Pinaud Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum After Shave

[Treize]

I recently acquired a bottle of this stuff. I wanted to get the classic Clubman scent but it was sold out like one day before my order so I got this instead.



Especially this review on Amazon triggered me...

Hey Amazon,

If you're looking for an aftershave that will really soothe your skin and repair all of those microcuts that you can receive during shaving then Pinaud - Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum...

ISN'T. YOUR. AFTERSHAVE.

Virgin Island Bay Rum is the after shave of MEN. You want an aftershave that will calmly sit your skin down and tell it the mean man with the razor is gone and won't hurt it anymore? THEN GET OFF THIS PAGE; because Virgin Island Bay Rum ISN'T THAT GOOD WITH WORDS. Virgin Island Bay Rum will punch your skin in the face, throw it to the ground, make it do 50 push-ups and tell it to stop being such a wuss because that's what MANLY aftershaves do.

Virgin Island Bay Rum will WAKE YOU UP because applying it to your face afterwards will STING. How much does it sting? It stings like a swarm of angry African Killer Bees with stingers coated in FIRE and ACID. But you LIKE IT; because you're a man and if your aftershave doesn't burn like the fires of the underworld then your aftershave ISN'T DOING ITS JOB.

Virgin Island Bay Rum also smells GREAT. How great? You'll smell so good that women will flock your way like ESTROGEN FILLED HOMING MISSILES. It's spicy, it's refreshing, it's exotic, it's INEXPLICABLY MASCULINE.

What are you doing still hovering over that "Add to Cart" button!? Just buy the product because you're a MAN and men don't think we DO. PINAUD CLUBMAN VIRGIN ISLAND BAY RUM. MANLY.

Bay rum is one of those American scents that are, as far as I am aware of, not very famous here in Europe. I know Taylor of Old Bondstreet makes a Bay Rum after shave too but that's about it.

Now then, this is considered a cheap brand in the USA and a 6 oz (177ml I think) bottle will cost you like $6 at worst (I came across 12 oz for $8). I paid €16,50 for it...

As for the product itself.

Today I did my usual shave, I used Arko Moist shaving cream (as reviewed earlier) and a fresh Astra Stainless Steel razorblade.

The fresh blade is sharp so it is easier to damage you skin, I did that on purpose to test the burning power of this stuff. After shaving I also skipped the usual application of alum to the entire face I do for the same reason.

One opens the rather flimsy, but stylish, plastic bottle after removing the wrapper around the top. It tells you that you may not refill the bottle or remove the stopper (iirc) or they are gonna sue you. I am so afraid now.

Anyway, it smells very typical from the bottle. It is pretty alcoholic and it reminded me a little of Jägermeister, but with a strong clove note. If you put it on your hand you can smell it better. Americans tend to call the scent "gingerbread". Now, being no American, I have never had that but here in the Netherlands we have something called ontbijtkoek or peperkoek, which is a sort of cake make with spices, and it smells like that a little. Basically it has a dark spicey but sweet scent. At first it smelled very strong and overpowering. This might put you off. Even I was afraid at first.

Now then, what happens when you want to smear it on your face? You need to make haste as it seems to evaporate quickly. Putting it on results in a slight warming sensation but when you are done rubbing it basically starts to burn like hellfire. Yes. This stuff BURNS. It is true. Tried and tested like 3 times now. As for razor burn, you won't feel any razorburn with this stuff burning in your face. But seriously, it seems to do the job just fine.

What I do with after shave splashes is that I tend to apply it, then take half a pea sized drop of some thick cream and apply that on top with a few more drops of after shave. The splash helps to spread it.
I happen to use Arko cream of those little tubes but you can use something similar, as long as it has a weak scent ofcourse. Maybe this helps with the razorburn issue too.

Because the scent is actually very nice and not overpowering. Indeed, it is not a metrosexual scent, but it is not lotion-like such as Tabac (another product claimed to be for "old men").
Infact I wished the scent to linger on longer.

Some people complain about the ingredients, the list is supposedly too long as it contains to much artifical stuff. Do we really care about that? I don't.


Overal I am happy with this product.


Pro's:

-Good scent
-Yes it burns like hell
-Very good price for Americans
-Nice label
-Fights razorburn pretty well.

Con's

-Burns like hell (depends if you like that really)
-Not so cheap here in Europe
-Flimsy plastic bottle
-Evaporates too fast

Overall: 4/5

[RogueLeader]

I am American an old man and been shaving for years never heard of the stuff. I stick with Old Spice and it burns like hell as well. In my younger days CK that is some good stuff.