gor[b] Paul Gorbould: Words and Pictures

College girls love Tibet Snow

I just love this product promo sheet, which a colleague showed me today. It's from a skin cream product called Tibet Snow, which a friend of hers bought in Little India.

The text for this is wonderful - that antiquated colonial ESL that's spelled properly but still not quite right.

"College girls love Tibet Snow. Its use not only makes faces charming and fascinating but keeps off dust."

And this anti-dust property is so magical that "skin remains free from all diseases"!

The winning line has to be this one, though:

"Tibet Snow turns unpleasant odour of perspiration in armpits into most desirable flavour."

(The woman to the right does look like she's ready to lick her armpit.)

Ewwwww.

The product itself didn't stay long in my colleague's boudoir, though: "It was dreadful stuff, with a texture like sugar syrup and corn starch mixed together," she said. "It was dry and sticky at the same time. It took me a long time just to get it off." It hit the trash within a couple of days.

Good thing, too. A quick websearch yeilds few, but fascinating, results - including this query on Yahoo! Answers:

Has any1 ever used tibet snow face cream?
heard its good for blemishes and pigmentation marks....but does it reli work?

And the answer:

tibet snow face cream has mercury in it;
this skin lightening ingredient is harmful to the skin;
not to mention body poisoning especially after long term use;
before you buy any skin lighteners;
know the do's and don'ts...

So much for remaining disease free. Though aspiring beauty queens should have been tipped off by the notice down there at the bottom that Tibet Snow is produced by the esthicians at Kohinoor Chemical Co. in Karachi.

A little alarming to see that their entire website is now defunct.

The product is still listed (but not currently available) at an online Islamic shopping store, with this endorsement:

Classic... You must remeber this on your mothers
shelf?  The smell...MMmm MMmm.  Now you can smell just like mum!

My mom didn't smell like mercury poisoning, but still, if after all this you really must have some Tibet Snow, you can buy it at the Asian Cookshop for the whopping prince of £1.09. Just don't expect me to enjoy the desirable flavour of your armpits.