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So that's what a Barbership scent is!

Holy smokes, ladies and gentlemen. I'm about to admit something that you, my fellow shave brethren, will find somewhat appalling. Then, I will admit something that you will find entirely unsurprising.

I retired my Mach-3 from regular use back in October of 2013 when I received my EJ89. I started using everyone's favorite ASB in the white bottle, Nivea, as my aftershave and I was happy. That was, of course, until the good Captain came out with his line of AS's. Then, I bought both the Lime and Bay Rum, and my face and nose thanked me for it! Nivea was good, but I loved having some nice smelling (and straightforward) splashes. Soon thereafter, the fine Mr. Fine released his line of aftershave splashes, and I loved having more cologne-scented aftershaves with menthol in the arsenal for the warmer months. All three lines have a place in my den, though the Nivea rarely gets used these days.

Thus, we come to an admission that you, my fellows and ladies of the Blade, will find somewhat appalling: Until today, I had never used Pinaud Clubman. I never even smelled it. I passed it in the drug store and the supermarket with that knowing look of recognition. You see, I won a variety of AS and EDT/Colognes in a PIF recently. The package arrived today. In that package was, among others, almost a full bottle of Clubman. I opened it to see what this storied concoction smelled like, and this brings us to our second admission...

Until today, I had absolutely no idea what a "barbershop scent" actually was. I understood, in theory, what one meant by the scent, but I was rather skeptical that such a thing could be accurately evoked. I truly did not get it. However, one whiff of Clubman, and I was immediately transported to my barber's establishment. In fact, it was so reminiscent that it was almost scary in how powerful the association for me was. I never was given a splash of this at my barber's, nor have I ever asked for a shave there. The combination of scents, however, just filled my mind with thoughts of that place -- certainly, a happy association!

Gentlemen, ladies, I hereby admit I was wrong. I stand happily corrected. This stuff is a barbershop in a bottle! I'll give it a run after my shave tomorrow to see how it works with my skin, but the scent is rather remarkable in the images it evokes. I was truly amazed!
 
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I lent out my bottle to a co-worker for 2 weeks, was bummed when I reached for it and it wasn't there. Thankfully I got it back today just in time for tomorrows shave!
 
It really doesn't get any better than Pinaud Clubman, any other aftershave splash you buy is just for the scent because pinaud is at the top of the chain for performance and scent IMHO. I buy mine in the "country size" bottle at the beauty supply center or on Amazon. You get more than twice as much as the standard bottle for only $3 more.
 
I love my bottle of Pinaud Clubman. The scent is in my top three, and it has awesome performance as an aftershave splash. I'm surprised it took me several months to find this outstanding product!
 
It will always be in my rotation. Also has very nostalgic memory triggers for me. In late '70s, one of my friends and I ran away from home one summer when we were about 14 or so and lived outside, camping here and there, etc. for a couple months. One day we snuck into the men's shower area of Congressional Country Club in Bethesda mid day and took showers and shaved. They had huge bottles of Clubman in the bath area which we slathered all over us. Been a fan ever since. Years later, I was at a charity dinner at the club as a guest of a prominent member (who just happened to be the then very successful kid who years earlier I had run away with) and we sat at a table with the then-President of the club and relayed our story and he was thrilled and made us tell the story over and over to various club muckety mucks.
 
When I was young (when dinosaurs roamed the earth) barbershops in my neck of the woods smelled like Clubman because they all used Clubman Talc. Barbers used to finish up a haircut by trimming your sideburns and the back of your neck with a straight razor. After wiping off the lather they would dust your neck with Clubman Talc.

To this day, this is (for me) the best and quickest way to judge a barbershop: if I walk in and it smells like Clubman, I know I've come to the right place.
 
Thanks for sharing. It's interesting...up until about a week ago I had no idea what Clubman Pinaud smelled like. So I decided to stop by CVS one day and pick up a bottle. I tried it once so far and I will say that out of the bottle I wasn't a fan. But after about an hour or so it finished off very nice.
 
Thanks for sharing. It's interesting...up until about a week ago I had no idea what Clubman Pinaud smelled like. So I decided to stop by CVS one day and pick up a bottle. I tried it once so far and I will say that out of the bottle I wasn't a fan. But after about an hour or so it finished off very nice.

@danderousdon, get it into glass and let it sit a while, I think you will be pleased.
 
Good man. Clubman is the essence of what the barbershop in my home town smelled like in the 1950s! Great stuff!!
 
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