Lilac Vegetal (1880)
by Pinaud

As can be seen from the other reviews, Lilac Vegetal is an all or nothing fragrance, eliciting either love and appreciation or retched revulsion. My suspicion is that the scent reacts very differently with different body chemistry and/or is perceived quite differently by different people. Also, the "in the bottle" scent and initial opening on the skin is quite bizarre and somewhat reminiscent of fermentation or a (dirty) litter box. No one should draw conclusions about the potential for this scent until at least 30 min after application. For me at least, the ultimate reward of the fresh, authentic lilac/powder dry down is worth the wait. This scent to me is both classic in recalling barber shops of old, but also not dated or out of character with more modern tastes and expectations.

13rd May, 2011.

This is the most schizophrenic perfume I have experienced in all my life. When I first splashed it in my face and arms I literally gagged, this is the most wretched brew anybody could design. I wanted to go back to the shower and get this contemptible, disgusting and malodorous fetid concoction off my skin. Fortunately I have read the reviews here and trusted my basenotes fellows that had written that this potion opening was repulsive but that it improves notably after just a few minutes. Ten minutes went by and I still reeked with this obnoxious juice and I went to the bathroom and did turn the shower on to get the stench off, while I waited for the water to warm up a waft carrying a scent of powdery lilacs reached my nose like a breeze of fresh air entering a graveyard. The switch was so fast that caught me totally by surprise. I went to my wife and before even asking her anything she exclaimed "What heavenly perfume did you sprayed on you?", "what is it?" "I love it", so, what can I do but give this weird fluid my thumbs up

22nd October, 2010.

Despite its colorful history and wizened, dusty status of being tucked away and forgotten on the back of drugstore shelves, I have to give Pinaud's Lilac Vegetal a thumbs up. There is nothing complicated about this. It has a celery and expired-lettuce top note, and there's nothing more original than that. And the lilacs come sweeping in on the dry down. I use this as an aftershave, and having been alternating various aftershaves all my life, I can finally say I've found one that works in Pinaud's formula here. It doesn't bite my skin, but it definitely soothes it and seals up the pores, and since I've started using it I've had a healthier face. So far no one has so much as raised an eyebrow (at least not in front of me) about the archaic lilac aroma that follows me around when I'm wearing this. I would not go on a date with Lilac Vegetal on. But for my own use for shaving, it's been hard to top.

5th November, 2009.

Yes, I am indeed a Lilac Vegetarian! Admittedly the scent from the bottle is less than captivating and often compared to urinal cakes, bums with urine stained trousers, etc. Get past the surprising bottle note and you're on your way to something totally magic. As has been pointed out, this fragrance totally transforms within a couple minutes of application.

After drydown there is this delightful flowery powdery scent that is absolutely amazing. My shave den would not be without it.

19th August, 2009.

"This smells like corned beef and cabbage boiled in urine"

That was my review of Lilac Vegetal about a year ago. I thought this stuff was so disgusting, I poured my bottle down the shitter. Since that time, however,I have read a number of positive reviews of this scent, so I decided to buy a new bottle and revisit it.

Nothing will ever change my opinion of the way this smells during the first two or three minutes. It literally smells like a puddle of urine with some rotting salad floating on top. I don't know what drugs the perfumer had to be on to create an opening accord like this. I always thought top notes were supposed to be a teaser, something bright and cheerful that would make you want to keep smelling. Not here. Lilac Vegetal's opening makes you want to cut off your nose.

Luckily within minutes the nastiness dissipates, and then things settle down and start to smell pretty good. Lilac Vegetal is simply a very bitter and powdery floral scent. If you like strong, bitter florals with a barbershop talc smell underlying everything, you will love this scent. When I say strong, I mean the floral notes are very bitter, almost acrid, not that this is some big powerhouse with monster sillage. This is a dandified, fairly discreet skin scent that smells very masculine and lasts a good 3 or 4 hours. It's so old school it makes Brut smell like A*Men. It's what you'd expect the guy on the Pinaud Clubman label to smell like, or some guy who wears a powdered wig.

The sticker on the bottle recommends splashing this all over your body after a shower. Ah, no. Granted, I like this scent now, but I wouldn't want everyone within a ten foot radius of me to be smelling this. Bees would swarm on me too. This is a great scent however to wear if you want to feel what it was probably like being in a barbershop during the early 1800s. It's a great blast from the past, and a very gentlemanly fragrance. Thumbs up now.

MY RATING: 7/10

13rd August, 2009. (Last Edited: 18th October, 2010.)

A wonderful lilac scent - it starts out smelling like fresh-cut flowers or a hot greenhouse, then rapidly dries down to powdery lilacs. Light and floral but still masculine. It's also ultra-cheap and very few younger men seem to wear it. Don't be fooled by the scent in the bottle (which is nasty), this transforms on the skin.

10th April, 2009.