Another bay rum & cheap aftershave question

I've been intrigued by the discussions of bay rum aftershaves, and I have to admit I don't know what it smells like, and I'd like to correct that. After reading a few threads on it here, I started on a quest to find it locally - no dice. (Which is weird, since I'm 10 miles from NYC, on the NJ side... you'd think you'd be able to find everything here...) Actually, to be honest, I didn't try the Bath&Body Works - they might have the Bigelow, but it's pricey, and what I really wanted was old-time CHEAP, barbershop, bay rum.

Anyway - In my quest (which involved going to every drugstore within a couple of miles of here - and that's a lot of drugstores - this is a pretty urban area), I also found some Pinaud Clubman aftershave, and some Pinaud Lilac Vegetal. I've had a bottle of Lilac Vegetal for about 35 years, and always loved the smell. Not enough to actually use it - It's more like I loved it from afar... but that's a whole other story.

So, I picked up a bottle of Pinaud Clubman aftershave for about $4.77 at the local Walgreens. It smells familiar, that's for sure. I read that Clubman is a bulk, barbershop version of the aftershave "Canoe" that was popular back in the '70s. Today, I read that Canoe got it's smell from Pimenta Racemosa - the same stuff that's used to make Bay Rum. So, by extension, does that mean that Clubman is actually made with Caribbean bay tree leaf extract?

I know that Pinaud makes another aftershave that they explicitly call Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum or something like that, which goes for about $10 for the 6 oz bottle online. But is the original Clubman also a bay rum aftershave? Does it smell like other bay rums?

I hate it when something stupid like this starts to become an obsession... sigh. I'd truly whatever light anyone could shed. Also - if anyone knows where I could find bay rum aftershaves in Northeastern NJ, I'd really appreciate it. It sticks in my throat to pay $5 shipping on a $10 item...

The Clubman's Original and Bay Rum are not exactly the same but they are very similar. I don't think the Original is Bay Rum, especially since they sell both...? I'm sure someone else knows the answer and will chime in.

In the Village there are a bunch of apothecaries and pharmacies that have all sorts of shaving products - and there's a CO Bigelow Pharmacy on 6th Ave. that has both CO Bigelow cream and Proraso. The Proraso is like $10. I'd say cross the river if you want to pick up a bunch of nice stuff without paying for shipping.

By the way - you like Lilac Vegetal? I guess it's better than the smell of -- well, you probably know the rest of the joke. :D

Cross the river! Duh! Of course! If I have time, I'll do it this weekend... Thanks for the tip.

Yes - I admit it. I do like Lilac-Vegetal. Now, I did say I've had that bottle since my early 20s - that's about 35 years now. (They still used the old glass bottle when I bought it.) It's a good sized bottle, but still ... you can see it's not something I use all the time.

I have found myself using it more lately, though. I like the old-timey smell of it, I like the way it feels when it goes on. And I like that it wears off pretty quickly, before I get sick of it. I even treated myself to a replacement bottle

On the other hand, I bought a bottle of original Clubman a week or two ago, and find it oppressive. It's too strong, it lasts way too long - it's almost impossible to get rid of it. And - most importantly - my girlfriend hates it.

This is probably the wrong forum to admit this, but over the years I've mostly been using scents based on patchouli and sandalwood (GF LOVES those, BTW :) ) - usually just bath soaps, but sometimes, when I get the urge, I'll put on a microscopic drop of the essential oil. Yes, I'm a child of the sixties. I also throw the little ends of the bath soaps that are too small to use in the shower into the shaving mug, where they give a subtle smell to the Williams soap that I normally use.

Not quite sure I understand the question, but the original Clubman and Virgin Island Bay Rum have two completely different scents. The Clubman smells alot like scented baby powder while the Bay Rum is, well, a bay rum that smells like cloves.

I'm confused as well.

If you believe Clubman smells similar to traditional bay rum, I'd repectfully suggest that you visit an ENT MD for an assessment of your olfactory senses, because something is very wrong with your sense of smell.
Walgreens has their own brand of bay rum (which isn't very good!) You can do a side-by-side comparison of the two to learn the difference, just make sure you apply a dab of each to your skin ( one on the back of each hand is a good test). Just sniffing the open bottle or the cap will not do it.

If there is a sally beauty supply near you, they sell a 16 oz(i think) bottle of masters for $8.

I have noticed that every brand of bay rum seems to smell a bit different though.

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Originally Posted by Driver

I'm confused as well.

If you believe Clubman smells similar to traditional bay rum, I'd repectfully suggest that you visit an ENT MD for an assessment of your olfactory senses, because something is very wrong with your sense of smell.
Walgreens has their own brand of bay rum (which isn't very good!) You can do a side-by-side comparison of the two to learn the difference, just make sure you apply a dab of each to your skin ( one on the back of each hand is a good test). Just sniffing the open bottle or the cap will not do it.

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No - when I asked the question, I hadn't ever smelled bay rum - at least not knowingly. I had found something on the internet that said Clubmans original was scented with pimenta racemosa, which is the Caribean bay tree leaf, so that's what prompted me to ask the question.

I have since found a bottle of Clubman's bay rum, and yes, I agree that they're totally different scents. I like the Clubman's bay rum, and I like Lilac Vegetal. The original Clubmans, not so much - too cloying, too persistent. I don't want the aftershave to follow me around all day.

Sorry for the confusion. I was on a bay rum quest after seeing all the posts - I had to find out what all the hoopla was about.

I have also just picked up a bottle of Aubrey Organics "Men's Stock Spice Island" aftershave at Whole Foods. It's very subtle, but has a mix of pimenta racemosa and patchouli. Very nice!

Dino-

There are many ways we guys can remove facial hair, including chemicals ; but it depends all about how we do it.
Ultimately we heterosexual guys want to please ourselves and at the same time want to curry favor with the heterosexual females around us..... :-)
Otherwise, we testosterone-filled males probably would not be shaving at all. If it weren't for the females we'd be nothing but knukle-draggers from b- movie sci-fy WOOKYs.

The bottom-line is......
Your aftershave is only a fragrance that lingers on the pillow case after.......

You get the drift?

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Originally Posted by Driver

Dino-


The bottom-line is......
Your aftershave is only a fragrance that lingers on the pillow case after.......

You get the drift?

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Yeah, but you've got to pick them a little carefully if you want to have a BEFORE and DURING to enjoy the AFTER of ....

Clubman's original is definitely not that, according to the one person whose opinion matters. You get the drift? ;)

Lilac vegetal? Even a skunk won't go near it.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Lilac vegetal? Even a skunk won't go near it.

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Well, the skunk can just get his own bottle to not go near. I'm keeping mine.