How To Keep Your Breath Fresh All (NYE) Night Long

Want to keep your kiss on fleek when the clock strikes midnight into 2016? Even if you've been sipping cocktails, beers, or wine (or champagne — lucky you!), I've scouted out exactly how to keep your breath fresh all New Year's Eve night long! Whether you've got a midnight kiss planned or not come 2016, minty breath is never a bad idea.

A word to the single folks out there: Be prepared. Even if you have zero intentions of meeting someone and kissing at midnight, you never know what's going to happen! Not that you can't make out hard with bad breath, but knowing you're minty fresh just feels so much better.

I had personal experience with the random midnight magic a few years ago. I was the sweet, complicated age of seventeen and totally not into the idea of going to my extended family's New Year's party. Everyone one was bound to be old and boring, right? WRONG. Turns out, one of my aunt's friend's sons was this total (also seventeen-year-old) stud muffin named James. We had those totally adorable movie-style sparks, ended up sneaking off to a park at midnight and kissing for hours (we even dated for a months after!).

The moral of this story? You don't know who you might meet and minty breath is nice regardless! Follow the steps below to stay minty fresh all night long.

1. Reach For Crudites

According to Cosmopolitan, all those raw, crunchy veggies on appetizer platters "can remove food caught between your teeth and rub away bacteria that sit on them." Who knew broccoli doubled as a toothbrush?

2. Brush Your Tongue

Bad breath-causing bacteria loves to chill out on your tongue, so always scrape it with a tooth brush as your brushing your teeth to remove as much as possible.

3. Nibble Some Mint Leaves

Mint leaves will naturally brighten up your breath and you can easily slip a few into your purse before you head to your NYE party. Chew one at 11:59pm!

4. ...Or Get A Mojito

OK, I have no science to back this up. But at least most mojitos have mint leaves muddled into them! They even make a mojito mint breath spray — why not just drink one instead?

5. Chew Sugarless Mint Gum

Peppermint Xylitol Gum, $4.99, EpicDental

If you're a gum person, make sure you're chomping sugarless, as "sugar ferments bacteria which will worsen the problem."

6. Carry A Mini Tooth Brush

Portable Toothbrush Kit, $12, Colgate

If you know you can't resist that garlic hummus or another beer, tuck a mini toothbrush and toothpaste kit into your bag so you can give your mouth a quick brushing during a bathroom break.

7. Swipe On Mint Lip Balm

All Natural Peppermint Lip Balm, $6, AlwaysMineral

To really up your minty mouth levels, use a lip balm or gloss infused with peppermint oil.

Want more beauty tips? Check out the video below, and be sure to subscribe to Bustle’s YouTube page for more hacks and tricks!

Images: torbakhopper, rory & yoojin, M&R Glasgow, Martin Fisch, soyculto/Flickr; Courtesy of Brands