First Shaving Trip - The Quest for Musgo Real

[Ricardo Franca]

Arriving in Lisbon I had some specific goals in mind; one of them would be to buy some Musgo Real in a typical Portuguese drugstore.

We stayed at the house of my wife’s cousin and husband, Duda (Eduardo), the husband is the kind of guy who shaves in the shower with regular bath soap. When I told him about the legendary Musgo Real and that a lot of friends form the B&B message board just loved the product, he started to get curious about this wet shaving business…

Of course he had no idea where to buy it but it should be easy… That’s when the fun started.

I would, during my sightseeing, go in and out of various pharmacies, drugstores and markets looking for the precious cream but most of the people we asked never even heard of it.

One day, after my wife and I just got back to their house, actually, that was the day I proposed to my wife on the Tower of Belem (well we live together for 7 years aren’t actually married - but that’s a different story)… Anyway, we got to their house and Duda was all excited “I Googled ‘Musgo Real’ and there was this Portuguese guy saying it was the best cream in the world and it’s made in Porto. How come I’ve never heard of it? We have to find it!”
So every time we went out we would ask everyone (the waiter, taxi drive, bus driver) if they knew Musgo Real. The interesting is that the “Old Timers” would remember the product “Yes, now that you mentioned it, I remember. Long ago there was a product with that name, it was really good, but I don’t think they make it any more…”

When I went to a shop and asked to the new generation, they would just say “Musgo What?!?”

It was strange to see that you could easily find it online or in a shop in New York but knot in its home country.

One old lady told us “As far as I know it was bought by ‘Klaus Porto Co.’ it seems that they still make but not so much” It was liking building a puzzle or solving a mystery, each one we asked, gave us a clue, but no cream so far…
The thing started to grow and if we went for a coffee, Duda would go to the table with the three old men (every café in Portugal has one) and ask “Excuse me, do you know a shaving cream called Musgo Real?” and they would normally answer “oh yes I remember Long ago there was a product with that name…”

Once I thought I was near: I found Musgo Real bath soap, but no cream. And in a pharmacy the nice old lady told me she loved their products and that it was not so hard to find “you will come across it eventually”.

In Porto I had no better luck; some people would have heard of it but didn’t know how to find it and the places I was supposed to “find it for sure” were closed on the days I was in town.

So for me Musgo Real became some kind of myth, a Holly Grail of creams, my Atlantis.

Some days ago, when I was already back home, my wife’s cousin (Duda’s wife) rang me on skype, her first words “Guess what I found…” They finally found Musgo in a shop in the Chiado District(Lisbon) that sells traditional Portuguese products. And the salesman had no idea that Musgo Real was so famous outside of Portugal.

They bought one for his father, and since they are coming to Brasil soon, they promised to bring me one for Christmas. I just hope this stuff is worth the trouble

[Sleeman]

I too searched for it while in Portugal. I belive there is only two stores that sell it in the whole country!!! I found it before I left but ended up paying more for it than I would have if I had bought it online.

- Jeff

[MikeNYC]

Perhaps this will deter future travel seekers looking for needle in hay:

Claus Porto is used to brand the high-quality products aimed at the foreign market, while the institutional brand Ach.Brito is used to bond the mass market brands commercialized in the domestic market.

[FatboySlim]

I've never actually tried the legendary Musgo Real Shave Cream.

But I very much love the Musgo Real After Shave Balm, and the Musgo Real Glyce Lime Soap. Both are very classic, Old-World. So I'm sure the cream is worth the effort. Happy hunting!

I wish I could buy the shaving products that I've learned about here and loved, in a local walk-in store. I live in a big urban area, but still have to buy (almost) everything that's really good online. I'm still happy just to have them at all, though. High-end wet shaving is a relatively inexpensive true luxury, thank God.

I alternate between D.R. Harris Arlington Milk and Musgo Real ASB as my favorite after-shave products (applied after a base of Trumper's Coral Skin Food). Similar "luxury" texture and effectiveness, but very different scents. The Musgo Real is the more "masculine" of the two, I suppose. But either one makes me feel like Superman first thing in the morning.

[Lynchmeister]

Great story! I'm looking forward to the others yet to come.

[indykramer]

Awesome Story. Musgo Real is the first "real" (no pun intended) shaving cream ive used. I got back from an all expenses paid 6 month cruise around the world about 5 months ago. Some people call it a military deployment but i like to think positive. We stopped in various ports in Europe and Asia. I wish i would have known about wet shaving then. I could have acquired all kinds of things. I did get a straight razor shave in Turkey complete with flaming q tips to burn off my ear hair and tweezing of the eyebrows with thread all for about 4$. One of the best things i have ever bought under 5 bucks.

[vespergo]

i've gotta try this cream now!