Lilac Vegetal

THE VEG. The Veg is sacredly profane. If the VEG does choose you, it is in command; it WEARS YOU and OWNS you. The Veg may have a tender side, but it is a TOTAL TOP. The Veg will occasionally smell of watersports under lilac bushes, but it will still compel you and entrance you with its masculine wiles. The Veg is all love/hate in one wearing but keeps you coming back for more...and more. Lilac Vegetal was first introduced in 1880. This is nine years before Jicky and two years before Fougere Royale. It is antiquated and also singular. I could swear that Pinaud has preserved its formula for as long as it possibly could, because this is not of today or of yesterday, its of another epoch. The lilac is a minimal accord mostly driven by alpha terpineol (which forms the core of lilac in fragrance) and there is an old-world fustiness only rivaled by Penhaligon's Hammam Bouquet, eight years its senior. It will raise most eyebrows in the 21st century, because after the lilac and general floral baroque flair of its opening subsides, this is a wild skank. I would venture to guess Synarome's notorious Muscarome J5 base is now used for Lilac Vegetal, as Muscarome is the most animalic, urinous, dirty base, intended to closely match classic tonkin musk bases of the past. The contrast of lilac and slightly wilted "spring mix" greens with this euphorically foul base makes this such a forbidden treat for me. I dared to wear it in public on this warm May day and the self-consciousness had me blushing. But the VEG chose me, as it were, and I clearly was ready, willing, and able.

Epic Journey Into the Bottled Yonder, 070 ------------------------------------------------------- Purchased January 2019 THE VEG... AHH HOW STRANGE AND MYSTERIOUS YOU ARE... Anyway. *clears throat* Let's discuss "The Veg". This old bastard can be worn heavy, and you WILL smell obnoxious! If anybody around you is familiar with the urinal soap cakes then that is exactly what you will smell like, to them only.. But there's a catch to The Veg. Just take a drop on each part of your face and dab it on. This must be done after shaving. Do not rub it over. Dab at least a couple times and you'll have enough where the lilac jumps out and is quite a crowd stopper. You may not get "compliments" as much as questions born out of old-fashioned curiosity. I think compliments are bloody lame. Go watch "Youtube" and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about... This and Virgin Island Bay Rum are the metaphorical "beast mode" aftershaves. They are the strongest of all, bar none. Fragrances should never be worn for compliments because once upon a time they were not made for compliments. They were made for the scent lover. Try expressing yourself once in a while. Be obnoxious, loud, thump your damn chest, never shave it, and also learn to be discreet. The Veg can do both. That's why it's currently loved and hated at the same time. You'll never hear of one "liking" it. This strange bastard of a scent does not work that way, no sir and ma'am. THE VEG... AHH YOU BEAUTY OF A BEAST...!

After being such a fan of Pinaud "Clubman" I started researching the company. I came across what seems one of thee most controversial fragrances "lilac vegital. I read the reviews, many talked about some stagnant piss note within the formula. So after months of wondering i bought a bottle for nothing more than at least ive tried it. Honestly. First impression wow i loved it. Genuinly. To me it reminds me of wet christmas trees.. wrights hand soap... and penhaligons hammam boquet all combined. Im glad i purchased it. My wife is not a fan of it but im an avid wet shaver and vintage aftershave splash nut ball. Im 31 so to younguns im old and to the old im young. But. I have a strong love for old fragrances and to think of lilac veg i think of how perfume history has evolved i mean kouros has hints of this in it. It is wet stanky and very very old yet enjoyable to wear. I was expecting worse and lucky me i enjoy it. Will buy a big back up bottle and cherish it. Dont be afraid of the reviews it cost me £12 for 177ml so its not worth moaning about. People say its hard to wear yet i can and do alas i find oud impossible to wear myself but others can and do and should:) Its fragrance history bottled up. Purchase it try it love it wear it hate it stick it on a shelf and it will look cool and unuique on display:)

