Pinaud scents: 8 mini-reviews

I just received a sample of most Pinaud scents...Clubman, Clubman Vanilla, Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum, Musk, Citrus Musk, Lime Sec, Special Reserve, Lilac Vegetal.

I'm not versed in the terminology of fragrances so bear with me This is just a quick review of all these in one place in case anyone has any questions before they buy (as I did).

Clubman: old barbershop smell, powdery and (?) floral. I like it.

Vanilla: light, fresh smell (someone help me here with the description). I like this one. I have this one on order (full bottle).

Musk: to me this is a more refined (subtle) version perhaps of Special Reserve.

Virgin Island Bay Rum: this one is sweet and smell like Clove...think the old Clove gum. It smells nice enough but is too sweet and I will probably not buy it. It would smell nice around a light candle at Christmas time.

Special Reserve: smell like English Leather. Not sure about this one but I have a full bottle on order. I think you have to wear it rather than just smell it before making a judgement.

Now for the urinal cake scents

Lime Sec: This is like a lemon drop candy or a urinal cake with no urine on it.

Citrus Musk: This smells like Lime Sec with a little musk and it's a better smell. It's still not quite my scent I don't think but if you're thinking about buying Lime Sec get this instead.

Lilac Vegetal: This one is like a urinal cake with urine on it.

It's hard to fairly compare all these at one sitting as you can only put so much of this on at one time. I did it just by putting a drop in the palm of my hand, smearing it a bit and then putting it up to my nose.

I will try these out one day at a time by actually wearing them as aftershave and I'll either edit this post or add another post with any new thoughts over time.

This is very subjective of course but I thought a gut reaction review by a novice might be useful to someone.

The one's I'll be most interested in for myself are Classic Clubman (which I already have been using) and now Classic Clubman Vanilla and Classic Musk and I'm hoping I'll find a use for Special Reserve as I've got a bottle of that coming as well.

If I was starting over and just ordering from what I've learned up to this point I'd forget the Special Reserve and just use Classic Musk instead.

I'm still not sure how I would describe Classic Vanilla. Suggestions from others here would be helpful and interesting to me.

Thanks for the great review. Where did you get your sample pack from?!

seattleshaver said:

Now for the urinal cake scents

Lime Sec: This is like a lemon drop candy or a urinal cake with no urine on it.

Citrus Musk: This smell like Lime Sec with a little musk and it's a better smell. It's still not quite my scent I don't think but if you're thinking about buying Lime Sec get this instead.

Lilac Vegetal: This one is like a urinal cake with urine on it.

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Nice!

bbauer09 said:

Thanks for the great review. Where did you get your sample pack from?!

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ebarbershop. I ordered 4 mini-sized bottles for about $1.50 each and then I was able to get 3 free one-time-use samples so including shipping it cost $12 to sample 7 Pinaud scents.

Nice reviews and I agree with most of it. I also like the scent of the Vanilla but it seems to fade quickly, same for the Lime Sec. The Special Reserve and VIBR are my favorites, followed by Musk and Eud de Quinine. I have not tried the Citrus Musk yet and the Lilac Vegetal doesn't smell of urine to me, but isn't my kind of scent either. The original is ok, but I am not a big fan of the powder scent.

I think I'm shifting my views slightly. I'm now thinking I will probably buy Classic Musk as well. I also think that perhaps it is more related to Special Reserve than Classic Clubman and I may be using it instead of Special Reserve. I'll update my original post as well but thought I'd post here as well (easier to note my changing views over time).

I'm still not sure how to describe Classic Vanilla.

I just recieved my sample load from Man Machine samples as well, and I'm very excited to see what the American drugstore stuff is all about (we don't have any drugstore splashes at all ). Veg was first out, used it after todays shave. I don't get this urine thing everyone talks about, just a clean, floral scent. It isn't for me though, I rarely like florals and this one didn't cut it.

Coming up in following shaves is Osage Rub, Clubman, Clubman Musk, Special Reserve, Lime Sec, Citrus Musk, Tres Flores, and maybe Eau de Portugal in my hair. Bay Rum and Vanilla wasn't available.

seattleshaver said:

I think you have to wear it rather than just smell it before making a judgement.

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This is absolutely true for any fragrance. How a fragrance smells for the first five minutes of application is not an good indication of how the fragrance will smell over the whole life of the fragrance.

Some people will judge a fragrance by how it smells in the bottle, why is really inaccurate, as a fragrance changes as soon as it interacts with your skin, and body chemistry.

Most fragrances have distinct phases they go though: they have top, middle, and base notes.

The top notes are what you smell for the first few minutes of application, and the base notes are what remains after the fragrance has been applied for a few hours.

Clubman for example dries down into a heavy baby powder smell after the top, and middle notes die off.

The only way to really sample a fragrance is to wear it, so that you get to experience all of it's notes.

