GIVEAWAY! Participation PIF - Rembrandt's Shaving Masterpiece

[TheBigL]

I did try to plam strop the Rembrandt before this morning's shave. It had a bit of rust on it too, but not on the blade edge. Minimum prep: hot face wash with an Arko soap scrub. Lathered up with Derby Normal.

I did manage one full pass. Maybe the palm stropping helped a little, but not enough to save it. I finished with another blade and razor. Lustray Coachman was the AS. On to the next blade.

 

[kirbyg]

Kai Blade #1 Shave #1
Razor - Pre War Tech
Blade - Kai(1)
Brush - Proraso/Omega Boar
Cream - Proraso Red
A/S - Alum, Thayers Facial Toner, Aqua Velva
Rating - DFS 8/10

If I'm honest, Kai blades are usually among my least favorite, but this shave actually turned out pretty good.

 

[LuckyGlenn]

Rembrandt blade 1 shave 3
KCG razor

Good shave today, but this blade is starting to slow down. Some resistance under the jaw and neck. 3 pass DFS.

 

[CapnPanther]

Rembrandt- Blade 1, Shave 3.

The setup:

Pre-shave: Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Cleansing Gel/Cremo Coconut Mango Shave Cream
Razor: Gillette Black Handle SuperSpeed
Brush: Vulfix Boar/Badger Grosvenor
Soap: Provence Sante Verlaine

Expected the roughness experienced at the end of yesterday's shave to carry over. Surprisingly, the first WTG pass was remarkably smooth. Didn't last. By the end of the ATG pass, the blade was clearly spent.

Switching to a different blade for the rest of the week. Will continue the Rembrandt evaluation next week.

 

[lancre]

Pre: Shower, Warm water rinse
Blade: Rembrandt Stainless, Shave 6
Razor: Gillette 1949 UK Rocket
Brush: Zenith Manchurian
Soap: MWF
Post: Lukewarm water rinse, Thayer's Cucumber Toner WH, Nivea men sensitive PSB

Another shave with my UK Rocket. Much the same as yesterday, but slightly less efficient, showing a little bit of a decline. I typically get 6-10 shaves with most blades, so this is in that bracket, but I don't get the vibe that the Rembrandt is a marathoner. It's still a very good blade, though, especially since it's a "senior citizen".

With buffing, the final result was DFS+. There were no nicks, weepers, or post-shave irritation.

 

[Tanuki]

Blade 2 Shave 1 - consistency between blades?

Prep: Hot rag, extensive face scrub with Grooming Dept Citrus Pre-shave.

26+ hour stubble. Evening shave. Not vintage, but good kit.

> Karve Christopher Bradley brass OC-D, Rosseforp handle
> Rembrandt-Super (1)
> De Vergulde Hand Extra Fris
> Semogue Excelsior 1250

Aftercare:
> alum rinsed with witch hazel
> Gabels Bay Rum

The first impression: blade #2 is slightly less smooth, sharp enough for a close shave with minimal extra work on my neck maelstroms.

Caveats: It has been a solid week of pushing for maximally close shaves. The test bed may be ready for a break. Yesterday, Micromatic Monday, I used my SEvette, the opposite of giving my face a break.

Rembrandt #1 is still loaded in my Superslant. I decided to move on to blade #2 when I woke up with a slightly rough neck yesterday. I may return to blade #1 for a restorative one pass shave tomorrow instead of attempting another pinnacle shave with blade #2.

 

[spacemonkey42]

Kai - blade 1, shave 1

Henson Ti +++​

Southern Witchcrafts Boonana​

Yaqi rainbow pony​

I switched to the Kai to compare to the Rembrandt, and I only have two Rembrandts. I kept it in the Henson aggressive, knowing that it is a bit wider and that would be more of a factor in a razor with less exposure. This setup should let me test the edge, more independent of the width.

My first impression is that the Kai is not a sharp blade. It seems less sharp than what I would consider using for my particular face/whiskers. There was a general resistance to each stroke. Not quite tuggy, but a consistent resistance which says it isn't very sharp. I use the Henson aggressive at a shallow angle and it is top tier for me. I continued in that manner and ended up with a very nice shave.

I know that some say that the Kai is sharp. That is not what I experienced. My hypothesis is that people perceive sharpness, but what they are really getting is a bit more exposure out of their razor. I looked and this seems to also be consistent with helicopter's sharpness measurements. I'll try more shaves to see if this impression holds for me.

