Maison Margiela Replica By the Fireplace Eau de Toilette has always made me think of burnt marshmallows with their gooey centers dripping out; black smoke tendrils from the charred exterior mixed with the sticky, sweet vanilla interior. The fragrance is enhanced by a strong nuttiness, light spice (the clove doesn’t dominate), and a smooth, woody base. I find that most of the notes are well-blended and don’t stand out individually except for the cade oil, chestnut, and vanilla.

• top notes: pink pepper, orange flower petals, clove oil
• heart notes: chestnut accord, gaiac wood oil, cade oil
• base notes: vanilla accord, Peru balsam, cashmeran

The pink pepper hit first, but then was quickly swallowed by sweet orange wafting through a campfire where people were roasting their marshmallows, dense fog of smoky vanilla with spiced cloves, and their chestnuts, nutty and hot. The perfume very much delivers on replicating the idea of “By the Fireplace.” Cade oil is distinct throughout the opening and through the first few hours; it was dry, smoky, and tarry, which was what gave it the “fireplace” smell.

The darker, smoky undertone lingered for the majority of the wear, but it softened inch by inch as the fragrance developed on skin as the nutty, woodsy notes intensified and the sweetness became thicker and more resinous with a vanilla-amber swirl. By the fourth hour of wear, it was much subtler, while the spiced vanilla and woods made up the majority of the aroma, which lingered for several hours more.

Application

For testing, I used half of a 1ml sample vial dabbed to the underside and topside of my wrist area on my left arm. I used an unscented moisturizer prior to applying the scent as this is also my swatching arm (aka, incredibly parched at any given moment) as I found scent did not hold well here otherwise. 

Longevity

For an Eau de Toilette, it had exceptional longevity for me. It’s a scent that I can put two sprays on in the morning and find myself with remnants 12 hours later. I don’t find it has a long trail nor a ton of projection, but it has some projection for the first hour or so.

Personal Thoughts

I’ve owned this scent for awhile now, and it’s something both my husband and I use! The bottle has less than half to go, so you know it’s something that gets used frequently (though less so lately, given my penchant for testing all the new scents!). It has just enough of the dark, black smoke to invoke char but not to the point where it dominates, and the sweetness of vanilla, nuttiness of chestnut, and the spiced, ambery woods wrap it into a warm and cozy scent.

Available Sizes

• 100ml for $135
• 30ml for $72
• 10ml for $30

Where to Buy

• Nordstrom
• Sephora
• Selfridges

Maison Margiela Replica By the Fireplace Perfume Review

Maison Margiela Replica By the Fireplace Perfume Review

Maison Margiela Autumn Vibes Eau de Toilette begins with a swirl of aromatic spices–pepper, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg–but ultimately shifts into a dry, warm cedar within a few minutes that sweetens with maple syrup over the next several huors of wear. There are hints of pine, darker resins, and rooty sweetness at different points in development, but Autumn Vibes is largely a cedar fragrance. The notes are listed as:

• top notes: pink peppercorns essence, cardamom essence, coriander essence
• heart notes: carrot seeds essence, nutmeg essence, olibanum essence
• base notes: cedarwood essence, moss accord, fir balsam absolute, labdanum resinoid

It has a harsh, peppery hit that tickled my nose initially, before sweetening with freshly dug-up carrots and flanked by spicy cardamom ad nutty coriander that combined with the dry cedar smelled almost cumin-like. The opening was quite aromatic, but the intensity dropped as the cedar and fir amplified, which made the spices run together and seem more like a piquant, nutty blend of savory spice. The carroty sweetness popped in and out over the first five minutes before settling against the dry cedar adding an earthy sweetness.

After 15 minutes, a dry, warm cedar took centerstage and remained the focal point of Autumn Vibes through its drydown. The sweetness shifted from rooty and earthy to darker, thicker, and more resinous, like maple syrup.

Application

For testing, I used 1/3 of a 0.7ml sample vial dabbed to the underside and topside of my wrist area on my left arm. I used an unscented moisturizer prior to applying the scent as this is also my swatching arm (aka, incredibly parched at any given moment) as I found scent did not hold well here otherwise. 

Longevity

It lasted for seven hours until it was a skin-scent and about 10 hours before it was quite difficult to detect on my skin. The sillage and projection were moderate with the sillage dropping faster than the projection after three hours of wear.

Personal Thoughts

I thought I’d love “maple syrup” as a sweetener against cedar, but it felt almost less like pure maple syrup and more like the idea of maple syrup, not quite thick and dark enough to satisfy my preferences. For someone who loves dry cedar but perhaps finds other fragrances too dry with cedar, the sweetness of this definitely gave it a smoother feel.

Available Sizes

• 100ml for $135
• 30ml for $72
• 10ml for $30

Where to Buy

• Sephora

Maison Margiela Autumn Vibes Perfume Review

Maison Margiela Autumn Vibes Perfume Review

Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club Eau de Toilette is primarily a tobacco, rum, and vanilla fragrance that kicks off with a brighter, zesty lemon and pepper opening with orange blossoms but the tobacco showed up within the first 15 minutes with vanilla getting amplified within the first hour through the drydown. It’s supposed to reflect the “cozy atmosphere of a private club” with “honey and woody notes of cigar boxes.” These are the notes:

• top notes: Primofiore lemon, pink pepper, neroli oil
• heart notes: clary sage oil, rum absolute, java vetiver oil
• base notes: styrax resin, tobacco leaf absolute, vanilla bean

There was a dash of pepper, quickly followed by bright, zesty lemon that gave way to a vanillic cloud of fresh orange blossoms for the first two minutes. There was a coolness to the feel of the scent from the vetiver as rum was poured over ice. The notes felt vague, less defined, which may have been a symptom of the fragrance having less projection than other eau de toilettes in the Replica collection (see more under Longevity).

Sweet, smoky tobacco wafted over rum on the rocks after 15 minutes of development, and then the vanilla started to amplify over the next hour. It also seemed the fragrance itself intensified overall, too, after an hour compared to the first hour–particularly the tobacco and rum, now only accented by vanillic sweetness.

Two hours into development, the Jazz Club was filled with sweet tobacco, subtle, boozy rum, and sweet vanilla. It navigated this space for the next several hours until the drydown that was mostly tobacco and vanilla.

Application

For testing, I used 1/3 of a 1ml sample vial dabbed to the underside and topside of my wrist area on my left arm. I used an unscented moisturizer prior to applying the scent as this is also my swatching arm (aka, incredibly parched at any given moment) as I found scent did not hold well here otherwise. 

I purchased my sample in January 2022; fragrances are known to be reformulated over their lifetime, so be mindful of when a review was made, e.g. a review from 2010 may not reflect what the same-named perfume smells like in 2022.

Longevity

I was surprised to find that this scent had little projection for me; I could hardly detect it the first time I tested it, so I went back and applied a larger amount. I haven’t had issues with projection on past tests of the brand’s fragrances. There was little sillage and projection from the get-go, and it was a skin scent within five hours of wear and was difficult to detect after eight hours.

Personal Thoughts

I don’t mind a closer-wearing fragrance, but if I feel like it’s subtle even with my nose nearly against my wrist, it is too subtle for my taste, especially if that’s how it is early on, since perfume typically weakens over time!

Available Sizes

• 100ml for $135
• 30ml for $72
• 10ml for $30

Where to Buy

• Nordstrom
• Sephora
• Selfridges

Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club Perfume Review

Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club Perfume Review