27 replies to this topic

[zencat]

In Hurricane Gold, Bond discovers the glory of a really good shower (and as we all know, Bond showers a lot in Fleming). The shampoo he uses is "Pinaud Elixir" and Higgy writes; "...he promised himself that he would only ever use that brand from now on in memory of the best shower he had ever had." (p 269).

Okay Fleming fanatics. This is obviously one of these Charlie Higson Fleming echoes. So which book does Bond use "Pinaud Elixir"?

[zencat]

Hey, I just Googled and found Christopher Wood mentions Pinaud Elixir ("the prince of shampoos") in his autobiography, but he doesn't say which book it was from.

[doublenoughtspy]

OHMSS. Chapter 2.

His two battered suitcases came and he unpacked leisurely and then ordered from Room Service a bottle of the Taittin-ger Blanc de Blancs that he had made his traditional drink at Royale. When the bottle, in its frosted silver bucket, came, he drank a quarter of it rather fast and then went into the bathroom and had an ice-cold shower and washed his hair with Pinaud Elixir, that prince among shampoos, to get the dust of the roads out of it.

[zencat]

Ha! Excellent. Thanks doublenoughtspy.

I'd love someone to do a comprehensive list of ALL the Fleming references in Young Bond. The book are jammed with them, but I just don't know my Fleming well enough to spot them.

[darkpath]

Ok, here's a rampantly consumerist question: Where can I purchase Pinaud Elixir? Is it even available in the US.

[zencat]

I wonder if it even exists anymore.

[OmarB]

Sounds like something my grandpa used to use when he was a man about town. Elixirs and tonics and pomades and all that crap guys used to put in their hair. But who am I to talk, Bond would condiser me some sort of long haired hippy at first glance.

[MkB]

Ok, here's a rampantly consumerist question: Where can I purchase Pinaud Elixir? Is it even available in the US.

There is an old thread on CBn about this :
http://debrief.comma...showtopic=33274
I hope this helps

[MkB]

Ok, here's a rampantly consumerist question: Where can I purchase Pinaud Elixir? Is it even available in the US.

Darkpath, I finally found this online shop in the Netherlands, selling Pinaud Elixir : there are two packagings available, a 200ml bottle:
http://www.winkelple...TDRKt8SYnyHkkeR
and a 400ml bottle:
http://www.winkelple.../...l&Id=106920

I also found a picture of an old collector bottle of Pinaud Elixir (sold on eBay), attached to this post: as you can see, the 400ml bottle looks quite like the old packaging.

Enjoy!

Attached Files

•  PINAUD.JPG   14.08KB   41 downloads

[zencat]

Awesome. I might need to get a bottle just to add to the collection.

[MarcAngeDraco]

Awesome. I might need to get a bottle just to add to the collection.

It's an idea at that.

Nice find, MkB!

[Byron]

Awesome. I might need to get a bottle just to add to the collection.

It's an idea at that.

Nice find, MkB!

Cool retro bottle, don't know about the Quinine though. Wasn't it used to prevent malaria?

Now to track down some Fleur de Alpes soap for the missus!

[Blofeld's Cat]

Awesome. I might need to get a bottle just to add to the collection.

It's an idea at that.

Nice find, MkB!

Cool retro bottle, don't know about the Quinine though. Wasn't it used to prevent malaria?

Yep, and it's used in cans of bitter lemon drink.

[zencat]

Ok, here's a rampantly consumerist question: Where can I purchase Pinaud Elixir? Is it even available in the US.

There is an old thread on CBn about this :
http://debrief.comma...showtopic=33274
I hope this helps

Good thread. Maybe we can merge it so we have the definitive Pinaud Elixir thread.

Does Pinaud Elixir appear anywhere else beside OHMSS? Maybe in one of the other continuation novels?

[sharpshooter]

It is pretty cool finding these references. I thought when I read that chapter in Hurricane Gold the shampoo was a link to Fleming. Bravo Charlie

[Simon]

Cool retro bottle, don't know about the Quinine though. Wasn't it used to prevent malaria?

Yep, and it's used in cans of bitter lemon drink.

And it grows in Indonesia, amongst other places I am sure.

A guide, on the way through the jungle, snapped a branch and told us to chew it.

(yum yum!)

[Byron]

Cool retro bottle, don't know about the Quinine though. Wasn't it used to prevent malaria?

Yep, and it's used in cans of bitter lemon drink.

And it grows in Indonesia, amongst other places I am sure.

A guide, on the way through the jungle, snapped a branch and told us to chew it.

(yum yum!)

That's pretty cool Simon. Reminds of a guide on a hike in the Cook Islands, he cut a funny looking stem off a plant and squeezed it to reveal a clear runny gel-like substance. That plant he told us, is otherwise known as the "shampoo plant"!

Btw which part of Indonesia did you visit? Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi?

How did you find the whole experience? I am thinking of Sabah (Malaysian Borneo) as a future holiday destination. Please PM me if you prefer.

Many thanks.

[Simon]

And it grows in Indonesia, amongst other places I am sure.

A guide, on the way through the jungle, snapped a branch and told us to chew it.

That's pretty cool Simon. Reminds of a guide on a hike in the Cook Islands, he cut a funny looking stem off a plant and squeezed it to reveal a clear runny gel-like substance. That plant he told us, is otherwise known as the "shampoo plant"!

Btw which part of Indonesia did you visit? Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi?