Kai - blade 1, shave 2

Henson Ti +++​

Southern Witchcrafts Boonana​

Yaqi timberwolf​

A very similar shave to the first. The Kai might have sharpened up just a bit, but it is still not very sharp. I had to be quite assertive with my strokes to get through.

The result was good, the Henson can get the most out of a blade for me.

 

[fast shaver]

Rembrandt Blade #1 Shave #6
Tools: Mamba Razor, Mogno soap Taconic Badger brush & Pinaud Couchman.
Yet another smooth two pass shave = DFS.
Some extra touchup needed but the blade is doing great for me so far.

 

[T Bone]

Lambda Athena steel
Rembrandt Stainless (2)
AP Shave 24mm G5C rocket engine
Southern Witchcrafts Druantia soap/splash

Same setup as Monday except I used my other brush. Second shave was less comfortable than the first - not uncomfortable yet, but borderline. And this one was a little slower as a result, but not by much, as I resisted the urge to do much buffing. Still reasonably close (DFS+), if not quite as close as the first. 1 spot of blood on the right jawline that was gone before I even applied alum. Post-shave is still comfortable. I like to get at least 4 shaves out of a blade. Maybe Rembrandt gets there, maybe not, I'll see how the next shave goes.

 

[Grundi]

Rembrandt Stainless Blade #1-ish - Shaves #3 - #6

TL;DR - catching up on my reports, blade performing consistently, showing decent longevity, DFS+/BBS-

Equipment: Gillette Parat razor, vintage Rembrandt blade (3 - 6), Perfectly Natural's Mr. Right (cologne scent) and Black Mountain's Great Bear (spicy, bay rum like scent) Shaving Soaps, Captain's Choice bowl

Near Vintage Shaves: The Rembrandt Blade is performing very consistently in the Gillette Parat. Each shave finishes in the DFS+/BBS- range. The blade does feel somewhat tuggy when scraping the stiffer whiskers, but not painfully so. Gonna keep this going.

 

[AndyPanda]

Shave #3 with Rembrandt
My beard and/or my shaving style just don't fit well with this blade. My beard is coarse and mostly white, crispy, "old man" whiskers. I've tried a few different razors - thinking I needed a more aggressive razor since the blade isn't as sharp as what I usually shave with. But then halfway thru my shave this morning I decided to try just the opposite. I put the Rembrandt blade in my Masamune which is a very mild razor -- and then I was able to shave with short but very fast strokes using a bit more pressure than I would normally use. That worked much better for me -- the fast strokes seemed to clear up the feeling of tugging on the whiskers.

I have a Rolls razor - in case you're not familiar with them, it's essentially a short piece of hollow ground steel like a straight razor that you hone and strop like a straight razor but it goes on a handle like a safety razor. Shaving with the Rolls razor is a lot how the Rembrandt blade feels to me. It's nice but a little too tuggy for my whiskers. I much prefer a Feather or Perma-Sharp or Nacet with my crusty whiskers.

 

[BigJ]

Blades arrived!!

Just need to finish this fine Personna red (Israeli), then get to work!!

 

[cranewarrior]

Shave #5 - Rembrandt
Fatip Open Comb - Mark I
Barbasol Regular Shaving Cream

I finished a 5th shave this morning with the same Rembrandt I have been using all week. All is well. Yeah, it is not the sharpest blade out there, but it is fine for my face even with repeated usage.

 

[Calyx]

It's interesting how there are so many different results from these blades. I mean, if a blade is sharp, wouldn't it be sharp for everyone? For example, I saw where someone above thought that the KAI blade wasn't a sharp blade, yet I perceived it as being sharp.
I used it again today for a second shave and thought it performed as well as yesterday. Even with a different soap. The shave was very smooth and since the whiskers were removed without any tugging or resistance, I perceived it as still being "sharp". I mean a dull blade wouldn't have felt this way, right?
I guess the saying, "your results may vary" is true.
Anyway...........

KAI Blade #1 Shave #2
Preshave: Wash and hot towel
Soap: TOBS Sandalwood
Razor: '41 Gillette Ranger Tech
Blade: KAI
Brush: Semogue Torga C5
Aftershave: Thayers Facial Toner
Rating: 9.0

I'll use the same blade tomorrow. Maybe a different soap.

