Crest challenges me to a duel and loses! Okay, fine it was a whitening challenge, but duel sounds more interesting...

About a month ago, I was asked to take part in the Crest and Oral-B 3D White Before and After Smile Challenge.  I was happy to do it, the holidays coming up are the perfect excuse for some smile whitening!  As you can see from my before, my teeth aren't too bad but they are a little stained on top from my devotion to coke (drinking kind) and blueberries!
And here's after - please excuse the weird mouth thing I'm doing, I realized that a real smile hides part of my front teeth and since that's what I really wanted you to be able to see, I did my "I'm so happy to see the in-laws" smile instead!  I also meant to wear the same lipstick but couldn't remember what shade the before one was!  This one is close anyhow!  Here is everything that I used:
Crest 3D White Professional Effects Whitestrips - with Advanced Seal no slip technology - $59.99 - I first tried whitestrips when they first came out years ago and I hated them - I couldn't get them to actually stay on my teeth, I remember giving up before even finishing half the box so I'm happy to report that they really have improved the technology!  If you dry your teeth off a bit first before applying they really stick well and I found even if my teeth were a bit wet, they would slide around a bit at first but would eventually stick on and stay.  I will say though that they made my teeth quite sensitive, especially now that the weather is so cold. I found the best method for me was to use them for 30 minutes once a day for 2 or 3 days and then take a day off.  It stretched the time period out, I should have been through them in 20 days and it took me close to a month but if time isn't an issue and you are sensitive, this is the way to go!  I also noticed on the first day after using the strips that I had small white dots on my gums but they didn't hurt and it only happened the first time so I guess it wasn't anything to worry about.
Oral-B Pulsar 3D White Advanced Vivid Toothbrush - $6.99 - it does this vibrating thing that is supposed to disrupt plaque and stimulate the gingival margin.  I am used to a full on electric Oral-B so this didn't feel like it was doing much of anything at all but I would use this for traveling as it is much more portable!  This would probably be more impressive if you were trying it after being used to a regular manual brush!
Crest 3D White Vivid Toothpaste - 165ml - $3.88 - I'm not generally a big fan of whitening toothpastes as I find they usually have kind of a chalky feel but this one's texture is like a regular toothpaste.  I only ended up using this once a day and I used a toothpaste for sensitive teeth the rest of the time to help with the sensitivity I was experiencing from the strips, but I would use the toothpaste now to help combat staining!
Crest 3D White MultiCare Whitening Rinse - 473ml - $6.49 or 964ml - $8.99 - I really hate alcohol in mouth wash so I was really pleased to see that this one is alcohol free.  I found the taste really pleasant and my husband hated it - and since he is addicted to Listerine, I knew this was a good sign, it wasn't medicinal tasting enough for him!  It contains hydrogen peroxide to whiten teeth by removing surface stains and sodium hexametaphosphate to help protect against future surface stains.

I actually bought my husband a box of the strips and made him do the challenge with me but he refused to let me take a before or after picture which is too bad as his teeth were much worse to begin with and they have whitened up to about the same shade as mine.  But at least that proves that it will work for you whether you need to whiten a little or whiten a lot!

Has anyone else tried any of these products?  Would love to know what you thought of them!