You're either Chosen by The Veg or you're not. I'm among the Chosen, and I absolutely adore Lilac Vegetal. First whiff upon application smells like peepee on a tile floor. Not directly like peepee, but like cheap industrial lilac air fresheners commonly used to mask peepee. I can see how this would be enough to turn most people away instantly. On my skin the peepee note goes away very quickly and gives way to very unusual bright yet powdery florals that seemingly should not work on a man but somehow do. Grandma's purse and that powder puff she kept on her dresser and never used. Very shortly after the vegetal notes kick in. Then it smells like Glade sprayed over a pot of rotting spinach. Yet somehow it still manages to smell great to my nose. Then the florals fade and the rotting spinach turns into the smell of Play-Doh. At that point I can't stop huffing myself. What should be a disgusting foul mess of a stench just... works. Do not ask me how but it does. I still can't make sense of it. But I love this stuff. My wife merely likes it, but thankfully doesn't hate it. I'd probably wear it anyway. MUST be decanted into glass. The cheap funky plastic note is horrifyingly bad, but it disappears once decanted.

As can be seen from the other reviews, Lilac Vegetal is an all or nothing fragrance, eliciting either love and appreciation or retched revulsion. My suspicion is that the scent reacts very differently with different body chemistry and/or is perceived quite differently by different people. Also, the "in the bottle" scent and initial opening on the skin is quite bizarre and somewhat reminiscent of fermentation or a (dirty) litter box. No one should draw conclusions about the potential for this scent until at least 30 min after application. For me at least, the ultimate reward of the fresh, authentic lilac/powder dry down is worth the wait. This scent to me is both classic in recalling barber shops of old, but also not dated or out of character with more modern tastes and expectations.

Oh, I haven't thought of this in years! And I still have a tiny bit left shoved way back in the Narnia corners of the closet. This is such a strange smell, like lilac and cat piss, and I mean that in the nicest way. After you've smelled it once I dare you not to want to smell it again. The alcohol always seems to cut through the floral miasma at the oddest moments, which keeps good old Vegetal smelling like something you might encounter if you sat in on an autopsy. I love Lilac Vegetal; it smells terrific on my skin. It is emphatically not for everyone, but it's so cheap that if you love perfume you should at least give it a sniff sometime-it won't break the bank, and it will expand your mind.

I'm in the "chosen" camp when it comes to the Veg. I love wearing it on the weekends in the spring/summer with some Eau de Quinine in my hair when I'm just piddling around the house or garage. I really like the "when old school wants to go old school" vibe it gives me. I would suggest that it be transferred into glass and put it away for a couple of months in a dark corner to get the funky smell from the plastic out. The difference after is like night and day and it really transforms into a wonderful fragrance. Also I would keep the plastic bottle for comparison.

I'm so happy the House of Clubman has finally been included! Lilac Vegetal is definitely a strange one - its weird animalic topnotes are NOT for newbies or the faint of heart. It's sort of the old-fashioned version of Secretions Magnefique - so bad you have to love it. True "jolie-laide"(Beautiful and ugly)scent. I was at Merz Apothecary in Chicago and the saleslady and I were both completely astounded by this bizarre concoction and both bought a bottle. For the price you can wear it and tell people it's the newest "thing" from the hippest niche house.

I didn't know this was considered a "difficult" fragrance, because my father used it as aftershave when I was a child, many, MANY years ago. I just thought he smelled good. He was sort of a healthy uncomplicated guy and I just thought this was an uncomplicated but pleasant scent! The men in the family wore scent more than the women. Dad and this aftershave and my grandfather used 4711. The women wore lovely perfume, but only on special occasions. Too bad! Anyway, this is on my nostalgia list.

THE VEG. Possibly the most polarizing scent in masculine perfumery. I'm happily one of The Chosen that enjoy its scent. Admittedly, the initial splash can be off-putting, with its "industrial cleaner" opening. However, push through that, and you're left with a powdery floral. Clean, simple, and elegant; this is quite possibly my favorite aftershave, as well as scents in general

finally a different and not cloying aftershave. yes, it may look like death and decay but soooo diluted. women will like it. it's not old school for men with chest hair but I like it because it's different. piss? noooo. But where? 9/10

