Khadi glycerine rose water soap

One day, Nur Jahan, tired from a hard day's work at the royal court, dispensing orders to her wazirs while her husband Jahangir, Emperor of the Mughal empire, lay stoned in the bar room of the palace after having 10 shots of god knows what and ganja called out to her lady-in-waiting to set a bath up for her. Having to handle an alcoholic husband and the entire empire by herself had taken a huge toll on the queen. The youthful beauty that had once mesmerized the king now had dark circles under her eyes and her skin had lost its usual lustre. Seeing her queen in distress, she set up a hot water bath for her and added to it a few rose petals.

As the queen undressed and set foot into the bath the maid had arranged for her, the soft, tender smell of the flower hit her. Very soon, the perfume of the flower enveloped the entire bath space and she found herself drift into a trance-like state. She dreamt of being in a rose garden with a million roses all around her, swimming in a vast sea of red,yellow and white. A knock on the door, woke her out of her dream. " There got to be something more I can make out of this" she said and this led to her discovery of rose attar (perfume).

The glycerine rose water soap seems to have been created out of the same sense of love that Nur Jahan  experienced for roses. The baby-pink coloured bar of soap is absolutely precious. It has exactly the right quantity of rose water so that the fragrance is neither over-powering nor hard to detect. It makes a delightful combination with a hot water bath and even after you leave the bathroom, the faint fragrance of the flower does not fail to linger. The glycerine portion of the soap is not hard to miss either; it leaves your skin clean and well hydrated. The bar of soap is absolutely unassuming and does not try too hard to sell itself. It lets its fragrance do the talking. Having a bath with it every night was an absolute delight and it set alight my passion for the flower. That beautiful flower, forgotten by the world!

The glycerine rose water soap by Khadi is totally worth buying at 45 rupees a piece and works brilliantly well as a night soap. The scent calms and relaxes your body after a hard day's work. Although the soap loses much of its fragrance after having used it a couple of times, it is still worth buying.Bathing with it is sure to bring back that lost romance with the rose back into your life!

Soap name: Glycerine and Rose water soap

Seller: Khadi

Price: Rupees 45/-

Bought from: Flipkart ( http://www.flipkart.com/khadi-pure-lavender-soap-glycerine-rose-water-pack-2/p/itmde5956fvmezcb?pid=SOPDE593XZNHHYGJ )




    

Lotus Herbals,LICORICEWHITE Skin Whitening Cleanser

" A 100% Ayurvedic natural remedy that effectively controls melanin, thus making the skin glow with fairness. Regular use of LICORICEWHITE makes skin visibly whiter and effectively works to remove blemishes. It contains premium ingredients like Licorice (Mulathi) and Manjishtha in their purest form"

Lets review this claim, shall we?

"A 100% Ayurvedic natural remedy..."   The soap lists the use of Licorice, Manjishtha, Nimbu chilka, Kesar and soap base as ingredients. Given that four of the five ingredients are natural, this one is granted to Lotus.

"....that effectively controls melanin, thus making the skin glow with fairness."   Licorice and Manjistha are both commonly used to cure skin diseases.Licorice is used as a skin whitening agent due to its inhibitory effect on synthesis of melanin whereas Manjishtha is used to treat skin diseases in many Ayurvedic medicines. So well, in a way, it does control melanin and it is supposed to make the skin glow with fairness. Lotus got this one right as well.

"Regular use of LICORICEWHITE makes skin visibly whiter and effectively works to remove blemishes." Now this one I have a problem with. You see, I used the soap diligently every morning and every night for about 3 weeks, and it did not make my skin "visibly whiter". Now there could be two reasons for this. Either three weeks doesn't  exactly fit the definition of "regular use" or that my eyes have been severely wrecked in the 21 years of my existence. Anyways, I waited day in and day out, looking at the mirror and asking several people if I had in fact become any fairer that I was before. Sure, a few said that I looked clean and fresh and many other flattering adjectives( See, how soap reviews also help you judge whom and whom not to believe! ) but not one of them stated that I looked fairer than before having used this soap. Maybe it did make my skin white, who knows? But I can say, for sure, that the whiteness wasn't very "visible".

