but I still expected the maximum-strength gel to be a little more effective than it was, especially since I was using it within their upper time frame.

My guess is that at the end of the 21 days, I would have gotten to a full 2.0, maybe even close to my 1.5 goal, but I am lazy, and 10 days was my tap-out time for this experiment. Snow Teeth Whitening is obviously effective, but I ~hypothesize~ that the Crest White Strips work faster because they keep the sticky gel in constant contact with my teeth. With Snow, there’s more room for user error—like how much serum is applied, how much you salivate (and “wash off” the serum), the timing, the strength of the serum, etc.

What I liked (and didn’t like) about Snow

What I liked:

  • The simplicity
    Just twist the tube (which is super reminiscent of the lip-gloss pens of the ‘00s), paint it on your teeth, pop in the mouthpiece, and sit. It isn’t messy, it doesn’t taste bad—it’s just really, truly easy.
  • The charging attachments
    I thought it was cheesy at first that the mouthpiece plugs into your phone to activate, but then I realized it was lowkey brilliant. Because guess what I did the entire time I was whitening? Scroll through TikTok.
  • The gentle formula
    Read through the Snow Teeth Whitening reviews, and you’ll see the same thing mentioned again and again: how gentle the serum is for sensitive teeth. I have somewhat sensitive teeth and was surprised the maximum-strength formula barely affected me, so I can imagine 21 days of regular-strength would have been perfectly manageable.

What I didn’t like:

  • The mouthpiece
    I really, really disliked having a bulky guard in my mouth for 20+ minutes at a time. I found that because the guard doesn’t have grooves for your teeth (other than a tiny ledge on the top), you end up biting down to keep it from sliding around, which made me jaw and teeth feel achey by the end of each session. I started dreading my daily sessions because I was just so uncomfy.
  • The warmth
    After a few minutes, the LED light starts to warm up the mouthpiece, your teeth, and your saliva (yum). At first, I panicked that I was having an allergic reaction, but nope—it’s just the light. It’s not exactly uncomfortable, but it just adds to the reminder that you’ve got something in your mouth.
  • The effectiveness
    Again, I didn’t test it for the suggested 21 days, but I wasn’t super impressed by what I saw after 10 days, since I was used to the efficacy of my white strips. That being said, Snow barely irritated my teeth, while my Crest strips almost always cause some sensitivity.

I Tested the Viral Teeth-Whitening Kit From IG—and I Have *Thoughts* (12)

Yes, it really is that blindingly bright.

So is Snow Teeth Whitening effective?

Yes, Snow is definitely effective at whitening your teeth at a slow and gentle pace. If you’re someone who can’t handle most whitening products because of tooth sensitivity, I’d recommend giving Snow a chance, since it is so customizable (i.e., you can use the regular-strength serum for just nine minutes a day over the course of 30+ days). It’s slower, but it’ll work.

“At the end of the day, at-home whitening products are all fundamentally the same,” says Dr. Rubinshtein. “It’s a bleach product that goes into your enamel—the outer layer of your tooth—and removes that layer of superficial stain.” So ultimately, your results will come down to your tooth’s composition. “If your enamel is very thin, it’s not going to work as well as it would on thicker enamel,” he says. “The thinner your enamel, the more see-through it is, and the more your dentin layer underneath—which is naturally yellow—will be visible.”

And this, folks, is exactly why you should always chat with your dentist first before going overboard with whitening products. You might think your whitening kit isn’t working, when in reality, you may just have thin enamel that’s showing your dentin—something you can’t whiten and can actually become more visible if you over-use whitening products and damage your enamel.

Final Snow Teeth Whitening review

Will I be giving up my white strips and switching to Snow forever more? No. I’m lucky that my teeth can handle classic white strips, so I’ll continue with my 10-day strip life, even if they’re messy, gummy, and oozy. But would I recommend Snow Teeth Whitening? 100 percent, especially if you’re someone who has ultra-sensitive teeth and doesn’t mind going slow. Or, ideally, we can all discover a pit of money in our backyard that allows us to get our teeth professionally whitened instead. Whichever works.

I Tested the Viral Teeth-Whitening Kit From IG—and I Have *Thoughts* (13)

Chloe Metzger

Deputy Beauty Director

Chloe Metzger is the deputy beauty director at Cosmopolitan, overseeing the editorial content and growth strategy of the hair, makeup, and skin space on digital, while also obsessively writing about the best hair products for every hair type (curly girl here; whattup), and the skincare routines that really, truly work (follow her on Instagram to see behind-the-scenes pics of that magazine life). She brings nearly a decade of writing and editing expertise, and her work has appeared in Allure, Health, Fitness, Marie Claire, StyleCaster, and Parents. She also has an unhealthy adoration for Tom Hanks and would like to please meet him one day, if you could arrange that. Thanks.

I Tested the Viral Teeth-Whitening Kit From IG—and I Have *Thoughts* (2024)

FAQs

Do any home teeth whitening kits actually work? ›

So, yes, they are as effective. The active ingredient in the over-the-counter whitening kits that you can buy is one of the two active ingredients that we talked about. And it's the same ingredient that we use in a dental office when we're doing a professional cleaning.