I'm a fantasy geek, Lord of the Rings and all that. I'm sure most of you are not, because, well, that's how it goes. Anyway, my first thought about Lilac Vegetal was that it was a very "Elven" scent. When I smelled it, I could imagine a very pretty-faced man with a slightly foppish sense of humor, but one that might put a knife to your throat if you got on his bad side. Reviews tend to put ideas in your head where you might not have had them yourself. The whole "urine" thing might not have occurred to me. Maybe my body chemistry is just awesome and it doesn't happen on my skin. Nor would the "play-doh" or "old lady" or whatever noise people have to say about a scent that doesn't compute. I much prefer my image of Lilac Vegetal to theirs, and yet, theirs sort of got into my head (as critical and judgemental ideas will). I don't wear it as much as I should. But I do really like it. I have mentioned in previous reviews that these very old scents have become provocative and daring just by virtue of them being so old. Where once they were mainstream, now they are on the fringe. In a sense, they make niche fragrances a bit silly because they were here first. Plus, they're a hell of a lot cheaper. Lilac Vegetal is a vision of masculinity that we have forgotten. But that doesn't make it any less valid. The world we are trying to build is one that tolerates gender in all its various forms, not just the one that our movies and advertising have tried to sell to us. I think that makes Lilac Vegetal all the more relavant because it shows us a different side of what a man can smell like. The Veg doesn't have to be elderly or effeminate just because people who wear Sauvage say it is.

THE VEG............. It either chooses you or it don't. This was the very first after shave created from the legendary Pinaud line. This was even said to be the chosen fragrance by Napoleon himself. This aftershave has survived generations after generations. Some say THE VEG has a mind of it's own. Some say it smells like cat piss mixed with play dough. Others say it smells like a perfect spring day with lilac. The Gents Review: I wore this aftershave for two weeks before writing a review. For the first week I thought that THE VEG smelled exactly like cat piss with lilac BUT THIS DID NOT STOP ME! After the second week I actually started to enjoy it more and more. I was a late bloomer THE VEG works its magic in mysterious ways. After the second week I no longer thought that it smelled like cat piss/lilac but that it smelled very pleasant. Value: I bought a 6 oz bottle of this from Amazon for $9.00 which is a good price. Longevity: This will last between 5-6 hours. The Gents Final Verdict: THIS IS NOT TO BE WORN BY BEGINNERS. For someone who appreciates historic fragrances this is for you. Would I buy again? Probably not but I am glad that I tried it. *My wife hated it* Just remember THE VEG does what it wants and chooses who it wants. The Gents Score 7.5/10 (A Gentlemen's classic) The Gents Aftershave Rankings: 1: Original Clubman 2: Bay Rum 3. Ogallala Bay Rum 4: Special Reserve 5: Vanilla 6: Musk 7: Lilac Vegetal 8: Lime Sec

Lilac Vegetal has me a little confused. I smell mostly lilacs, which in their natural state (as with many flowers) have a sort of heady, almost grotesque intoxicating quality that is reminiscent of rot or of urine. The opening of this seems to combine nothing but that rottenness with a sort of cheap, cleaner-like sweetness (I don't get urinal cake, but I do get over concentrated fabuloso mop water). It feels very plasticky, although I'm not sure how much of that is a result of my brain trying to make a connection to the pleasantly cheap plastic bottle its housed within. After the first few odd moments it settles into a dandy little soft powdery floral. Hardly anything truly scary if you can get past the bizarre brisk opening, in fact I find it more associative of a soft-lit, steamy bubble bath in some kind of dated grandma bathroom. Almost creepily babydoll-like, for some reason. Above all else, this is an interesting artifact. It's hard to imagine this being a popular men's fragrance, nevertheless a barbershop scent which I contemporarily associate as being profoundly masculine in nature. Additionally it's complete nose-bomb overdose in the beginning serves to illustrate what "crisp" "bracing" "fresh"-ness meant before the era of modern men's black-ice/steel/deodorant/chemical/air freshener aromachemicals. The answer, it seems, is rotten flowers.