 

[lancre]

Pre: Shower, Warm water rinse
Blade: Rembrandt Stainless, Shave 7
Razor: Gillette 1949 UK Rocket
Brush: Simpson Trafalgar T3
Soap: Esbjerg Ginseng & Honey
Post: Lukewarm water rinse, Thayer's Cucumber Toner WH, Nivea men sensitive PSB

Another shave with my UK Rocket. Much the same as yesterday, but again slightly less efficient, showing a little bit of a decline. Time to try a different razor.

With buffing, the final result was DFS. There were no nicks, weepers, or post-shave irritation.

 

[LuckyGlenn]

Rembrandt blade 1 shave 4
Schick Pre-Krona

Today was a very respectable. Not bbs, but I wasn't really going for that anyway. I just wanted a nice relaxing shave. I got exactly that. Sure, I had to buff a little more than normal. But I totally enjoyed it. It give me a few seconds more with just me and the razor. Peace and quiet. Dfs

 

[ewk]

Rembrandt's Masterpiece - Blade 3, shave 2

Excellent shave on use 2 in the Blackland Era on a rare snow day in South Carolina.

 

[Tanuki]

Blade 2 Shave 2 - no day of rest for my face, but I invested plenty of prep in today's shave.

Yesterday's evening shave passed the morning smoothness test. So blade 2 is not a step down in sharpness from blade 1.

Prep: Post-ski face wash, hot rinse, hot rag, Grooming Dept Citrus Pre-shave x2, Col. Conk Lime (old formula) lather x2, more hot rinses after each step, hot rag. Voila!

24 hour stubble. Evening shave. Same razor as yesterday.

> Karve Christopher Bradley brass OC-D, Rosseforp handle
> Rembrandt-Super (2)
> Arko stick
> Simpson Duke 1 in Best
> Captain's Choice copper Traveler bowl

Got almost all tools and products in the shot:

Aftercare:
> alum rinsed with witch hazel
> Col. Ichabod
Conk Lime
After Shave - Cologne

Killer prep, killer products, killer tools, killer shave.

Solid ski day today. In spite of plenty of high altitude sun, cold temperatures, and fast runs, my weather-marked face felt babied by the Rembrandt in the Karve CB.

Was the blade smoother and sharper than it was yesterday? Was it the DELUXE VIOLET RAY PROCESSED TRIPLE DISTILLED witch hazel?

Nah, it's the prep. This was no one-pass safety shave. Two full passes and a maximally thorough neck maelstrom clean-up. And it feels great! Rembrandt-Super #2 fulfilled its key role in an A Team shave.

 

[spacemonkey42]

Rembrandt - blade 2, shave 1

Henson +++​

Southern Witchcrafts Boonana​

Yaqi timberwolf​

First shave on the second of two Rembrandt blades. I continue to use the Henson aggressive, as it gives me a better sense of the edge of the blade than some of my other razors. It also keeps it rigid, limiting the negative razor effects.

The shave was good, a normal three pass shave. This blade feels the same as the first, not very sharp, but sharp enough to cut my whiskers. I prefer and usually use a sharper blade. The Rembrandt was smooth, which is nice.

The result was good, mostly BBS with some DFS sprinkled in. Very low, almost no warmth from astringent, so easy on the skin. We'll see how this one holds up, my first one went downhill fast, unfortunately.

 

[Calyx]

KAI Blade #1 Shave #3
Preshave: Wash and Hot towel
Soap: MEM Shave Cream (PIF from @Space_Cadet )
Brush: Semogue Torga C5
Razor: '41 Gillette Ranger Tech
Blade: KAI
Alum Block: Gentleman Jon
Aftershave: Thayers Facial Toner w/Aloe

Todays shave started out great with the first pass WTG. Things went downhill though with the XTG pass. I could tell right away that I was getting some drag and when I tried to go ATG it was getting pretty rough. I rinsed and relathered between passes so I had fresh soap each pass. I'm not sure if the shave cream made the difference or if it was the blade. I don't usually get more than two shaves with other blades before the same thing happens so I won't blame the lather. I'm happy with 2 good shaves and I would definitely purchase KAI blades.
I have another KAI blade so when I use it I'll stick with the same soap each time.

Thanks @Space_Cadet and @Grundi for the Participation PIF