Lets Talk About Mysore Sandal Soap

**Kristen C Serrano** · 04-23-2012, 10:05 PM

Hey Phog Allen!!!! thanks for this useful information and Over all great INFO shared by you... :)

**Alaskan Snowmonkey** · 04-24-2012, 06:48 PM

Indeed, a great thread. My Asian grocer in Anchorage is now stocking it. I'm really enjoying it! Thanks.

**mach3avelli** · 04-27-2012, 09:06 AM

ordered my first cake just a coupla days ago, a bargain off eBay at £1.49.
I work with a guy who uses nothing else and I love the scent.

**Phog Allen** · 05-01-2012, 04:40 AM

Thank you for the compliments Kristen. It really is a nice scent and the price is unbeatable.

Cheers, Todd

**Jeepermac** · 07-26-2012, 08:49 PM

I live(my wife and kids) in Anchorage( I temporarily live in Afghanistan) which Asian Grocery store?

**mcpreece** · 10-26-2012, 11:14 PM

After reading through this thread, I stopped by the local Indian shop and there it was, for $1.50 a bar. The owner said a minimum $3 to use the debit machine... so I had to get two! The strong fragrance subsided a little once I used it a couple of times. It lathers very quickly, and moisturizes too. Great sandalwood scent! Very masculine. I have added it to my stock.

Thanks for the great info on here!

**mach3avelli** · 10-27-2012, 06:53 AM

Dearly Beloved bought me a coupla bars of this little beauty a while back, what a fragrance! Just opening the box gives me the collywobbles, and the scent lasts forever on my skin. Showering with the Mysore, and a few spritzes of Old Spice AP and I'm set up for the day- a really good combo!

**thekinge** · 10-27-2012, 07:55 AM

I'm surprised in a positive way that the "little known outside of India" Mysore sandal soap has a good following here in B&B! Back in India, Mysore sandal is one among the many body soaps that we can purchase and use. Perhaps one of these days, I'll put up a thread introducing a few other Indian soaps that may interest B&B'ers

**Kevan** · 10-27-2012, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by thekinge

I'm surprised in a positive way that the "little known outside of India" Mysore sandal soap has a good following here in B&B! Back in India, Mysore sandal is one among the many body soaps that we can purchase and use. Perhaps one of these days, I'll put up a thread introducing a few other Indian soaps that may interest B&B'ers

Always been a fan of Indian soaps. Just wish a bigger selection was available here (in the US). Usually it's just Pears, Mysore, Lifebuoy, or some aimed specifically at women.

**thekinge** · 10-29-2012, 08:18 AM

Originally Posted by Kevan

Always been a fan of Indian soaps. Just wish a bigger selection was available here (in the US). Usually it's just Pears, Mysore, Lifebuoy, or some aimed specifically at women.

Glad to know Kevan! Back when I used to live in US (2007-2008) Whole Foods used to carry Chandrika and MediMix soap. But these are just basic soaps made by saponifying different types of oil and they do not have any specific fragrance, so they may not be for everyone.

Chandrika Soap: http://www.chandrikasoaps.com/ChandV01/products/

Medimix: http://www.cholayil.com/medimix-ayur...rbal-soap.aspx

I have been using the Chandrika green soap for many years till I switched over to African Black Soap out of curiosity (and seeing it covered in Dr. Oz show!) If I do not see any visible results using black soap, it will be back to Chandrika for me!

Edit: These soaps may also be available in your neighborhood Indian food store.

**Kevan** · 11-02-2012, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by thekinge

Glad to know Kevan! Back when I used to live in US (2007-2008) Whole Foods used to carry Chandrika and MediMix soap. But these are just basic soaps made by saponifying different types of oil and they do not have any specific fragrance, so they may not be for everyone.

Chandrika Soap: http://www.chandrikasoaps.com/ChandV01/products/

Medimix: http://www.cholayil.com/medimix-ayur...rbal-soap.aspx

I have been using the Chandrika green soap for many years till I switched over to African Black Soap out of curiosity (and seeing it covered in Dr. Oz show!) If I do not see any visible results using black soap, it will be back to Chandrika for me!

Edit: These soaps may also be available in your neighborhood Indian food store.

I totally forgot Chandrika! It's my favorite soap for the warm months. Avaliable at a local Indian market near me. The last time I stocked up they had the Kerala-produced bars and not the export ones. I don't know if there's any real difference but they smelled stronger. And since I love the fragrance of Chandrika, that can only be a good thing. :)

**RaiserLiebe** · 11-03-2012, 05:09 AM

Originally Posted by chicagotrim

You got to LOVE B&B! Smallflower is the online site for Merz Apothecary in downtown Chicago. They will be sure to have it!