I got this the other day, I love the scent of lilacs since it is so fresh florally and springtime. I decided to smell it for the first time on the walk home, walking outside to have a nice initial impression. I splashed it out, trying to splash just a little, but be warned, this splashes out a lot for some reason, so be carefull if you just want a little. After all though it does say body splash too, but I got it for an aftershave/splash tonic. Anyways, I splashed it on, and what hit me was a really nice scent of - lilacs! yes that's right, hard to believe? smells really good I think and exactly like lilacs with it's unique scent of floral, woodyness, crisp springtime outdoorsy lilac scent. I mean, it is not the best lilac, you can smell some sugar and syrup in it with the smell, so it doesn't have the lightness of true lilacs, but it does smell like them, and for $6 or $12 it's not bad to splash on now and then. Mixed in at times, and more so later on a sweetish powder is there smelling like the scent in the Pinaud's Talc powder which I have. Anyways, this stuff can be pretty strong for a while and lasts quite a few hours, and for the lilac scent it's pretty nice.

What karlovonamesti said was so spot on for me. There are times for the Veg, though. It is best for what it is. Life can be hard at times and frankly, we can all take ourselves too seriously. There are moments when the right thing to do is to see friends, go out and wear a fragrance you like because you want to convey your cool, refined, intelligent side. The Veg is part of my wardrobe and shelves because sometimes what I want is to remind myself to be humourous, take a step back and embrace the irony of things. To laugh at myself. Go with the mix. The Veg. There is Marmite. There is Vegemite. There are no bad paths. Just paths. Sometimes the path least travelled.. :) I have been known to wear way too much of this stuff on purpose! There will be times when you want people to keep their distance! Sometimes this stuff works for that! Caution - it does not always work for that. Double caution - when 'that girl' walks into the room and you think "Oh...@%$&, I'm wearing my Lilac Vegetal!!!" The last bit has actually happened to me :)

This is a very "old fashioned" men's fragrance, straight out of the old-school barbershops, and hence is an acquired taste for today's men. The lilac notes are indeed quite sweet in a way that is different from, say, Joop. There is a feel of Evening in Paris which is not what one would expect in a man's frag. However, I think Lilac Vegetal is an excellent daytime fragrance for a daring fellow (you certainly won't smell like all the other guys!), and is also good for women looking for something a little different. There is a leafy note that the previous reviewer called "spinach" but that I sensed as herbal/sharp. Normally I am not bonkers about "green" scents, but mixed with the lilac and a slight muskiness, it works. The sillage and longevity are surprisingly strong for an aftershave. I had a bottle of this years ago and am thinking about getting another one. Update: Another phrase I would use to describe it is "unique charm".

This fragrance simultaneously exalts and debases itself. It contains multitudes and it contradicts itself. While it's still wet I am not crazy about it, the initial dry-down can be a bit pissy, but I give this about half an hour and it's decidedly lilac, I can see where others smell urinal cakes but this is not overwhelming for me. This really smells like a metaphysical shop to me, there is something incense-y that just cannot be overlooked here but surprisingly I see no one else mentioning this. A friend who also has this agrees. It's like being able to wear the smell of incense, enchanted oils, and parchment/fresh printed cards in there somewhere too. The lilac is not lost in this picture but it is far from the only thing capturing your attention. This is a comforting scent in many ways because of this. alphairone below said it best: The Veg is sacredly profane.

It really does smell like urine. And I wish that was enough for me to say I hate it and write it off completely, but it's not. It's a beautiful, fresh lilac bush... that got peed on. It's a glimpse into fragrance history - brave Hungarian cavalrymen wearing wool uniforms, shaving with straight razors, writing letters to their ladies from canvas tents... that got peed on. Just because you can't smell it doesn't mean other people won't... But as they walk past you, they'll look back, bewildered. "Does that clean-shaven man smell like urine? And why is that not a bad thing?" I give this classic aftershave a 3/10... and also a 7/10. 🤔

Pinaud Clubman Lilac Vegetal... ...oh what have I laughed at some of the reviews about "the Veg". No rotten flower vase water, no stale cabbage, no cat urine in my nose. Just a plastic doll with a lilac reef on it's head having a leak on a urinal cake. And i can smell a horse. What does that now mean? Has the Veg chosen me? It is definitely not for the person who thinks Eau Sauvage and Bleu de Chanel are true masterpieces. It is for the person who can appreciate the odd ones not for the masses.

