What? Green shampoo? Well, the title of today’s column is a little twist on the old saying – “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” You’ve heard the saying, right?
Now, what does this have to do with shampoo? Well, I’m going to poke a little fun at Feyma today. She is welcome to poke me back, I’m sure that she won’t have any trouble finding something that I am an easy target for!
You see, when Feyma first moved to the States, it didn’t take long and she was always telling me that she missed the shampoo from the Philippines. I told her that we had so many kinds of shampoo in the States that she must be able to find some kind of shampoo that she liked! She told me that the shampoo in the Philippines was special, because it was made for Filipino hair, and thus worked better for Filipinos than the American brands did.
We searched and searched, and finally we found sources for Filipino brands of shampoo! It wasn’t easy to find them, but it turned out that a Filipino grocery store in town carried such items. They were pretty darn expensive, but if my wife felt that she needed it, of course I would do whatever was necessary to get it for her, right? So, of course, I bought it for her, and during the ten years that Feyma lived in the States, Feyma tended to use Filipino brands of shampoo, which we purchased from the Filipino store in our community. It was just better for her.
A funny thing happened when we moved to the Philippines, though… Feyma rarely buys Filipino brands of shampoo anymore! Ha ha….. when I ask her why, she says “The Pantene is just so much better than the local brands!”
Oh my…..
Very funny, Bob. My wife had me running around looking for Palmolive for the very same reason. I told her that brand was a dish washing soap here. She finally relented and Pantene was in fact one of the brands she started using.
Know what she brought back from our trip, though? Palmolive Natural Shampoo 😆
Hi Randy C – Ha ha… yep, this is a story that I tell a lot, and it is still funny after all the years! Don't be too upset about carrying all that shampoo back with you, though. There is another fellow that I know who lives in the States. He is also married to a Filipina. Some years ago they came back here for vacation, and when they were headed back, he noticed that his luggage was considerably heavier than when he flew to the Philippines (it's usually the other way around). When they got home and opened the luggage, he found that he had a ton of stones from the river bead. Apparently, his wife liked to use these types of stones for scrubbing her body when she washed it, and she needed a supply for back in the States! 😆
Hi Bob! Call it beauty regimen. My aunt in New Zealand buys bottles of Nivea deodorant here when she comes home. Not sure if she buys shampoo though. Now, that stone story I can relate to. I have actually preferred it to the exfolating loofah or mitts. They are definitely better! Sadly, I don't have any stone anymore.
Hi Cathy – Nice to hear from you, it's been a while! I hope you are doing well!
Funny that your aunt would buy Nivea here! I thought that Nivea was made abroad anyway, isn't it available in New Zealand? Or is it a different formula here?
No more stones? Well, on your next trip to the river you can remedy that! 😆
Hi Bob! Yeah, been busy.
I don't know why my aunt buys nivea here. that variety must not be available in NZ.
Ha ha ha. Can't help it. If I didn't do what I did you would not have funny stories to tell here. Don't you think? 😆 😆
Lucky you before I didn't carry any stones with us when we head home to the States when vacationing here. Hmm, I should have. That would be something to talk about. 😉 😆
Hi Cathy – Yeah, that's possible! Funny, though!
Hi Honey – Ha ha.. I got you today. 😆 You are lucky that you didn't carry rocks back to the States. If you did that, you would have been in big trouble!
Actually I regularly mail shampoo and conditioner for black hair. Like Sunsilk, Kolours, etc. To friends in the USA who own black dogs, (they are not Filipinos but white people) they think the shampoo and conditioner works better than the dog shampoo made for black dogs.
They think it's even better than the Aveda for black hair, LOL!
Hi Cheryll Ann – Better watch out, though… if those dogs return to the Philippines, they will probably want American Shampoo! 😆
Hi Bob – Pinay hair care doesn't stop at shampoo in this household. Having a cut, perm and/or coloring HAS to be done by a Filipina hairdresser. Anyone else just "doesn't know how to do it"! 😆
(Asawa-ko just left for the Phils tonight to take care of some house construction issues; leaving me behind to pay! 😥 )
Hi Paul – Hang in there, my friend! Hopefully your newly established bachelor days will pass quickly! AT least you'll save money on shampoo, perms and such for the next few weeks! 😆
Bob,
Come to think of it ALL my dogs use shampoo purchased from the United States, hahahahhaha!
http://www.petedge.com is my BEST FRIEND hehehehe
The stone you guys are talking about is called 'Lugod' in Bisaya. Wow, that's a very good business potential 🙄 No capital needed but some effort trips to the river. The only hindrance maybe is the environmetalist folks who in due time would complain specially if they see you're earning much money than them. 😆 Well, maninda na lang siguro ko'g 'Lugod' ❓
Hi Cheryll Ann – See! I told you so! 😆
Hi Teng – Yep, great business idea! Ha ha… thanks for sharing that info!
