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What color should Lilac Vegetal be?

After some downtime from a horrible, horrible experience with Pinaud Lilac Vegetal, I went to grab some at a local beauty supply today and came across a problem. It appears as if these bottles have all... aged... differently over their time on the shelf. Which of these four most closely resembles the proper appearance of a bottle of Pinaud Lilac Vegetal? The ones I've seen in drug stores most closely resembles the color of bottle two...

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1 and 3 are in old-style bottles. 4 looks a little thin and off-color. 2 looks a little too bright to the Veg I had seen (more the color of the new Tres Flores, or Lim Sec). But, if I had to choose one of these, I'd go 2 over 4.

Although even it's in an old-style bottle, 3 comes closest to the right color (at least in my experience).

This is bizarre, by the way. Still, love the Veg!
 
The bottle I have is the #2 bottle & is the exact same color. I love the light scent & so does the wife. It's one of my favorites.
 
In my experience, when it comes to plastic bottle Lilac Vegetal, color is not a good indicator of what lies within. I've had good batches that resemble all of the above colors, and I've had bad bottles that were also all the varying colors of the LV rainbow.

I couldn't even really suggest shying away from the old style bottles either, because they seemed more consistent than the newer ones. However, they may have soured somewhat, so...

It's a crapshoot. Literally. Shoot for the prettiest color and you're likely to end up with something that smells like crap. :biggrin:

AND- even if you get a bad bottle, it may smell better than a seemingly fresh and nice scented bottle after you aerate it.

My advice? Buy whichever style bottle pleases you aesthetically and go from there. :wink:
 
In my experience, when it comes to plastic bottle Lilac Vegetal, color is not a good indicator of what lies within. I've had good batches that resemble all of the above colors, and I've had bad bottles that were also all the varying colors of the LV rainbow.

I couldn't even really suggest shying away from the old style bottles either, because they seemed more consistent than the newer ones. However, they may have soured somewhat, so...

It's a crapshoot. Literally. Shoot for the prettiest color and you're likely to end up with something that smells like crap. :biggrin:

AND- even if you get a bad bottle, it may smell better than a seemingly fresh and nice scented bottle after you aerate it.

My advice? Buy whichever style bottle pleases you aesthetically and go from there. :wink:


Original Clubman and Pinaud Bay Rum are such excellent products that it makes me wonder why they cannot produce a consistent Lilac Vegetal that is reliable and dependable right out of the bottle.

I enjoy LV and use it as a knock-around guy kinda thing. I can understand how some take exception to it, but after decanting into glass I think it's ok. I'm not sure if I would wear this around ladies I'm trying to impress though. lol

I've read comments from older gentlemen on this forum that the 40's-50's LV was really something wonderful. It makes me wonder why Pinaud/AII would take a well established product and from what I understand, change it as drastically as they did in the early 70's to what we have now. I would love to have smelled the original.

I wonder if LV is so far down on the AII totem pole that the company even cares if their product is that hit-or-miss. It would be kinda cool if a AII exec perused this forum and actually saw how well regarded most Pinaud products really are. If only they could bring back the original formula. Bet that would set this forum on fire....

Marty E.
 
In my experience, when it comes to plastic bottle Lilac Vegetal, color is not a good indicator of what lies within. I've had good batches that resemble all of the above colors, and I've had bad bottles that were also all the varying colors of the LV rainbow.

what do you do, bathe in the stuff?

:laugh:
 
what do you do, bathe in the stuff?

:laugh:

Of course! Whenever I go to the disco or roller skating rink, I Charles Bronson it all over. :biggrin:

Interestingly, I was just reading about the lead singer of this band, and apparently Lilac Vegetal is the only cologne he uses (he looks the type as well):

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB0_EKS5H2s[/YOUTUBE]
 
I wouldn't worry about the color.

Got a glass bottle of LV that was decades old. It was yellow in color just like...:eek:

Well you know what I mean.

Anyway, the stuff was fine.
 
Excellent Electric Six video! What makes you think that Dick Valentine is a Clubman kind of guy?

Because he said so! :biggrin: At least, that's what I read in Rolling Stone or AP, or whatever "alterna rock" mag I read whiile I was at the train station a few months back. His "slick" persona reeks of authenticity.
 
Ok.. I just bought some. Took me almost 2 years to decide to. My local store carries the little bottle. I bought the greenest looking one they had. Not sure if that makes a diff or not. Opened it, smells the same as it did last time I sampled some a year or so ago. It's definately a unique scent. On my wrist it is pretty nice, powdery.. I'm a little afraid of what might happen when I splash it on my face full force. Actually, I remember a member said that he cut it with Witch Hazel (or said his barber did) - that might be the route I take at first..
 
Update: I was SO close to buying it. Guys, I really want to try it. I don't want to not like something without ever trying it. The day I made up my mind to hit the barber supply on the way home, a homeless person had relieved himself on the wall near my job, and my first thought was "smells like LV." It was at that point that I realized I could never commit to putting the stuff on my face.
 
Come on guys. It's obvious that you are all being called to the LV. Don't fight it--it's only going to make you unhappy. Fork over a couple of bucks for a bottle and splash it on. Decant it if you must, but don't resist it.
 
Woah the singer in that video poses and has a freaky look on his face! :lol: Not once, but twice! Awesome
 
OK, this smells like **** thing needs to be straightened out once and for all. LV does not smell like ****, it's a question of association. The bottle smell is rather similar to the smell of fresh urinal pucks. HOWEVER, once applied to the skin and allowed to dry down a bit, the smell is really quite pleasant. To those of you with these lingering reservations I would say, if you stare into the abyss long enough, you become the abyss. One thing is for sure from reviewing the repeated LV threads, you'll either love it or hate it (there seems to be no in between). If unfortunately you find yourself in the latter category, you made an attempt and can at least despise it from an informed position. If, on the other hand you wind up loving it you will have a reasonably priced go-to scent. Either way, the lesson will cost you less than $10. Come on, go for it!
 
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I agree 1OldGI. I know a lot of it has to do with the plastic bottle, because almost immediately after pouring it into a glass container, it loses that "acrid odor" :D. In my experience with it so far, it dries down to a very mild powdery fresh scent very quickly (like fresh vegatols, perhaps). Maybe the bad smell reputation comes from guys with BO who try to use it as an odor mask------in which case ANY AS would smell bad. I find it kind of hard to believe that this great-smelling and great-performing mild AS gets such a bad rap and on the other hand AV, which absolutely and literally makes me sick and gives me a splitting headache, gets praised to the moon! Just proves how true YMMV is.
 
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I agree with OldGI and Nid Hog 100%.

Seems like anytime someone senses anything disagreeable the response is "it smells like pee or poop". So, many people reading these pee/poop reviews won't even try LV just for the fear of what they have read.

Many of us review that the dry down of LV is very light and pleasant--few will listen to that--but many constantly refer to the wino, homeless drunk whizzing on the wall and-- LV SMELLS NOTHING LIKE THAT AT ALL....

It's funny how these LV threads keep going on and on. It's as Nid Hog said--Guys, you know you want to give it a go so forget the whizz/poop stuff and just try it, let it dry and a half hour later you may be pleasantly surprised. Or you could fire off another thread about whizzing in a stairwell at 3 a.m. in a subway parking lot.

One things for sure..if you have had a rough shave--LV is one comfortable healing splash for sure....

Marty E.
Lilac Vegetarian
Possible Gemocrat
 
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