How did you find the whole experience? I am thinking of Sabah (Malaysian Borneo) as a future holiday destination. Please PM me if you prefer.

Many thanks.

I was there for about four months travelling on local transport so managed to take in;
Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Bali, Flores, Lombok, Sulawesi.

Found the whole experience thoroughly fascinating. Try;
1. Padang restaurants in Sumatra
2. Inland trip up the Mahakam river in Kalimantan (3 days one way (in my day))
3. Komodo dragons on Flores
4. Very strange burial traditions in Sulawesi. (A person dies, they wrap him up for as long as it takes to save the money for a big party and bulls to slaughter, sometimes three months. During this time they believe the person hasn't actually died - he dies after the party. Then they make an effigy of the person and park this in a cutout in a cliff or in a cave and then bury the body elsewhere)

Blofeld's Cat actually lived in Bali so I don't know whether he has wider and more in depth stories to tell.

Hope this helps.

[zencat]

Couldn't resist making a story out of this on my site.

[Byron]

And it grows in Indonesia, amongst other places I am sure.

A guide, on the way through the jungle, snapped a branch and told us to chew it.

That's pretty cool Simon. Reminds of a guide on a hike in the Cook Islands, he cut a funny looking stem off a plant and squeezed it to reveal a clear runny gel-like substance. That plant he told us, is otherwise known as the "shampoo plant"!

Btw which part of Indonesia did you visit? Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi?

How did you find the whole experience? I am thinking of Sabah (Malaysian Borneo) as a future holiday destination. Please PM me if you prefer.

Many thanks.

I was there for about four months travelling on local transport so managed to take in;
Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Bali, Flores, Lombok, Sulawesi.

Found the whole experience thoroughly fascinating. Try;
1. Padang restaurants in Sumatra
2. Inland trip up the Mahakam river in Kalimantan (3 days one way (in my day))
3. Komodo dragons on Flores
4. Very strange burial traditions in Sulawesi. (A person dies, they wrap him up for as long as it takes to save the money for a big party and bulls to slaughter, sometimes three months. During this time they believe the person hasn't actually died - he dies after the party. Then they make an effigy of the person and park this in a cutout in a cliff or in a cave and then bury the body elsewhere)

Blofeld's Cat actually lived in Bali so I don't know whether he has wider and more in depth stories to tell.

Hope this helps.

Wow what an adventure! If you could choose only 1 island as the highlight of your trip, which would it be?

[Simon]

That is a tough one - it depends on what you want as the country has so many (1000s of) disparate islands all offering languages, food, religion, cultures that without knowing your penchant, I couldn't really say.

You will need a month, at least, for places like Borneo and Sulawesi; travel is more difficult there.

Java, the smaller islands to the east and Sumatra, individually, you could get a flavour of in two weeks.

Borneo is good for getting lost in; Sulwesi is good for wierdness, the others for compacted flavours.

What's your bag?

[sharpshooter]

It is interesting, considering that Young Bond was originally going to be going to the Alps for book 4.

History has been totally altered, as to when and how he developed this fond association with this shampoo. It could have happened a year later in Book 5, or not spoken about at all.

Higson has to write these little detail in, and he is doing a mighty fine job at it.

[Byron]

That is a tough one - it depends on what you want as the country has so many (1000s of) disparate islands all offering languages, food, religion, cultures that without knowing your penchant, I couldn't really say.

You will need a month, at least, for places like Borneo and Sulawesi; travel is more difficult there.

Java, the smaller islands to the east and Sumatra, individually, you could get a flavour of in two weeks.

Borneo is good for getting lost in; Sulwesi is good for wierdness, the others for compacted flavours.

What's your bag?

Hi mate. I've sent you a Private Message.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Henry Chancellor refers to it as Bond's favourite shampoo in a list of JAMES BOND'S "FAVOURITES" on page 74 of his 'JAMES BOND The Man and His World' reference book.

However, he lists it as 'Pinaud's Elixir', which may just be a minuscule mistake on his part.

[zencat]

Henry Chancellor refers to it as Bond's favourite shampoo in a list of JAMES BOND'S "FAVOURITES" on page 74 of his 'JAMES BOND The Man and His World' reference book.

However, he lists it as 'Pinaud's Elixir', which may just be a minuscule mistake on his part.

Ah. I have to turn to that book more often. It's a great reference book.

[MkB]

For collectors: I've found this item on eBay, an old bottle of Pinaud elixir shampoo

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...ME:B:SS:FR:1123

It ends on October 12th 2009 at 11:07 BST. Good luck if you want to bid, and if you win, please share the photos here

[Mr. Somerset]

Now we know all about his shampoo tastes, I wonder if Bond prefers his hair to be tapered at the neckline like Sean Connery's or squared off like Pierce Brosnan's?

[DAN LIGHTER]

The James Bond Lifestyle looks like a bit of a bible for these type of things. Funny that, what with it being a Bond lifestyle website.

Same link to the shop that is linked above where you can get the shampoo, but it has a bit about it.

http://www.jamesbond...c...=ac&g=ac015

Also. I am interested in James Bond/ Flemings aftershave and the link for the toilet stuff is below. I guess it will smell like and old mans aftershave, but I will give it a go. For Queen and Country!

http://www.jamesbond...c...=ac&g=ac009

Actually at £45 I might give it a miss.

Edited by DAN LIGHTER, 10 October 2009 - 08:08 AM.