Pinaud Lilac Vegetal After Shave Lotion, Botanical Musk, 12 Fl Oz

Lilac Vegetal is an acquired taste. I like it because it is refreshing, unique and was the after shave my barber used to (literally) slap on my face 40 years ago after a close shave with a straight razor. It also helps that my wife likes the scent 😊.

I am hesitant to wear this every day, but for more formal, fancier occassions, I would not hesitate to wear this aftershave with my favorite cologne. At first, this splash is kind of overwhelming, at least for me. After about five seconds it diminishes to its base notes, which are mainly lilac and fresh garden vegetation. This scent lasts for a good 3 hours after splashing it on and you will be reminded of it from time to time throughout the day, as will those near you. The best way I can describe this scent is that it's "fancy" or "sophisticated". You won't ever get the reaction "ew, what is that smell" but you will get "wow, what is that you're wearing" type inquiries from women, at least in my experience :) You can always dilute this with another aftershave product such as a lotion or another, thicker aftershave, which is common amongst wetshavers. When I do this, I prefer to use this lilac vegetal, give it a few minutes to absorb, and then use a Proraso crema aftershave, or a Proraso Dioibarba (menthol) aftershave. Either of those will subdue the fragrance but allow it to still come through more subtly. Apply your daily cologne and go on your way. As far as this product as a pure aftershave, it seems to be a bit more harsh for me, but I have very-super-sensitive neck skin. My facial skin is in love with this, and basically all aftershaves, but my neck does not like it as much, unless I use a second, more lotion-y type aftershave afterwards. For that, I stick with Lubriderm Men's 3-in-1 lotion. Using both, I get the scent I love (lilac) and the soothing I need. Overall, 5 of 5 stars. I will subscribe and save again when I am nearing the end of my current supply :)

Still the best for manly scent and a fair price.

Lilac Vegetal aka "The Veg"; a long-running/historic aftershave in the wet shaving world. Yet never has an aftershave had so many loyal fans & even more loyal haters. It was a 50/50 shot whether I'd like this or not, & worst case scenario I'd only be out $10 if I found myself on the hater-side of the spectrum. When it comes to the performance & scent of a product, you really don't know until you go & try it for yourself. I'm very surprised to say that I'm a fan of "The Veg"! Sure, it doesn't beat out some favorite artisan aftershaves in my collection, but it's solid enough that it has found a spot in my shaving rotation. Performance-wise, Lilac Vegetal felt great on my skin after shaving. There's a mild-medium alcohol burn, & it left my skin feeling smooth & not dried out. Scent-wise, to my nose & with how this juice reacts to my skin... it kicks off pretty strong with its floral/vegetative fragrance, but that dissipates pretty quickly. As the scent continues to mellow out, what remains is a light floral smell (like the ambient air in a flower store/garden) along with a powdery/talc finish (common in all Clubman products I've tried). Glad that I decided to bite the bullet & give "The Veg" a shot. As I was hitting the purchase button, I honestly thought I'd end up disliking this aftershave & getting rid of it. I'm not the biggest fan of floral scents, but this stuff is making other floral scents start to grow on me (like my G. Beene "Grey Flannel" EDT). Take the Lilac Vegetal leap! You just might be pleasantly surprised like I was.

With all due apologies to the fan boys here, I must offer a frank review. To put my taste in context, I'm a 30-something professional man. I work in an office, wear business casual and sometimes business formal. I'm a somewhat experienced fragrance collector; my fragrance wardrobe numbers well over 300 by now, ranging from dollar store knock-offs to numerous Montale, Amouage, L'Artisan Parfumeur, Le Labo, and so on. I like anything that smells really nice, really enjoyable, regardless of how much it costs. Some of my top 10 most enjoyable fragrances are pretty cheap synthetics, particularly Fujiyama and Issey Miyake fragrances, simply sublime. This was purchased as an experiment, 'buy blind', because it was cheap and "lilac vegetal" sounds like it might be interesting if it's done competently. Unfortunately, there is already a name, which every gentleman will know and know well: URINAL CAKES This is a dead ringer, absolutely indistinguishable from those little pink cakes you find melting away when you... well, no need to go further. I'm sorry to say it, as I bought 12oz of it and I generally make an effort to use up every fragrance I buy even if it's not my favorite. I have not, to date, found one so objectionable that I would discard it. Unfortunately, I may not even find this worthy of being a toilet bowl freshener, as I do not want the toilets in my home to smell like a gas station urinal. It's just such a familiar scent... I suppose I'm apologetic because so many folks will rate my review "not helpful" simply because I don't like it, or because of the negative connotation of urinal cakes, but all I'm saying is that I do not enjoy the smell of urinal cakes on my face after I shave. It's an honest assessment of a tremendously familiar and unmistakable scent. Whether that's something you want on your face is up to you! === An update: it is very good as an astringent. Meaning, as an aftershave, it actually does work. It smells like urinal cakes, but when I give myself a clean shave on the weekends and don't need to be around anyone but myself, I apply this stuff just to use it. It actually really does work to smooth over a rough shave and stop itching. Better than just about anything else I've tried, including all the designer fragrances. So it works for its chemical purpose, but it smells like urinal cakes. Try one of the other Pinaud fragrances if you want something that works really wonderfully as an aftershave and doesn't make your face smell like something the janitorial staff just dropped into your urinal at work or the airport.

Lilac Vegetal is a Clubman classic. It's a smell unlike any other smell--sort of a mix of gas station meets, flowers, meets baby powder for a second. I'm not sure women think it's pleasant. It sort of takes me to old barber shops, cowboy movies, the guy washing up after work to go home, the everyman years back setting out for work. It sort of wakes me up for 5 minutes after my old safety razor shave. The scent really does fade out in about 25 minutes. I don't slather it on, just pour it into my palm, rub my palms together, slap my face--good to go. If you like old fashioned scents and are someone that shaves old school with a straight edge or double edge or want a man scent--give this a whirl. This like the original clubman have their own kind of power. I forgo Dept. Store scents for these cheap nostalgic face trips. Dept. store stuff--for suit and tie occasion, date night. This stuff is morning thunder, weekend afternoon thunder, put myself to sleep stuff--feel clean disinfected. Some dates used to really like these scents much better than expensive fragrances. Frankly there's no comparison..these Clubman / Pinaud Barber shop scents are for those in the know.

Smells good—Lots of compliments

The classic bottle, as shown, wasn't received. My family was in the beauty and barber supply wholesale business for over 50 years and sold this item for decades. For the record, this smells NOTHING like the original Lilac Vegetal. Disappointed.