Oh yes...http://www.smallflower.com/search/mysore

**Phog Allen** · 11-03-2012, 05:54 AM

I am so pleased to see this thread still active and providing some usefullness to people. I am still humbled at having a thread pinned as a sticky. And btw this is still a great soap. I wish there was a shaving version. The unadulterated decadence would be superb. I often wonder what a comination of this scent and Hammam Bouquet would be like in a shave soap.

Cheers, Todd

**luvmysuper** · 11-03-2012, 06:09 AM

Originally Posted by Phog Allen

I am so pleased to see this thread still active and providing some usefullness to people. I am still humbled at having a thread pinned as a sticky. And btw this is still a great soap. I wish there was a shaving version. The unadulterated decadence would be superb. I often wonder what a comination of this scent and Hammam Bouquet would be like in a shave soap.

Cheers, Todd

I gave a bar of this to a friend of mine, it was the round version. He assumed that since I had given it to him that it was shaving related and was using it as a shaving soap

I did tell him that it was a bath soap.

**thekinge** · 11-05-2012, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by Kevan

I totally forgot Chandrika! It's my favorite soap for the warm months. Avaliable at a local Indian market near me. The last time I stocked up they had the Kerala-produced bars and not the export ones. I don't know if there's any real difference but they smelled stronger. And since I love the fragrance of Chandrika, that can only be a good thing. :)

Kevan, I have used both the soap bar intended for local market in India and the "export version" in Singapore. To me, they smelled just about the same! I love the fresh, mild citrus smell of Chandrika as well! Btw, I have noted details about few other Indian soaps last Sunday when I was out and about. Hopefully I will put it up as a separate thread this week.

Originally Posted by luvmysuper

I gave a bar of this to a friend of mine, it was the round version. He assumed that since I had given it to him that it was shaving related and was using it as a shaving soap

I did tell him that it was a bath soap.

You can't blame him! Someone like you handing him over a puck shaped soap and expect him to read the details on the label to understand it's a bath soap!!

**luvmysuper** · 11-05-2012, 04:19 PM

Originally Posted by thekinge

Kevan, I have used both the soap bar intended for local market in India and the "export version" in Singapore. To me, they smelled just about the same! I love the fresh, mild citrus smell of Chandrika as well! Btw, I have noted details about few other Indian soaps last Sunday when I was out and about. Hopefully I will put it up as a separate thread this week.

You can't blame him! Someone like you handing him over a puck shaped soap and expect him to read the details on the label to understand it's a bath soap!!

He shaved with it for a week and says it did a great job for him, so he had no real complaints!

**thekinge** · 11-05-2012, 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by luvmysuper

He shaved with it for a week and says it did a great job for him, so he had no real complaints!

Phil, it may surprise many of us, till this day (and for many years prior) my father continues to use only a bath soap and a synthetic brush to create lather! Granted, his beard is not as tough as mine, but he manages a DFS every time he shaves with a bath soap. Go figure!

I gifted him a Merkur 23C (a search for a safety razor for him is what got me started into wet shaving) and when he uses it, he removes the guard bar and just screws in the blade and head directly into the handle. So his razor is a "No Comb" Merkur 23C with the blade mostly exposed and yet he manages to shave without nicks, cuts or weepers

I haven't yet picked up the skill to try it but hopefully one day I will

**RaiserLiebe** · 11-05-2012, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by luvmysuper

He shaved with it for a week and says it did a great job for him, so he had no real complaints!

Just bought a bar at Patel Bros grocery in Garden City Mich. The scent is wonderful. I too wonder as I read this thread about taking a brushful and shaving with it!
Cheers
Mike

**onefallinghope** · 11-10-2012, 10:56 PM

My favorite bath soap of all time, and available at my local Indian grocery (as is Chandrika and several others)

I loved the scent so much that I too wondered about shaving with it... So I did, and I found it to be a very poor performing shave soap. :)

**The Knize** · 01-15-2013, 04:15 PM

I will sort of bump this thread. I forgot to put on any kind of edt, etc. scent this morning, and then forgot I forgot, and thought I must have put on something.

I kept trying to figure out what it was, and was thinking Floris "Sandalwood," maybe. Lorenzo Villoresi "Sandalo," maybe? Two fairly well-respected, hard to get and/or pricey fragrances. Nope, just residual Mysore Sandal Soap scent from my morning shower.

I had to "fool" myself to test it out, but apparently, IMHO, the scent of this soap holds up very well to some really nice sandalwood scents. YMMV!