I will change my mind a little bit and say that yeah, this is certainly not the true scent of lilacs. Comparing this with Highland Lilac, which smells authentic and quite nice, this is syrup and sugar, though there is some lilac like scent mixed out of these syrups. It's like all the pinaud products, none of them smell really all that great really. something cheap just to splash on when not using a perfume though it's fine for that.

The descriptions of this fragrance were so strange (and the price so low) I had to check it out. Opening is straight up lilac and surprisingly feminine. Dry down is pretty faint, powdery with a hint of lily of the valley. It wasn't the green explosion I expected, but is unique for a drugstore brand. It would be a good "polite" scent for the train when going into the city on a spring Saturday.

Smells kinda terrible and amazing at the same time. Reminds me a lot of how public urinals in the late 90's/early 00's, but good somehow. I'm lowkey obsessed with Lilac Vegetal. Feels really good on the skin as well, so if you're looking for a cheap but interesting aftershave, then Lilac Vegetal isn't a bad choice at all. A couple of bucks for 50ml? Hell yeah bro

i have lilac essential oil and lilac vegetal thats been sitting in glass for over a year, yup it smells like lilacs but threres something else, like a "laundry musk" note. the lilac in this does not smell very "deep" if that makes sense, makes me think of spring.

Now i can say this one is one of the most gothic scents,infact it remembers me of the time i go to meet the dear passed away in the graveyard,solemn and serious,the austerity of decay.

Odd aftershave splash, to me its different and oddball scent of Lilacs. But it fades over time and either you like it or you dont.

put it in a glass bottle the plastic makes it smell funny

I agree; it's gross but I like it.

I'm into history, and I think that there was something that smelled good in there --- it was complicated at times, but i have to admit there was a strong smell of urine and ammonia, perhaps some floor chemicals, like that green dry stuff the janitor used at elementary school to polish the floor. I kept thinking if I kept it on long enough the urine smell would subside and it did to an extent but it was hard keeping it on that long to enjoy the dry down. I mean it was nearly unbearable. I think that it is too difficult to put on just a touch and a touch maybe all one needs to get more of an appreciation of it. Otherwise it is too strong to take in all at once. As for the urine smell, who knows maybe some people's body chemistry really brings that out. I do know other reviews mentioned the smell of urinal cake, the kind you always see surrounded by cigarette butts and chewed gum in the bottom of the pissoir. I kept getting that. I wore this several times to see if perhaps it was too much to take in all at once. I do remember one of my tries where it turned out to smell pleasant at some point but i had a hard time replicating that experience and then gave up on it. Tired of trying I had to chuck the whole bottle in the trash. I still feel guilty about it like I chucked something historically valuable in the garbage. Maybe its not just meant for me.

Strong smell of Play-Doh for me, followed by a bit of those bathroom deodorizer bricks. I can pick up faint notes of some other things going on beneath, but I can't get past the former smells to enjoy the rest, unfortunately.

It was awful. On me it smelled like a cross between a homeless man and cat urine. I've smelled many lilac flowers through the years. Some smell good and some smell bad. This is just bad. I can't believe it has a following.

