Classic Vanilla
by Pinaud

I LOVE this scent! As much as I HATE Pinaud Clubman, I LOVE this scent! The vanilla opens up the basic Clubman scent and transcends it into a very classy scent. Thumbs way up!

23rd December, 2011. (Last Edited: 24th December, 2011.)

By the way: the term "Vanilla" refers to the color not to the scent.

The Clubman Vanilla is very, very similar to "Chanel Pour Monsieur" which costs ten times more than the Clubman.

17th August, 2011.

Classic Vanilla sounds like it should be a fluffy, sweet blancmange of a thing. But, it's not at all. It's a classic, bright fougere on the opening, with a touch of vanilla sweetness in the heart of it. Very fresh, very clean, very pleasant, a nicely light everyday fragrance for summer. Not as persistent or assertive as Clubman, so feel free to apply liberally.

19th June, 2011.

Nice, old school barber shop classic with a subtle vanilla undertone. Consistently provokes complements.

29th April, 2011.

Haters of vanilla should have no fear of Pinaud's Classic Vanilla. This is not a sludgy sweet gourmand fragrance at all. This is a classic barbershop fougere with some vanilla added to the coumarin in the base, that's all. The vanilla is restrained and well done in this scent, and it does not interfere with the overall talcum powdery barbershop smell that all Pinauds have. Imagine what the original Clubman would smell like if it were sweeter, and you have Classic Vanilla.

If like Pinaud fragrances, then Classic Vanilla is definitely worth adding to your arsenal.

MY RATING: 7.5/10

1st March, 2011.

The powder of the original Clubman plus the sweet vanilla of this aftershave should equal an olfactory ordeal akin to being punched in the nose until bloody while your teeth rot right of your skull.

But that doesn't happen at all. It's just the opposite. In fact, I like this just as much as the original.

An oriental-ish, psuedo-gourmand companion to the original Clubman's classed-up-but-unfussy fougere, Classic Vanilla has similarly persistent power but with a scent structure that deviates even less. Linear can be a good thing, and this is a prime example of how it should be done. Also a bit more season-dependent that the original - much too warm for summer, but ideal for cool-to-cold days and even the office during the winter.

Vanilla is almost too easily a feminine note, but that's not automatically bad - sometimes it's just what's needed to offset a miasma of masculine notes. Here there isn't a whole lot to check it beyond a faint whiff of woods festooned with a sprinkle of spice, but all that might lead some to not try it. As with the original Clubman and indeed many other fine scents: A structural description alone fails to capture the whole experience.

It's undisputably sweet, but not a cloying, saccharine caricature of vanilla people may be imagining. Trust me.

And again reflecting the original Clubman, similar application rules remain in order - the initially perceived minimum, minus a drop or two. In an office environment, dial it back to a microdose.

So cheap in price and solid in stature you'd be remiss not to slap a little on at least once. Pinaud maintains its reputation as one of the kings of the value-scent proprietors.

12nd November, 2006.