"It contains premium ingredients like Licorice (Mulathi) and Manjishtha in their purest form" . Well, I have no way of verifying this. Besides, I would like to believe that the world is a good place and that Lotus Herbals would not make a claim that is not true.

Would I recommend the soap to anyone? Sure. Even though it does not stand up to its claim of making the skin "visibly white", this gel based soap that smells like watermelon bubblegum (Don't be shocked. Licorice is used as a sweetener in candies) is still worth a try. The soap cleans you up just right and  although it has no specific moisturizing property it does leave your skin nice and soft unlike other moisturizing soaps that make your skin feel greasy and oily which is why it is such a perfect soap to be used any time of the year. The Soap is also very attractively packed and and is sure to make you want to run out and buy it.

So, all in all I would say it is a worthy investment at 70 rupees. But when any of you do end up using it, wait for a period of time that would justify "regular use" of the soap, find out if it makes it "visibly white" and let me know, will you?

Seller: Lotus herbals

Soap name: LICORICEWHITE Skin whitening Cleanser

Price: Rs 70/-

Bought from: Flipkart ( http://www.flipkart.com/lotus-herbals-licorice-white-skin-whitening-cleanser/p/itmd9ast2z5jhqdn?pid=SOPD96AY8RMDZHMW )

Vaadi Sandal soap with saffron and turmeric

Remember the time Veerappan was a huge menace in the South? He was charged with everything from man-slaughter to kidnapping, to poaching of elephants to sandalwood smuggling. Among his many misdeeds however the last one seems to have stuck the most, giving him the moniker ‘Sandalwood Veerappan’. Veerappan obviously thought very highly of the value of this ingredient and so do I. I would like to believe that is the only thing Veerappan and I share in common. I love sandalwood soaps and I really expected this one to be a diamond in the mine.

I took a very long time to make my mind up about the soap (two weeks almost).It was hard to really figure out what I thought about it. It was a nice soap. Not mind blowing, spectacular stuff just nice. The translucent, plain bar of soap was uninteresting (I like interesting shapes and sizes in soaps) but it did its job well. It lathered well, had a pleasant fragrance that lingered for a long time and made my skin feel clean. There isn’t  much more that I could possibly say about it. All the characteristics I have just listed are, if you have noticed, quite, oh how should I say it, ordinary.

Vaadi had good intentions.  The sandalwood, saffron and turmeric combination is actually delightful and anyone who enjoys a good earthy scent would find it very enticing.  Like I said, it is a nice everyday-use soap but tweak the ingredients a little and it would have been spectacular. Like for example, if the soap had a cream base instead of the glycerine and that itself would have taken this soap up several notches. The soap does have the advantage of being affordable (it is priced at Rs.25/- ) and having the right mix of ingredients which might entice the loyal sandalwood soap audience but my only regret it is that it could have been so much more.

All in all, this soap does not demand your complete devotion and loyalty in the soap department but it is definitely worth a one-time wash. It’s been almost 8 years since the death of the notorious Sandalwood Veerappan but I am sure when he smuggled 10,000 tons of sandalwood to the US for 22,000,000$  he thought it would have come to better use than in the Vaadi soap. He obviously knew the real worth of this soap and had he been alive today I am sure he would have had added one more charge to his chargesheet.

Seller: Vaadi Herbals

Soap name: Divine Sandal soap (Skin whitening therapy)

Seller : Flipkart

Price; Rs 25/-

  

Aloe Veda: Luxury Butter Bathing Bar- Chocolate and coffee soap scrub

Rummaging through my carton of soap bars, unable to decide which soap to open next, I thought I would arrive at my choice by deducting those scents that least fascinated me... Himalayan Plum, The orange and cinnamon, joined other soap bars at the bottom of the carton. Then one soap description sprung up at me. It read, " A perfect mood enhancer,this chocolate and coffee soap gives you the best way to kick start your day and experience a unique chocolate high. Made with the ancient recipe of crushed coffee beans that gently exfoliate and protect your skin, cocoa extracts, aloe Vera and glycerin, this exotic formula is Aloe Veda's offering for the chocolate lovers in the bath tub."

How could I resist that? Coffee, kick start ( I have been working for 15 hrs each day for the whole of last week!), scrub, mood enhancer ( I had been editing articles for the past 4 hrs)- it had all the right words...