Smelling this afresh in a new bottle after eleven years of avoiding it, I now realize the error of my ways. Lilac Vegetal was introduced (in some form) by Pinaud sometime in the 1850s. By the 1860s Pinaud was writing his memoirs, and by 1868 he was dead. The fragrance was, according to David Woolf of American International Industries, parent company of Clubman-Pinaud, released to the American public in 1878. That makes Lilac Vegetal older than Fougere Royale, Chypre, and Mitsouko, and it's not really close. The thing about this fragrance is it uses the power of suggestion to elicit an illusory perception in its customers. They put "vegetal" in the name. Green label. Green liquid. It must be some sort of weird vegetal scent. I used to think that myself. After researching Pinaud's affinity for using musk, particularly deer musk, in perfumes like Musque Reine, which is noted in 1893's Merck Report to smell of musk days after being applied and after two washings, I now smell Lilac Vegetal as being an intense musk scent - a Victorian musk, if you will - that dries into a floral note that comes closest to lilac. This Victorian musk is so intense that the only other fragrance that comes to mind in comparison is Kouros (it doesn't smell like Kouros, but it's equally musky). That it dries down to a powdery lilac note is a testament to how complex certain animalic musks are. While it's no longer a natural deer musk, which is a restricted material, this synthetic is nevertheless full of funky and sweet facets. I detect a bit of a galbanum note - the "green" element that arguably isn't green at all - bridging the funky musk top to the floral base. Lilac isn't an essence that perfumers can easily distill - its flowers are unworkably low yield - and thus a reconstruction is necessary. Here I think Aii achieved it by finding a musk that had a floral drydown and simply bolstered that facet with supportive chemicals, achieving a lilac-like effect. It smells good, better now that I understand it fully, and I feel like I'm wearing a piece of history whenever I slap it on. Sold as an aftershave but doubles as a hefty cologne, with two to five hours longevity. Review of 1950s vintage: Although it is similar in effect to the current product, this vintage from the 1950s (in a heavy glass bottle) smells significantly different. Due to the scarcity of real lilac essence, they created an interesting barbershop reconstruction here. The top is a powdery sassafras note with a camphor quality that smells green and medicinal. As it dries, a hint of "lilac" comes through, although it's actually less convincingly floral than the new stuff. Within five minutes it dries out and fades away, leaving gentle talc powder with a ghost of sweet lilac. While the new stuff is bold and raw, the vintage is somehow more complex and refined, but also subtler and shorter-lived. The vintage bottle is 12 ounces and its splash spout is tiny - literally just one drop per splash - so I'm going to be using it for the next 10 years, and I have no idea how I'm going to refill it!

Review of 1970s vintage: Alphairone nails his review below of the current formula. It's interesting to read about Muscarome J5 being in there, as I have often speculated at what kind of animalic-floral musk Pinaud has been using all these years. This stuff is Waddesdon Manor in a bottle, in any vintage, former or current. I wore it today layered with a (nearly) all-natural lilac water, and it was very pleasant. But . . . I was wearing a nineteen-seventies vintage. The stuff comes in glass with a green plastic cap and smells quite different from what they're selling today. It is nowhere near as musky or skanky. The top is fizzy and powdery at the same time, a strange phenomenon I've never experienced before in anything else, like medicated deodorant powder with a luminescent floral scent that bursts with an abstract lilac essence. Then in a few seconds after splashing, I get that familiar skunkiness, like a hint of musky-floral that leans into the musk. But it's much softer and briefer in this vintage, a shadow of what is in bottles today. It oddly smells more modern than the current stuff because it isn't nearly as musky. It eventually dries to a very clean, powdery, slightly sassafras-like essence, with a prevailing wisp of lilac undergirding this dry "clean" feeling. Longevity is very fleeting, maybe fifteen minutes, maybe a little longer. Interestingly it also works wonders as a deodorant for the pits. I tried it a few times on a hot day after a shower, and as the label says, it actually does deodorize, leaving the skin smelling very neutral-clean. Eliminates underarm funk. Pinaud's American arm claims this was released in 1878, which corresponds with my research for the piece I wrote about it in 2020. That puts it eleven years before Jicky, and even a couple more years before Fougere Royale. What accounts for the skank factor in the newer formula (from the last twenty-five years and probably even longer, dating back into the nineties)? Did Pinaud actually view the 20th century vintages that I've collected as being reformulations of the nineteenth century formula, and revert it back to that for the current version? It's odd that the newer stuff smells more like a fragrance from that time period than the older formula, which smells more like something a Mad Man would slap on after a shave in a train station somewhere in NY City in the Kennedy years. Hard to say, but no matter -- every version of Lilac Vegetal smells good!