Good reviews. I still need to try the Musk.

michiganlover said:

This is absolutely true for any fragrance. How a fragrance smells for the first five minutes of application is not an good indication of how the fragrance will smell over the whole life of the fragrance.

Some people will judge a fragrance by how it smells in the bottle, why is really inaccurate, as a fragrance changes as soon as it interacts with your skin, and body chemistry.

Most fragrances have distinct phases they go though: they have top, middle, and base notes.

The top notes are what you smell for the first few minutes of application, and the base notes are what remains after the fragrance has been applied for a few hours.

Clubman for example dries down into a heavy baby powder smell after the top, and middle notes die off.

The only way to really sample a fragrance is to wear it, so that you get to experience all of it's notes.

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The only problem (in my opinion) for an after shave is that it's not supposed to be all that strong or last all that long so if it doesn't smell good for the first 10 minutes it's not doing much for me. Or if it bothers everyone when I first walk into a room but not as I leave that room that's not an ideal situation for me.

Just to clarify, I did go back and "wear" a few of the scents after the initial post.

I read of a good idea something regarding Special Reserve in particular and that is to put it in a spray bottle to control the amount that comes out. I just ordered (4) 2 oz plastic spray bottles from ebay for $9 shipped.

I'm sure these could come in handy for other scents as well. They also fit in my medicine cabinet better.

The Clubman, Musk, Special Reserve, VIBR and Lilac are all day scents to me so if you are expecting them to go away quickly you may want to pursue other products. The Vanilla and Lime Sec however fade rather quickly.

michiganlover said:

This is absolutely true for any fragrance. How a fragrance smells for the first five minutes of application is not an good indication of how the fragrance will smell over the whole life of the fragrance.

Some people will judge a fragrance by how it smells in the bottle, why is really inaccurate, as a fragrance changes as soon as it interacts with your skin, and body chemistry.

Most fragrances have distinct phases they go though: they have top, middle, and base notes.

The top notes are what you smell for the first few minutes of application, and the base notes are what remains after the fragrance has been applied for a few hours.

Clubman for example dries down into a heavy baby powder smell after the top, and middle notes die off.

The only way to really sample a fragrance is to wear it, so that you get to experience all of it's notes.

Click to expand...

+ 1

For me, Clubman, Special Reserve and Citrus Musk last all day. The Veg and VIBR last a few hours and Vanilla is gone faster.

You really do have to wear a scent to appreciate it, sniffing a bottle won't give you a good idea of how it will work with your body chemistry.

Thanks for the reviews

So far I have only tried the original clubman and the bay rum. Want to pick up some Vanilla and maybe the citrus.

+1 on the wearing part. I nearly passed on the VIBR because the smell was horrid from bottle. Once I splashed some on hands and rubbed them together, I fell in love. I bought the bottle there and then. Veg is the only one that I can't wait for it to tone down. At first application its just nursing home, after 5 min though its a very manly floral smell that I enjoy wearing.

Tried Special Reserve this weekend. wasn't as strong as I expected, maybe the sample spray bottle is making me use too little. Felt good, I liked the scent, but I don't think it's my daily. Used Citrus Musk today, and this is absolutely one I will consider for future purchases.

Thanks for the reviews.

Steve

Now that I've tried things out for a few more days I think the scents that will be getting any kind of regular are Cubman, Vanilla and Musk.

That's a nice little variety and therefore sampling everything in this little experiment was worthwhile.

I'm going to update this as far as the ones that I'm actually going to use which is Clubman, Vanilla, Musk, Special Reserve and Bay Rum (VIBR).

I now have full bottles (rather than samples) of the above scents.

Clubman is at the top of the list. No changes here.

Vanilla is more of a not so sweet citrus with less staying power than most of the rest. This might be more of a summer scent. It's not bad but it hasn't totally grown on me yet.

Musk is like Clubman but a little milder and with the addition of mild musk. This is my second favorite I suppose.

Special Reserve. This is for special occasions for me. Not because it's so "special" but because it's unique, can be overpowering and kind of "rude" smelling like a guy with an old musty leather jacket who has been out at the bars drinking and smoking. I diluted my bottle with some Witch Hazel and I use a spray bottle for this as well.

VIBR (Bay Rum). This has a heavy clove scent to it. It reminds me Christmas holiday baking. I'll use it around the Holidays and maybe on a few other occasions.

The first 3 scents may see some regular rotation. The last two are decent scents but will not be used as regularly as the others.

Clubman will be used the most of all however.

The other scents I reviewed in the original post will not be used at all. So now I know what I like and what I don't like in the Pinaud line.

A note on economies of scale...if you really like Clubman you can get a 16 oz bottle (as opposed to the more usual 6 oz bottle) for $10 shipped though one of the Amazon vendors. This is great deal since the best deal on a 6 oz bottle is usually around $7 shipped.