Today I tried a new product, Vicco Turmeric Shaving Cream. There are a few reviews of it here in our database, but the product itself seems to be pretty unknown. It's an odd duck, too, as there are basically two versions of it.
Most products from India are sold in multiple versions, one for "export" and one for the South Asian market. I think this has something to do with different marketing standards as well as differing rules around the world for ingredients lists. Anyway, the two tubes of Vicco I received were (as luck would have it) both the one labeled "Shaving Cream" for the export market and "Multipurpose Cream" for the Indian market. A quick check of the Vicco website shows that although the "Multipurpose Cream" has a different ingredient list, a delightfully 80's-themed TV commercial shows it as being used for everything from a face wash to first aid for cuts and finally, a men's shaving cream. The website's text bears this out too. So I'm pretty sure that they are essentially the same product.
The first thing that hits you when you see the box is a mustachioed Indian man leering at you. He's on the tube too, so you better get used to him because he's going to be watching you shave every time you use the stuff.
Then, after you digest the yellow-orange waxy appearance of the cream itself, you're greeted with one of the most pleasing fragrances I've yet encountered in shavedom. Reading the previous reviews from a few members here, I have to confess that I was amused. "Spice rack" was mentioned. "Weird" as well. But that's unfair because....this is sandalwood guys! Sandalwood, Indian style. In incense terms, it could be described as a "chandan" sandalwood. Chandan is the Hindi word for sandal but it's also used to describe a soft, somewhat powdery sandalwood with the creamy/buttery/spicy nature of Mysore but smoothed over with a soft floral note. I literally smiled when I discovered that Vicco had this scent, because it's very pleasing and something that's underused in cosmetics, but in many ways more authentic than most "sandalwoods" out there.
Okay, enough of all that. How does it perform? Well....better than decent, I'd say. It foams up like the devil and is easy to over-hydrate. My initial attempt resulted in a lather that was a bit too airy, like what you get when you don't use enough product when trying to lather a hard tallow soap. But putting a bit more than an almond-sized dollop in a bowl provided a thick, dense, stable lather. Slickness-wise it's fine. It won't win any awards but the razor didn't skip. Cushion was pretty ample, but not like high-end creams. When you actually lather the stuff the scent changes and gets more soapy and spicy, akin to Mysore Sandal Soap. I guess that's the 16% concentration of turmeric making its presence known. I was a little worried because I have pretty sensitive skin, but the turmeric content just tingled and didn't leave behind burned and reddened skin. So a two-pass shave was pretty comfortable with no irritation.
I don't know how much of this has to do with the turmeric, to be honest. The website claims that there is no need to use any form of aftershave. And turmeric is sort of a skin wonder-ingredient, anyway: it is antibacterial, antimicrobial, antifungal and is supposed to have superior skin-toning and exfoliating traits. For my part, post-shave my face felt like it had been washed. My skin was very soft and felt good, but not as moisturized as I would if I used a typical soap like MWF or cream like TOBS Avocado. And the delightful sandalwood fragrance lingered. No spiciness, just clean and lightly sweet.
Conclusions? I think it's a decent product. It's unique and cheap, so it's worth a try if you run across it online or in an Indian market. And even if you think it's sub-par as a shaving cream, it has multiple uses and the authentic sandalwood fragrance is reason enough to give it a shot. Now, if only I could track down the version that is supposed to contain sandalwood oil as well as fragrance! Seems to be India-only, though.
One caveat: It's got parabens and SLES, so if you're one of those guys that's wary of those ingredients, give this a pass.
Check out the so-bad-it's-good commercial here: http://viccolabs.com/vicco/Products.aspx?ProdNo=M6
Most products from India are sold in multiple versions, one for "export" and one for the South Asian market. I think this has something to do with different marketing standards as well as differing rules around the world for ingredients lists. Anyway, the two tubes of Vicco I received were (as luck would have it) both the one labeled "Shaving Cream" for the export market and "Multipurpose Cream" for the Indian market. A quick check of the Vicco website shows that although the "Multipurpose Cream" has a different ingredient list, a delightfully 80's-themed TV commercial shows it as being used for everything from a face wash to first aid for cuts and finally, a men's shaving cream. The website's text bears this out too. So I'm pretty sure that they are essentially the same product.
The first thing that hits you when you see the box is a mustachioed Indian man leering at you. He's on the tube too, so you better get used to him because he's going to be watching you shave every time you use the stuff.
Then, after you digest the yellow-orange waxy appearance of the cream itself, you're greeted with one of the most pleasing fragrances I've yet encountered in shavedom. Reading the previous reviews from a few members here, I have to confess that I was amused. "Spice rack" was mentioned. "Weird" as well. But that's unfair because....this is sandalwood guys! Sandalwood, Indian style. In incense terms, it could be described as a "chandan" sandalwood. Chandan is the Hindi word for sandal but it's also used to describe a soft, somewhat powdery sandalwood with the creamy/buttery/spicy nature of Mysore but smoothed over with a soft floral note. I literally smiled when I discovered that Vicco had this scent, because it's very pleasing and something that's underused in cosmetics, but in many ways more authentic than most "sandalwoods" out there.Okay, enough of all that. How does it perform? Well....better than decent, I'd say. It foams up like the devil and is easy to over-hydrate. My initial attempt resulted in a lather that was a bit too airy, like what you get when you don't use enough product when trying to lather a hard tallow soap. But putting a bit more than an almond-sized dollop in a bowl provided a thick, dense, stable lather. Slickness-wise it's fine. It won't win any awards but the razor didn't skip. Cushion was pretty ample, but not like high-end creams. When you actually lather the stuff the scent changes and gets more soapy and spicy, akin to Mysore Sandal Soap. I guess that's the 16% concentration of turmeric making its presence known. I was a little worried because I have pretty sensitive skin, but the turmeric content just tingled and didn't leave behind burned and reddened skin. So a two-pass shave was pretty comfortable with no irritation.
I don't know how much of this has to do with the turmeric, to be honest. The website claims that there is no need to use any form of aftershave. And turmeric is sort of a skin wonder-ingredient, anyway: it is antibacterial, antimicrobial, antifungal and is supposed to have superior skin-toning and exfoliating traits. For my part, post-shave my face felt like it had been washed. My skin was very soft and felt good, but not as moisturized as I would if I used a typical soap like MWF or cream like TOBS Avocado. And the delightful sandalwood fragrance lingered. No spiciness, just clean and lightly sweet.
Conclusions? I think it's a decent product. It's unique and cheap, so it's worth a try if you run across it online or in an Indian market. And even if you think it's sub-par as a shaving cream, it has multiple uses and the authentic sandalwood fragrance is reason enough to give it a shot. Now, if only I could track down the version that is supposed to contain sandalwood oil as well as fragrance! Seems to be India-only, though.
One caveat: It's got parabens and SLES, so if you're one of those guys that's wary of those ingredients, give this a pass.
Check out the so-bad-it's-good commercial here: http://viccolabs.com/vicco/Products.aspx?ProdNo=M6