I had been looking for this particular smell for quite awhile. I know it sounds odd and undesirable, but when I encountered this somewhere carried in the air, I used to describe it as sort of similar to water-mold, or a damp basement, or musty attic smell, but rather pleasant. While I can understand the association with urinal cakes may give the opening to this centuries old fragrance an acrid feeling to some noses, to me, its really not that bad, it is very clean and powdery when billowing off skin from the dry down. Below some people liken it to play doh, and I can see that resemblance, although I get that more from iris forward perfumes. Yes, this is the exact same parfum (or a dupe of it) used in some men’s bathroom toiletries and alas, sigh, urinal cakes. But this does not contain the ammonia smell most men associate with that certain aroma, (not to mention all the other smells lingering, mingling, and wafting around in mens bathrooms) and (not) surprisingly a few women have complemented me while wearing this because believe it or not, women do not frequent men’s bathrooms often so they don’t usually smell men’s urinal cakes and thus do not have that same association. I bet many people would be surprised at how many scents used to fragrance their modern day soaps, and shaving creams, are “duplicated” scents from perfumes that existed far into the past. Soaps and cleaning products have the fragrances they do today because there were successful perfumes back in the day that smelled just like them. Lilac Vegetal is in fact, a staple at many traditional barbershops as much as regular Pinaud Clubman is, and if you can remove the bathroom connotation from your perspective on it, you will see it is just as much of a fresh, clean, powdery, “just got a haircut” aftershave as any other. I do understand why many can’t take it however, because once you do have a particular association with something, it’s difficult to shake it off or try to purposefully replace it with something different. This smells lovely in the air though, if you put this on your shirt, not on your skin, a powdery, creamy floral will waft around you for hours. If you hate this, then you also despise something as delicate, powdery, and old as Johnson and Johnsons baby powder.

Today is Easter, for many the beggining of spring, and it's the first time of the year l always reach for Lilac Veg. In the fall I prefer my bay rum and old spice aftershave. In winter it use to be English Leather, but since that juice is no longer available in its original formulation, I have migrated to more practical menthol fragrances for the winter, particularly Osage Rub and Aqua Velva. Menthol based aftershaves are perfect for the winter. However, when it comes to Spring time nothing will ever beat Lilac Veg as my seasonal aftershave. I'll repeat that... NOTHING will beat it this time of year. Tip: For those gents that fail to be chosen by the Veg, don't despair. Buy a skin safe Lilac essential oil and add a few drops to your bottle. Trust me it makes a world of difference and it's absolutely beautiful while still maintaining the animalitic legendary vibe that is well known about The Veg. And remember... Easter morning or Passover is the best time of the year to reach for The Veg.

There really isn't anything that smells like this. And people who sniff this for the first time might find that an understatement ... with a confused additional thought of 'why, why would someone deliberately make something that smells like this?' If you like 'strange' fragrances that smell 'strangely' natural and fade fast into an even 'stranger' soft sweet'n'sour saturated flower stemish musk - boyo, you just might have found your long lost signature scent. If you enjoy the smell of flowers stems (doesn't matter the kind) that have been marinating in a vase of aspirin water for a week longer than they should have - this is your holy grail. It's 'strange' and almost off-putting, but it manages to work under the right circumstances. It's an uneasy amalgam of oldness & freshness. Beautiful in their own way but 'strangely' uncomfortable when mixed together. It's the Ivan Albright of aftershaves

Ahhh, the "Veg." I had a bottle of this several years ago, the big twelve ouncer, which I used as an aftershave. It was the most difficult aftershave to use, hands down. Most of the time it smelled downright awful. Imagine chopped spinach and hard white vinegar mixed with some sort of animal urine, followed by the weirdest powdery-sweet floral note under the sun. That's the "Veg." Except that occasionally, when the moon, the stars, the tides, the magnetic pull at the equator, my ex-girlfriend's perpetual bad mood, and the winning New York lottery numbers were all perfectly aligned, that weird top accord smelled green and pleasantly bracing, and its awful floral drydown seemed refined and delicate. This literally happened once every thirty or forty wears. At some point I decided it wasn't worth it and chucked the stuff.

