Twice a year or so, I try to use teeth whitening strips to regularly maintain the pearly whites. I've always appreciated good teeth hygiene and first learned of these strips in freshman year of college after being dazzled by a friend's magnificently white smile and he shared his secret. Since then, my weapon of choice has always been Crest Whitestrips but for whatever reason this time around (I felt adventurous, what can I say?), I bought a box of Rembrandt’s Whitening Strips to test out. I don’t often hear of this brand of whitening strips being used or reviewed, though I’m not sure why that is – Rembrandt is well known for their toothpastes and was specifically created with teeth whitening in mind. Both Rembrandt and Crest use peroxide-based whitening ingredients that fade with time and necessitate touch-up treatments to restore the original sparkle.
The strips arrived in a cheery lime green and white box, and were individually wrapped. When I first opened the packaging, I was a little perplexed at how...large they were. The thick white strips looked like molds for your teeth, and maybe they were targeting people with large mouths and big gums? I followed instructions – first, rinse with water for 15 seconds to moisten teeth, then apply top and bottom strips and secure the tabs behind/over the front teeth.
These strips stayed in place well and didn’t make me salivate as much as Crest Whitestrips usually do, so I could go about my business while they did their duty. After about 30 minutes, I repeated the 15 second rinse and removed the strips (with a bit of force, they felt a little gluey!). The box comes with 7 strips, claiming that 5 is enough for regular whitening but you can use the extra 2 to boost the whiteness even more. I finished the box, faithfully completing the system and was really glad for it to be over. Starting day 3, maybe because the strips are so large, I began to grind down on them, and the more I did it, the more uncomfortable they became and I wanted to get them off! It was a really weird feeling, and made me wish the thinness of Crest Whitestrips.
After 7 days, I finished the pack but didn’t think my teeth were dramatically whiter, but it’s kinda like saying you can’t see yourself growing taller each day. I did get comments from other people mentioning how white they were though! I felt the bottom edges of my bottom teeth could've benefited from more whitening, maybe when I'm not lazy I'll get one of the whitening pens but for now, I'm satisfied!
Conclusion: Rembrandt’s Whitening Strips are a good alternative to Crest Whitestrips, if you’re against Crest having a monopoly on whitening strips. I like having options, and like that the Rembrandt strips were tactile and stuck well to my teeth, and also didn't make my teeth that sensitive. However, Crest has a variety of whitening strengths (Classic which takes 14 days, or Premium which is 7 days, then there is Professional which is even quicker) and the strips are thin and don’t entice you to bite them. Overall, I think both work at the same effectiveness, but what you choose depends on preference of the strip textures. Let me know if you like one more than the other!
