Eau de Quinine
by Pinaud

Utterly boring and uninspired. Granted, you don't expect a company that specializes in old school barbershop fragrances to do anything groundbreaking, but compared to Pinaud's Special Reserve, Clubman and Lilac Vegetal, Eau de Quinine will keep you snoring.

Basically this is just soapy and powdery, and nothing else. I guess you could say it sort of smells like shaving cream, but you don't need a bottle of Eau de Quinine to acheive that smell.

It's not an awful scent by any means, but it's so dull and nondescript, I can't say any more than this. If you need a plastic bottle to take up space on your bathroom shelf, get one of Pinaud's other aftershaves, which are much better.

MY RATING: 5/10

24th October, 2010. (Last Edited: 8th December, 2010.)

Lively citrus (I want to say grapefruit...that's 2 bonus points for being unusual and actually working), dry, powdery potpourri-like flowers and a bitter herbal-ish tinge (I'll wager a guess and say that's the quinine) are what you get with this "hair tonic," just as Pinaud's Eau de Portugal is billed.

And just like EdP, don't let that stop you from treating it like a cologne. Like all true colognes, don't expect much less demand that it lasts and you'll not be disappointed. For what it's worth it's good on my easily-tangled hair, but possibly better on my skin.

If frags like Halston Z-14 and Kouros are "old man" or "out of fashion" today - both of which I wear proudly - then this is super-duper old-school in its approach. Recommended for fans of Floris No. 89 who don't want to burn through a bottle too quickly, or for those anxious to try the Floris but need a stepping stone. No, they are NOT the same but considering both were accoutrements of fin-de-siecle gents and that both make liberal use of dandyish, slighty musty floral notes I say the same spirit of bespoke decadence is very similar.

I hope the Trumper and Crown Perfumery creations of EdQ are better than this (they ought to be for the price), but even with Pinaud's generally excellent bang-for-buck aside this is worthy in its own right - plastic bottle (sigh) and all.

6th June, 2007.