Hi Bob,With not to much hair left i guess any brand will do me ha ha .But maybe you can help me in an other area,My wife and i will be moving to Samal in July and will be staying in Davao for a mounth.My question is are there any inexpensive gyms that charge by the day or mounth so my wife and i can lift weights until i can settle in samal and get my own equipment,Also thank you for rhe info about vitamins.
I'm a bit lucky living in Europe for 24 years as we have lots of choices for diferent kinds of hair. I just stumble in your site while surfing for a cheap fare from Manila to GenSan.
That's hilarious! I would admit that I did the same for the first year I came to Canada but learned to switch right after. It gets too expensive. Although, I am still a regular customer in Filipino stores for items like Mama Sita sachets, patis(much better tasting than Vietnamese brand, I think), Marca pina toyo and of course, the frozen longaniza and tocinos. I think doing this on a regular basis makes me feel I'm not too far from home…..
Hi Bob- Your story reminds me of when we were in Nigeria a friend there who used to work in the Philippines for a cosmetic company was discussing shampoo one day with a colleague and told him there was a shampoo called "Gee your hair smells terriffic". Well as you can imagine his colleague laughed and laughed and told everyone about this crazy shampoo. Nobody believed that a shampoo could have a name as crazy as that
Enter yours truely who was about to go back to the Philippines on holiday so I was implored to bring back a sample of this crazy shampoo. Now to be honest I had doubts at first that such a shampoo existed until Marilou confirmed there was such a thing. I duly bought a small bottle in Manila and took it back to Nigeria with me as evidence. It was the talk of Lagos for many weeks and I was the hero of the hour as far as my friend was concerned. I don't know if this shampoo still exists or if anyone else can remember it.
Hi Bob!
I can totally relate with this … Ha ha ha I still use coconut milk to condition my hair. I always have worn a very long hair even now that it's turning "black and pepper" I don't need to dye my hair, to me this is like …"just show me my coconut milk and nobody's going to get hurt". 😆
Cheers!
My kano hair is reddish/brown and i like the Sunsilk shampoo i brought home from my last trip to the Philippines better than any U.S. brand i've tried. Maybe the filipino shampoo is better, or maybe it just reminds me of being on vacation in the Philippines. 'Buti na lang.
Hello all,
I think all of us men here know the "moral" of this story, "Its always a womans perogative to change her mind".
Enough said
😆 😆 😆
Take care,
Danny
Hi jim – There are lots of gyms in Davao City, but I am unaware of any on Samal. There may be some, but I am not aware of them, sorry I can't help on this one.
I do hope you have a great time there!
Hi Chat – Thanks for dropping by! Yeah, in the States they also have many brands of shampoo to choose from. My point was not really about having the brands available, but more of an immigrant's wish to stick with what was from back home. I know how it feels, because I've seen myself make such choices as well. 😆
Hi Veechee – Exactly! We regularly bought all of those kinds of things too! It makes it almost like you're living in the Philippines! 😆
Hi Jim – Ha ha.. I am more familiar with that shampoo than you know! I used to be in the business of selling that stuff over the Internet! What a great story!
Hi MarcelinaWW – Oh, yes. Feyma does the coconut milk thing too, and even uses calamansi to wash her hair sometimes, as I recall.
Hi pogidaga – Thanks for visiting! I think you are right, you're using that Sunsilk or whatever to keep you in a constant state of vacation! Ha ha… 😆
Hi Danny – Oh my! You are so right! Enough said!!! 😆
Hi Bob, I got what you mean, but I meant, I can adapt myself whatever is available in the place where I am. I'm more curious of what the others have that we doesn't have or I'm just not so concious about shampoo since I don't really have a nice hair.
Oops, I mispelled the word conscious there. I love this site. I could probably sharpen my English in this site.
Hi Chat – Thanks for clarifying… good luck to you. Don't worry about English, yours is fine. We aren't perfectionists here! 😆