Classic Vanilla by Pinaud

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.