Once I lathered on (yes, the soap gives one a good, thick foamy lather) the soap, I could smell only the chocolate and I felt a little disappointed on missing out on the coffee... and exactly 2 mins later, the most orgasmic coffee scent hit me and I let out a heavy, helpless sigh. "This bar of soap is perfect!" , I thought and it is. It lathers on great, smells unbelievably awesome and it delivered all the promises it made along with an added bonus- my skin felt supremely soft and supple. The mood enhancer bit? They weren't kidding! Even after 2 hrs of taking a bath, I feel like a million bucks and 'am raring to go work some more. I couldn't wait to blog about this, I think this is every soap enthusiast's dream bathing bar. Chocolate and coffee act as anti oxidants, and the scrub keeps your pores clean. Its a handmade organic soap made from Palm Kernel Oil, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Coffee Grains, Whole Cloves, Ginger Oil, Wheat Germ Oil, Almond Oil, Chocolate, Coffee Paste

As you can already see, I can't stop raving about the soap. For all that it delivers, its priced at a very reasonable 80 rupees. It can easily be bought from most online shopping sites and drug stores in India. Aloe Veda is a new brand for me and I was surprised that this Mumbai based company had such a wide range of products to deliver...

Ladies and gentlemen (and all those cool enough to reject these labels), we have a Winner!! And this time, I'll take the liberty to say: You've gotta buy this or you'll pretty much suck! Bah!

For now, am in soap heaven. :)



Seller: Aloe Veda
Name:Luxury Butter Bathing Bar- Chocolate and coffee soap scrub
Price: 80 rupees

Lavender and basil soap. Fabindia

The lavender and basil soap did what I least expected it to do. It brought back memories from college. Second bench, first year of degree college, physics class and Sijo. Sijo was my classmate and the most distinct smell in class . He didn’t believe in attending lectures and since our college had a strict 75% attendance rule (as most colleges in Mumbai do these days), he managed to sneak into class through the doors when the teacher wasn’t looking during the attendance and more often than not he always ended up sitting next to me. I tried sitting somewhere else but he always seemed to find me. I could always tell whether Sijo was coming from a mile away. And every physics class that I ended up sitting next to him, I got a bad headache. I have never to this day found anyone who smelt like him. I’ve met people who haven’t had a bath for several days (even months) but none of them have even come close to smelling like him.

The soap reminded me of Sijo. Both of them have a smell that skips the nostrils and hits you straight in the head. Like a bullet would if you’d shot it through your mouth. Both had scents that could be characterized…for lack of a better word, as pungent. The soap though has a very strong basil character and the soft element of lavender seems to have been lost in the bargain. Now I’ve smelt basil before and it actually has a very fresh, earthy scent to it. Lavender has a very sweet, floral and diffuse scent. None of the two scents happen to be particularly strong. Fabindia seems to have overcompensated, in the soap, with a very strong basil character for the lack of intensity of either ingredient to sufficiently abuse the nasal capacities of any human. I don’t know of any woman who would want to smell like it which is really sad because the clear bar of soap is really appealing and the soap also lathers quite well. Fabindia did manage to think up a heavenly marriage of lavender and basil; I only wish they had managed to get the proportions of the two ingredients right. Lavender and basil, in the right proportion, could have blended to come up with a brilliant scent to have linger on your body after a hot water shower during the rains.

The lavender and basil soap by Fabindia is actually very attractive looking. The promise of the combination of the two fragrances and the price (Rs. 65) makes anyone want to pick it up. But, even though the soap sounds exciting, I can think of other soaps that do the job better than this one (will write about those in my future reviews) and this soap would best be avoided. For now, I have to risk smelling like Sijo until the soap bar decides to dissolve into the hot waters of my shower, little by little and ascend into soap heaven.

