India’s first beauty cream was LITERALLY named after snowy mountains rising above Kabul, Salang, Paghman, Istalif, Koh-i-Daman and the Koh-e Baba range towards Bamiyan. On my recent visit to the britishmuseum I saw this incredible poster. In 1919, Bombay entrepreneur E.S. Patanwala presented a jar of his new white cream to Afghanistan’s King Amanullah. The monarch remarked that it looked like the snow of his homeland, which he would see rising above Kabul from his Arg Palace. The brand went on to be endorsed by Indian royalty, recognised by Mahatma Gandhi during the Swadeshi movement as a genuinely Indian product, and became a household name across India. By the 1950s it was sponsoring the first Miss India pageant, its adverts filling newspapers and magazines. By the 1980s, however, the arrival of multinational cosmetics giants pushed it into decline. #History #India #cosmetics #mountain #snow #nature #istalif #bamyan #salang #afghanistan #britishempire #gandhi #indianroyalty