Items by Kevan

Over a year ago I posted a review of the original Godrej Cinthol soap. a standby in Indian grooming for nearly 60 years. But since the soap market in India is extremely competitive, Godrej decided a few years ago to revamp the Cinthol line. They decided to market it along the lines of Axe and Old Spice here, in an attempt to capture the hearts and minds of young males. The soaps were repackaged and reformulated and a few new scents were added, but the original Cinthol was left alone (and...

Vi-John Shaving Cream claims on the tube to be Asia's #1 shave cream. And since this little gem is likely in every barber's kit in India -- from village shops to roadside stalls to the steps of the Ganges bathing ghats -- I'm inclined to believe it. There are three varities: regular, mentholated, and lime. For a shockingly cheap price you get a cream that punches with the big boys Godrej-style, enriched with glycerin, allantoin, lanolin, coconut acid, and Vitamin E. Price: Around $3...

Simply put, soap gets you clean. Any grocery store brand performs just as well as something twice or three times the price. If you want more variety, you can go the higher-end route and there are countless options for something a little more unique than your usual Dial or Dove. Popular European brands are more expensive but also last longer, or have exotic ingredients. And then there's the third tier: designer soaps with designer fragrances, which come in gift boxes, meant to enhance the...

Godrej makes some good stuff. Their shaving cream punches well above its weight and the shaving round delivers consistently solid results, and both are at a price-point that make them an amazing value. But Godrej has also been making bath soaps for over a century. Their Cinthol Deordorant and Complexion Soap in particular has been around for nearly sixty years and it's a well-known commodity in India. I've never been to the Subcontinent, but Cinthol is everywhere: I've seen it in...

I'm not big on the "natural products" thing that's gathering steam nowadays, I'll say that up front. But I have to admit that over the past year I've discovered some interesting options when it comes to bath soaps. And Chandrika Ayurvedic Soap is one such product. This unassuming little green bar has it all: it's cheap, smells great, lathers like a champ, and makes me feel fresher and cleaner after a shower than any soap I've tried in recent memory, and it's fast becoming my favorite...

Like their Iberian counterparts, the Italians have their own version of the famous Floid aftershave. I've never tried the Spanish version (reputed to be the original) but I can attest to the quality of this Italian brew. As far as alcohol splashes go it's great stuff and performs admirably in every category. Plus it's as classic as you can get. Price: You can get a 400ml bottle of this for less than a 100ml bottle of one of the Big Guys. But the smaller 75ml bottle runs a little...

To those of us who are fans of their outstanding cream, the Godrej Shaving Round soap has been an intriguing prospect, and its elusiveness only adds to its appeal: even if you're perfectly happy with all the Godrej creams the mere existence of the mystery soap is enough to fuel one in the throes of SSAD. They have recently appeared on the 'Bay for those who are curious to try it out. The Round is a lot older than its cream cousins, appearing in 1938, and it certainly does have that old...

According to one description I've read, this is different from the normal European Palmolive Red. Since I've never used that particular variety I have to trust that as accurate; in any case, this is a nice cream. The first thing you notice (aside from the green color of the cream) is the scent. It's really....odd at first blush. Like they took basic Palmolive hand soap or detergent and added a perfume fragrance on top of it. And after awhile you realize that it's a pretty unique...

I guess I've been spoiled by so many Indian toiletries that have exceeded my expectations. There's no question that they make great soaps (many), aftershaves (Anherb!), and creams (Godrej) over there, but I guess it was just a matter of time before I ran into a product that which didn't quite perform up to par, and that's Park Avenue. Price: I've heard that Indian grocers have this for about $2 a tube, so no complaints there, though I overpaid because I ordered it online. Quality...

So I was curious about Trumper's offerings and ordered a sample pack. Let me get right to the chase here. I love one of them. I like a few. Several are good but not my style. But Skye should be barred from sale. All mixing vats of it destroyed. The recipe to make it, burned. Honestly, unless my body chemistry just goes berserk when this hits my skin, I have never before encountered such a vile, unequivocally BAD scent as this, which markets itself as a mens cologne. No...

When it comes to sandalwood soap, there are tons of options. A lot are expensive, artificial, or blended with other scents and ingredients. And as a result, people often have a false sense of what sandalwood REALLY smells like. But why should you pay $7, $8 or more for something branded with a "familiar" name that you think is sandalwood when you can get the real thing for a fraction of the price? Mysore Sandal Soap comes straight from India, where the government soap factory of...