Shukria! I was born in Poland, in a town which is perhaps 2 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, but I grew up in Israel. I love Indian creams--I think they are far better than a lot of the creams from other parts of the world, and in Israel, they are very popular, particularly Godrej, which often outsells the local Israeli creams!
Let me confess, its only after I took to TSD and read your reviews that I started believing in Indian creams and products !!! I was too busy chasing the foreign stuff as better quality than Indian. :ashamed001 Examples, J.J. Morison is one of my favs along with the Godrej (but ofcourse) and the Old spice India creams. If you recollect the other day you asked me about Premium shave cream in one of your posts. I always see Premium Plus cologne and synthetic shave brushes on store shelfs here, but never the cream. After a long search and wait, I finally saw a super store boy loading a fresh stock of Premium Plus cream. The offer - a pack of 2 x 70G tubes of the cream for the cost of 1, around a dollar. No wonder the creams are always invisible !! The cologne fragrance, allantoin and ofcourse the awesome lather like its cousins the Park Avenue (same maker - J.K. Helen Curtis) - now its currently one of my fav creams
Indian creams are definitely healthier to the skin than many other creams, and they are apparently very reasonably-priced. That Premium cream sounds like it can be a winner! Godrej Deluxe as well as Menthol Mist are very difficult to beat in quality, as well as Park Avenue Classic, and the Old Spice creams. I know a guy who owns a store here in Montreal, he is Indian, but he does not bring in any of the Indian creams--only Proraso, and Nivea--nothing else. Another storeowner I know is Pakistani, but I find creams from there inferior in quality, and sometimes overpriced for what you get.
I lurked at TSD for a long time and read many of Jeff's reviews too and I became curious about Indian creams because of that. I suppose that everyone is attracted to products of foreign origin no matter what country you're in. Especially as an American pursuing this shaving "hobby", it comes natural I guess. We have little choice BUT to pursue foreign products. But I've always been like this I guess. I've always had a curiosity about foreign products, especially from England, Italy, and India, shaving and otherwise. In fact when I started using Mysore Sandal Soap last summer, a female friend of mine who's Indian asked me, "What on earth are you using that for? You have so many better soaps here!" Well, why not? Not only is it good for my psoriasis-prone skin, it smells like nothing else that you can get here in the US! That's not to say that there aren't crappy products available in India and elsewhere; Indeed if ever I travelled to a foreign country and needed some stuff, I'm sure I would wish they had some American brands I'm used to, like toothpaste for example. But there's also a fair share of products worth checking out. If I hadn't been curious, I would've never discovered the wonderful Godrej things!
Wow a great shave den. I am in the Philippines and there are very few products for shaving here. The Filipinos general pluck the few whiskers they have and may trim a mustache or around the neck and hair line with just a bare blade or a disposable. I looked up the Indian company on Alababa but haven't been able to connect with them. I would love to get some DE razors and build my own shave den. Do you have any suggestions who or what web site to contact there and help me get some of those razors and cremes? Thanks for any suggestions you may have.
Thanks for your comments on my shavedvn. Can you be more specific on which razors you are referring to ? If you mean Parkers you are better off buying them on Amazon/ebay and other places. They aren't available for sale even locally here. For the other great Razors, the best place would be the buy/sell thread on this forum. For the newer Merkurs there are quite a few places to buy www.shavingessentials.net www.westcoastshaving.com and quite a few other !! Good Luck !!
Indian soaps and cremes ::lamI saw the Tabac in your stash; is that made in India? Usually the postage from most place is a killer which costs as much as the rest of the order. I just received a TOBS sandlewood creme tub that was a mess when it got here. It was poorly packed, got hot, and looked like a soupy mess.
It is a cold war era product made in West Germany. So its pretty old and hence the packaging. It shaves just as well though !! Check out my review here.
Very good especially the part about Kennedy and Bond using the Tabac; that is probably why Maryln and Pussy Galore were attracted to the boys. Also, I used several Godrej cremes and like the one with a little menthol a lot and probably need to order some since mine was a sample size. It seems a very good value.::lam
Ask our resident menthol shaving cream expert Jeff (Crackstar) and he will confirm that the Godrej Menthol Mist Shaving cream is one of the contenders for the most mentholy shaving creams. Check out his review here !!
Good stuff ! I like those clear handle shaving brushes .... Did a street shave in Calcutta once, defiantly an experience afterward off to the Chai Wallah ....
Thanks mate, Your Kolkata (Calcutta) nostalgia kicks off some strong sentiments. This country never ceases to amaze me even if I was born here. With its chai wallahs, and the like, every single travel I make in and around this country is more revealing to me than perhaps moving around in the states or Europe with more or less standardized infrastructure and professional etiquettes (Apart from culture and languages). In fact even across Europe, while the culture would strongly change, the basics would be yet perhaps the same as one would expect from a developed territory. Pan India, the way of living, traveling, products and every thing is just so different - I feel I am an alien in a foreign country. Apart from the Indian currency and the railways which perhaps cannot be any different due to its singular identity, even local transport and way of traveling differs from place to place. There have been many a times that I have been lost in strange lands and not able to get anywhere as no one local could understand my language and me theirs - in the same country !! I have seen major brands including the MNC ones having to innovate to appeal to the local population. So a Pepsi, Coke or Gillette will have to make at least 15 different flavors of the same ad. One ad does not work across the nation. Anyone wanting to understand what I am saying here has to see two movies and tell me if its two parts of the same country. Incidentally Calcutta was the capital / center of the erstwhile East India Company's India and Mumbai is the capital / center of the modern India. I mean "capital" in the focus context. City of Joy (Calcutta Culture) Slumdog Mumbai (Mumbai culture)
Without a doubt India is one of the most fascinating countries I have been to , slowly and steadily a burgeoning world power like China and a force to be reckoned with . Diversity is unmatched there, common language "ENGLISH" - I've seen Southerners and Northerners try out their own dialects and switch over to Englsh to converse. My last trip I was there during the Kumba Mela and it was amazing to say the least. An Honorable Shave Sadhu I certainly am .
Manish, I confirm it--Godrej Menthol Mist is a frigid, freezing menthol explosion, and a pleasure to use.
I just went thrugh the phone book this morning and called all of the indian grocers here. I am willing to pay a little more to support the local brick and mortar stores, but none of them stock any India shaving stuff only food. The internet it is then.
Ditto. I have scoured Tampa, Bradenton, and Lakeland and found nothing. There is one place here in Lakeland that said he will check with his vendor, but he did not seem to interested.
Dude, I must say very impressive collection. I have PM'ed you with a question. Hope you get back soon. Thanks a lot.
Nishit, Thanks !! My collection has only grown to include many more razors including a Slim, Gillette News (short and long tooth), A gillette Brownie open comb, Ball end Techs and many more !!!
