I was doing research in old time radio about 40 years ago. It was originally on the radio with a much smaller budget: The $64 Question. And that's what my parents said.
Floid The Genuine vs Pinaud Clubman - clash of titans
- Thread starter JCinPA
- Start date
Ooh wee. That *is* a much smaller budget!
I have both and love both.
CzechCzar
Use the Fat, Luke!
Are they both mentholated?
Pinaud Clubman is not.
I also love both. I really like menthol, so Floid may have an edge there. If only I could get it here for the same price I found it in Italy. Clubman will aways be king in my AS cupboard.
Received Floid the Genuine yesterday and already had Clubman on hand. While I could see an argument being made for either one being superior, they are not alike.
This may be recency-biased, but I am digging the Floid.
This may be recency-biased, but I am digging the Floid.
I tend to agree. I think the scent of Floid more closely resembles that of Figaro than CP. All three have their place.
I respectfully disagree on the similarity between Pinaud Clubman and Floid. I do not think they are similar at all.
Pinaud Clubman is essentially a cologne, it's not really an aftershave in a strict sense, though many may use it as one. There is not much "good stuff" in Pinaud Clubman that calms and pampers newly shaven skin, all there is is alcohol and scent. Lots of scent, too much if you ask me, even if the scent is nice, its way too powerful for me.
Floid on the other hand, has moisterizing ingredients, in addition to menthol to soothe a freshly shaven face, apart from scent. And to me, the Floid "powder" scent is just much less intruding than that of Pinaud Clubman. Price really depends where you are based. I have bought a 400 ml bottle of Floid in Italy for less than ten €
Pinaud Clubman is essentially a cologne, it's not really an aftershave in a strict sense, though many may use it as one. There is not much "good stuff" in Pinaud Clubman that calms and pampers newly shaven skin, all there is is alcohol and scent. Lots of scent, too much if you ask me, even if the scent is nice, its way too powerful for me.
Floid on the other hand, has moisterizing ingredients, in addition to menthol to soothe a freshly shaven face, apart from scent. And to me, the Floid "powder" scent is just much less intruding than that of Pinaud Clubman. Price really depends where you are based. I have bought a 400 ml bottle of Floid in Italy for less than ten €
Last edited:
John:Well, my Floid arrived. @Marco and I seem to have remarkably similar tastes in many things shaving, he must be my "brother from another mother" in terms of shaving likes/dislikes, so when Marco says try something, I listen.
View attachment 1333632
A little back story is in order here. Some years back I was somehow able to get a bottle of Pinaud Clubman to Marco in Italy, I cannot remember how we did that now, but we did. He was wildly enthusiastic about the scent, and now I know why. As has been pointed out This re-released Floid and Pinaud Clubman are more than in the same neighborhood scent-wise, they are next door to each other! Very similar. Of course they are distinguishable, but for those who love this type of scent, I think it would be hard to pick a favorite. I reacted to this Floid the way Marco reacted to Clubman, I LOVE it!
After my shave this morning, I used a generous dose of Floid after my usual Thayer's WH with Aloe splash. Alcohol burn was controlled, and less than with any of the Pinauds, IMO, but it definitely gets your attention, which I like in a splash. With the Pinauds, any of them, Clubman, Vanilla, The Veg (especially The Veg) you know you are in for some of this.
I would say not so much with the Floid, it will wake you up, but in a gentle way. I like it. How about other ingredients? I actually didn't even look at them, I go by feel. So, the Pinauds, all of them, I decant into glass bottles, and I add a little glycerin to them because they are pretty bare of any of that sort of thing. If you're familiar with, say, Cella red after shave, they have ingredients in there that help the face (again, didn't bother to see what they are) and I very much like the feel after a splash like that. I do not like balms, period. But I love the feel of Cella A/S and I like the Pinauds after I add some of my own glycerin.
Floid, IMO, came in somewhere in the middle. It feels to me a bit like, say, Old Spice. That's a scent I like and I decant into my old spice milk glass bottle, too, but I do not feel the need to add glycerin to it. Floid is right about there. I found it comfortable as-is out of the bottle, and while one could add glycerin to it, I suppose, I don't think I would be inclined to.
Around lunch time, I splashed some of each into one hand and slapped on one side of my face. After lunch after they had both dried down, repeated sniffing of my palms made me realize I really do not have even the slightest preference for either of them, I love them both and am absolutely indifferent as to which might be "better". They are that close. If you love Clubman, you'll love Floid, and the reverse is also true. If you hate Clubman, don't go near Floid, you won't get a different result because it's Italian, expensive, or a novelty now because it's new -- you won't like it.
So, the $64,000 question is would I reload the Floid when it is gone? And the answer is no. Not because I prefer Clubman but simply based on price and my loving both. Don't get me wrong, IMNSHO these two splashes are The Kings Of After Shaves, if you like barbershop scents and alcohol splashes, that is. But unlike with, say, MdC where the debate is always about what is the cost per shave, with these two products you don't have that variable. They are both alcohol splashes, and you'd use them the same way, no reason to use more or less of either of them. So, at $42 for 13.5 ounces, versus $11 for 12.5 ounces, both delivered prices, the Floid comes in at $3.11 per ounce, the Clubman at $0.88 per ounce. The Floid comes is a terrific glass bottle and Clubman comes in plastic, so there's that. But if you have a vintage Pinaud label-less bottle with flowers, Pinaud, and Paris, New York, London stamped in the glass, like I do, that doesn't matter. If there was a huge scent difference, I might feel differently, but I don't see the justification for a 3.5X price differential. Of course with scents, YMMV applies with a vengeance.
The verdict? It's a neck and neck tie. Some small nuanced differences, Floid wins it on bottle and presentation, Clubman wins it walking away on economics. And the scents are so similar, I just can't see liking Floid enough to make the difference worth it.
Let the games begin!!
Jens, I way I see it you only live once when it comes to price. However, I did see a bottle of Creed Aventus at the mall for $495. My "only once" doesn't go there, lol!
Team Clubman here. I like the way it feels better (no Castor oil). Just drop a few menthol crystals in the bottle of Clubman if you want menthol, I do.
Can't argue with that. I imagine Clubman with menthol in it would be really nice!
