YU Cologne

Hard to deal with reviews of long discontinued products in this Reveiws forum. What are we to make of this information? If it's purely historical, it could be posted on the Forum where others could muse on their favorite long gone scents.

Does anyone have a bottle of YU that they would like to sell?
Or does anyone know where it can be purchased.
E Bay showed nothing on the site.

Fascinating review! I had no idea about these discontinued Pinaud colognes..

YU by Pinaud is a very compelling fragrance. I always felt that this fragrance should have been named "Lilac Vegetal" instead of the regular LV, because you can actually smell hints of Lilac in this very earthy compound.

The top notes are a floral mix- lilac, sage, lavender, paprika- all of those scents recognizable and perfectly at home with each other.

The mid notes are of a powdery flavor. Almost exactly the fresh scent of Clubman Talc- in fact, my GF asked me why my talc smelled stronger the first time I wore YU. She was surprised that it was just the cologne that was putting off that effect. The powder base is extremely strong after the first half an hour or so, and morphs into a spicy kind of base, very reminiscent of Shulton Old Spice but much fresher. The closest I can equate this part of the formula to is Skin Bracer Cool Spice, for those that have ever used it.

The base note is a subdued lime musk. Not too limey, not too musky. This is one of those all day scents that lasts longer than expected, so be very cautious in application. If you splash YU all over, you'll end up being "that guy" that bathes in cologne. The musk is very apparent later on in the day when your sweat starts kicking in. It's not unwelcome, but it tends to linger longer than I'd like. Think of a cross between Lime Sec and Citrus Musk, and you'd be fairly close.

YU hasn't been manufactured since the late sixties, but every now and then a bottle comes up for sale on Ebay or similar auction sites. Be prepared to pay a little more for a full bottle than similar vintage Clubman or Brut, as even in its day YU got lost in the market. I don't think it was due to being a bad fragrance, but YU came out at a time where Hai Karate-mania was in full swing, and every fragrance manufacturer at the time came out with an "Asian" themed scent to cash in on the popularity. FWIW, I believe YU to be superior to Hai Karate, Jade East, and all of the other "Oriental" flavors of the day.

YU comes in a glass bottle with a brass cap that is styled like an Asian spice bowl. The lettering on the bottle is faux-Japanese on a green on gold label, perfectly complimenting the lime green liquid. The whole package, moreso than the scent, perfectly evokes images of far off intrigue on the Orient Express.

If you can find a bottle, by all means get it. This is one of my favorite sixties vintage fragrances, and I find that it appeals to women of all ages. Just remember, a little goes a long way. I especially recommend it to the guys that walked away confused by Lilac Vegetal, wondering where the lilac and the vegetal went (psst... it ended up in this cologne!)