Seller: Fabindia
Purchased from: Flipkart (http://www.flipkart.com/search/a/all?query=lavender+and+basil+soap&vertical=all&dd=0&autosuggest%5Bas%5D=off&autosuggest%5Bas-submittype%5D=default-search&autosuggest%5Bas-grouprank%5D=0&autosuggest%5Bas-overallrank%5D=0&Search=%C2%A0&_r=n_2yuAC4xgh0SZTuulvAtw--&_l=Tnndui8JdMVk7CZmDKIfXQ--&ref=24b3834a-d199-4de4-968a-38aefa7fbb00&selmitem=)
Price: Rupees 65/-

Satsuma Soap, The Body Shop

I don’t know what excites me more about the Satsuma soap bar by The Body Shop- the way the tangerine scent engulfs my bath space or the way my skin feels after a wash. Lets starts of by getting the name sorted, shall we? Satsuma sounds pretty exotic and all of that exoticism dusts off when we realize that it is in fact a type of orange, a commoner among fruits. Satsuma oranges originated from the Satsuma region in Japan and is often seedless as Wikipedia informs us. I just found it a little funny when The Body Shop website claims that the bar of soap is made from “real” Satsuma “seed” oil. Seed? Oopsy, indeed.

Keeping this minor mystery aside, the Satsuma soap priced at a slightly above average price of 90 rupees, is a far cry from disappointment. The soap is soft, smooth and shaped for a perfect fit in your palm.  The scent is highly citrus based and smells slightly of more than just oranges. Though it gathers up a good lather, it does not fail to leave your skin well moisturized. I don’t see how it can harm an acne prone skin or oily skin- as far as I’m concerned, it would suit any skin type… The scent diffuses beautifully onto your skin and stays on for a long time. Since I stay in a very summery Rajasthan, the soap was quite a blessing- with the lather leaving me squeaky clean (from all that desert sand) and the Satsuma scent leaving me confident enough to face the world (and not have to worry about sweat stains or BO).  Uplifted senses are just the cherry on the cake…

Now for the pricing- yes, it is not necessarily affordable or fit a student’s pocket easily, and one might argue that we will find other citrus soaps that is lighter on our wallets and that is where I would disagree. Being a huge fan of citrus scents, the Satsuma soap is the best I’ve used so far and I’ve tried many others since and they have all been disappointing- either they don’t lather enough or the scents smell like artificial chemicals. More over, with The Body Shop’s no animal testing policy and giving back to the community policy, I feel like that 90 rupees is my little bit towards the environment.

Just go pick up a bar, will ya? Don’t you see, I cant stop gushing about the soap?

SELLER: The Body Shop

Soap name: Satsuma Soap

Price: Rupees 90

Bought from: The Body Shop store, The Forum Mall, Bangalore

Wikipedia link: 

HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/SATSUMA_(FRUIT)

Seabuckthorn Scrub soap, Fabindia

For the first soap I picked to review, sea buckthorn turned out to be a disappointment. Before googling it, sea buckthorn sounded like one of those happy sea-weedish scents that made me think of a blue lagoon with merry sea horses and exotic little fish floating in and out of the reddish green tentacles of seaweed. Sea buckthorn, Google confirmed, was not sea weed at all. It is actually a deciduous shrub that gives yellow-red fruits resembling  gooseberries. The fruit did look pretty tempting and I decided to put it on my online shopping cart anyway.

“Made from legendary seabuckthorn berries found in higher altitudes of the Himalayas, this bathing bar contains nutrients, essential oils and vitamins that protect and nourish your skin” claims Fabindia.

The soap smells a lot like a seaweedy citronella only much more damp and diffuse. It has an extremely harsh scrub that can reduce a thick-skinned bull to mere bones. Not really recommended for sensitive skin. Might serve the purpose of a pumice stone for many but too hard for sensitive areas like the back or face. The soap has two layers and the scrubby layer tends to wear off after 3-4 uses leaving behind a black gravel-like residue on your bathroom floor every time you have a bath.

The soap really doesn’t lather all that much even when you use a loofah and the fragrance isn’t all that distinct either. At the end of a shower, the soap doesn’t make you feel fresh or revitalized after a hard day at work and leaves a lot to be desired. It might be good to try it out once to satisfy your curiosity of what a seabuckthorn bath feels like but I would be surprised if someone decided to take another go at it.


Soap: Seabuckthorn with Scrub
Seller: Fabindia 
Price: 65 rupees
Bought from: Flipkart, India.
http://www.flipkart.com/fabindia-seabuckthorn-scrub-soap/p/itmd9uz3rvrcgwhd?pid=SOPD9UTC8TGKFNTT

If you want to know more about seabuckthorn, visit: http://www.seabuckthorninsider.com/