This is so old fashioned, it makes Brut seem modern and trendy by comparison. It's really "out there". All the hyperbole about the opening stage of Lilac Vegetal is true - if you're not prepared for it, it's like a blast of industrial floor cleaner and boiled cabbage. Within about a minute, the smell of overcooked broccoli disappears and the lilac smell unfolds. This isn't a sweet or "pretty" scent at all - it's bitter, dry and kind of skanky, like a blend of lilac, talcum powder and animalic musk. I like the smell of lilacs, so I like this. Longevity is all day, about 8 hours, which is amazing for an aftershave. I enjoy this scent, but many people will not.

The scent of glorious lilac battles with old veggies and public urinal on my skin with this one. The lilac is usually victorious. Still, this is one of the few fragrances that make me a bit self conscious. I don't wear fragrance for compliments but I don't want to make people suffer either. Interestingly, my friend thought I smelled "nice" when I wore this. She never asked what it was and I never mentioned my own thoughts about it. By grace: I'm going to finish my sample, decanted to a glass bottle. But it's tough to imagine buying another dose of this. Definitely worth a shot if you're up to a challenge.

John Galsworthy did a series of novels of an upper-class British family in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. "The Forsyte Saga," written much later. The main character in the novels is Soames Forsyte. After a failed marriage to a beautiful woman, he marries a second time to a French girl, named Annette. After many years, Annette, who was a canny Frenchwoman, had a friend nammed Prosper Profond, who was Belgian. This is what Profond smelled like. Lilac with just hint of god-knows-what-else. I only wear it after I take my shower in the evening--just for me. After I go to the gym, I wear Clubman.

Make no mistake; not everybody who writes here is on the side of the customers and collectors. Reviews and ratings are sometimes manufactured to order. It happens all the time in the world of movies - why should it not happen in the world of fragrances ? Collectors pining for historical escapism believe the blather about so and so alleged mythical persona of magic chronicle and end up buying piss in a plastic bottle. It's a favored trick from the con artist's bible. To sell junk to people by trying to illuminate the junk with a splendor of historical importance and noble heritage.

Ah... The Veg. I have heard the stories of "It chooses you or it doesn't" and I have been chosen! I stumbled across a VERY old glass bottle (guessing late 30's) that hadn't turned and grabbed it for a pittance! Glorious stuff and the ladies in my life approve to! To anyone curious about the veg I will offer a word of warning, If you are buying a new bottle get it out of the plastic and into a glass bottle immediately! There are some funky interactions going on between the juice and the plastic!

I am so glad to have stumbled upon this again after many, many years! I had bought a large bottle when I was a teenager for what seemed pennies at the time and wore it everywhere. I know this is supposed to be a man's fragrance but I just love this! I wonder if it's why I love lilacs so much - I have planted lilacs in every yard I've had over the last 50 years. I'm so glad this is still being produced!

A strange one but I do have respect for this due to its history and tradition. Straight up this smells like a row of public urinals sprinkled with a heavy dash of talcum powder (the musky Lilac at work here). Lilac Vegetal is a quirky, slightly off-putting scent and should only be used on a lonely night after a shave and before bed. A fragrance for oneself to appreciate.

This is probably the most classic "barbershop" scent of all time, along with Clubman, produced later on. It has a powdery, flowery lilac (as the name indicates) scent that doesn't last too long. It's a great classic that's stood the test of time but is not for today's narrow-minded types who are used only to contemporary trends.

Needed some aftershave and got this for like 5 bucks on Ebay. Didn't expect to like it very much, but it's ok. Surprising longevity, very green chlorophyll and wood chip thing going on. Masculine and barbershoppy, I don't get a lot of floral but the musk is nice and earthy.

These silly hateful reviews. If this was in a colorful glass cutesy bottle and the price were $500 an ounce, many of these “piss” comment folks would trade in their 401Ks for it. Please. The best of the Pinauds. Lasts all day too...into the next day. Quite lovely

My first sex experience. The moment I smelled Lilac Vegetal it instantly reminded me of the first time I went down on a girl. I wasn't crazy about the musky scent but yet, I couldnt wait to try it again. That's the Veg.

If your grandfather had worn this, you wouldn't be... I would change it to your Grandfather wore this and somehow he still got close enough to a woman and made you.

Daytime spring weekend fragrance for me. I’m only getting a powdery smell from this one. Still nice though.