Does the viral purple toothpaste work? ›

Despite claims, purple toothpaste doesn't whiten teeth or remove stains. Purple toothpaste uses color theory to neutralize yellow teeth by applying purple dye to the teeth, giving the illusion of a whiter smile. This effect is temporary and won't whiten teeth over time.

Are teeth whitening kits bad for your teeth? ›

Generally speaking, whitening kits are not harmful to your teeth,” explains Dr. Greg Scheier, DDS of Scheier Dental Group. “There are, however, potential temporary sensitivities, both in the teeth and gums, that may result from the use of both over-the-counter and dentist-administered whitening kits.”

Does v34 work for teeth? ›

I will give 2 stars, for it does have the illusionary effect of whiter teeth, but no more than that. Minus a star for misleading and trying to pull the wool over customers eyes with them "innocently" omitting the facts in their advertisem*nt, that this product will not remove stains, fine print people.

What really whitens teeth at home? ›

For optimal whitening, a person can try brushing with a mix of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide for 1–2 minutes twice a day for a week. They should only do this occasionally. Hydrogen peroxide may increase tooth sensitivity, so it is not suitable for long-term use or for people who already have sensitive teeth.

Does baking soda whiten teeth? ›

Baking soda can be used with some water to remove the stains on the surface of the teeth. It can also be used with hydrogen peroxide to enhance its whitening effects. Baking soda can be used by individuals with regular toothpastes too. It is also used commercially in some teeth whitening products and toothpastes.

Does purple toothpaste really whiten teeth? ›

Purple toothpaste is based on the principle of color theory, where the purple hue is supposed to neutralize yellow stains on teeth. While this might sound scientifically plausible, the reality is it's more of an optical illusion than an oral health solution. The effect is purely cosmetic and extremely temporary.

What toothpaste actually whitens teeth? ›

Crest 3D White Professional Enamel Protect Toothpaste is our favorite whitening pick from the trusted brand. It has a gentle feeling and a mild mint flavor that isn't overpowering. This toothpaste features hydrated silica to remove stains and sodium fluoride to prevent cavities and strengthen enamel.

Why are people putting purple shampoo on their teeth? ›

Purple shampoo. This TikTok viral hack shows people using purple shampoo, which is usually used to tone dyed blonde hair, as a whitening toothpaste. The idea is that the purple hue will cancel the yellow tones on teeth, creating an instant white smile. However, shampoo shouldn't be anywhere near your teeth.

Can yellow teeth become white again? ›

Can yellow teeth be bleached? Yellow teeth can be completely whitened with teeth whitening technologies at the dentist or at home. Depending on the status of your yellow teeth as well as your needs, the doctor will advise and prescribe the appropriate method.

Do bananas whiten teeth? ›

Banana peels don't do anything to whiten your teeth. Many articles recommend rubbing the peel against your teeth for a few minutes. While this could scrub off some surface stains, it's no more effective than brushing your teeth. Banana peels have no special whitening properties.

What is the least damaging way to whiten your teeth? ›

Baking Soda: As long as you are careful to brush gently, baking soda can eliminate stains from the surface of your teeth without damaging them. Whitening Strips: Whitening strips mold to the shape of your teeth to whiten them. Whitening strips are both safe and effective.

Does purple cancel out yellow teeth? ›

Instead of removing stains from teeth, purple toothpaste color-corrects yellowness which creates an optical illusion of a whiter smile. Dentists say that purple dental products are a gimmick and won't benefit your dental health.

Does hydrogen peroxide whiten teeth? ›

Peroxide can partially penetrate the layers of the teeth, removing compounds that cause discoloration. The concentration of hydrogen peroxide in store-bought teeth whitening kits can be as high as 10%. Dentists may also offer whitening treatments with hydrogen peroxide concentrations of up to 40%.

Does charcoal toothpaste whiten teeth? ›

When you use activated charcoal toothpaste, your teeth may look whiter at first. But after continued use, your teeth may start looking more yellow. If this happens, it's because the activated charcoal has worn down your enamel and revealed the dentin layer of your teeth.

What teeth whitening kits actually work? ›

The Best Teeth Whitening Kits, According to Dentists
  • OpalescenceGo Prefilled Teeth Whitening Trays, Set of 10. ...
  • Burst Prefilled Whitening Trays, Set of 3. ...
  • PhilipsZoom NiteWhite Kit, Set of 3. ...
  • Dr. ...
  • Colgate Optic White ComfortFit Teeth Whitening Kit. ...
  • Auraglow Teeth Whitening Kit. ...
  • Crest3D Whitestrips, Pack of 22.
Sep 20, 2023

Do home UV teeth whitening kits work? ›

Clinical studies have proven (and continue to prove) these lights: Do not provide long term effects, rather the light gives a temporary whiter appearance to the teeth. May harm oral tissues. Create a greater possibility for teeth sensitivity through dehydration.

Do any OTC teeth whiteners work? ›

Then, over-the-counter whitening agents can work effectively. But because it's not dentist-monitored, many of them don't do anything. For instance, a mouthwash containing a whitening agent such as hydrogen peroxide probably is not going to be very effective.

Is it better to whiten your teeth at the dentist or DIY? ›

Choosing a non-professional teeth whitening treatment can carry a higher risk of adverse effects, including damage to your teeth and gums, and even a worsening of your discoloration. By far, the safest and most effective option is to have your teeth professionally whitened by your dentist.

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