and I wish it hadn't.
I have been tinkering with the whole wetshaving / retro aftershave thing for about 2 months now. I have always been an Old Spice fan and when I tried Clubman Pinaud for the first time I was delighted and wear it every day. After my success there I moved on to Clubman Bay Rum and was impressed by it as well.
With full faith in the Clubman line I then placed an order for a sample pack of Clubman Lime Sec, Musk, and the infamous Lilac Vegetal. Despite the fair warnings of my fellow posters here at B&B I decided that since Pinaud and Bay Rum are such fine products then how could the Veg really be that bad? I chalked the woe and contempt for the Veg up to usual internet negativity.
My wife knows I have been bedazzled by the whole wet shaving thing so when the package arrived today she promptly sent me a text.. "Your Vegetal has arrived". I gave her full permission to open it up and give it a smell.
The next text followed... "It smells like Cat Pee".
In my mind surely she was being overly negative because her untrained nose is not used to the fine old retro scents.
When I arrived at home I promptly located my shipment and opened my new bottle of Veg with great anticipation. Sadly... it smelled like cat pee to me as well. I had a double take or so and apon the 4th wiff it physically made my stomach lurch. I did uncap it and hold it down so my Boston Terrier could sample a wiff and he ran away. I followed him because I was sure his judgement was poor also. As I attempted to help him obtain a second wiff he growled and barked at me. Not a good sign.
Ever the optimist I insisted to my wife that it smells bad in the bottle and once applied to the skin it would mellow and be delightful. What do dogs know anyways?
So after a few hours of regrouping, shower, and a nice shave with some Col. Conk Amber I applied a healthy splash of Lilac Vegetal to my face. Upon approaching my wife she waved me off from 7 feet away and said she could smell it from there... and was not pleased. At that point I retreated to my office to allow the scent to mellow and sadly after 15 minutes I became nauseated from the smell.
At that point my spouse and I mutually agreed that the Veg had frowned upon me and the best way for me to salvage the evening was to shower once again.
Honestly at this point I am unsure of what to do with my sample bottle of Veg, but right now I am thinking tomorrow I might bury it under 6 feet of concrete in my back yard.
Tomorrow night I will venture into the world of Lime Sec... but things are not looking good. At first wiff I was not impressed. Sometimes in life you think you are being handed limes, but it turns out to be furniture polish.
