By the Fireplace

By the Fireplace is a standout fragrance from Maison Margiela's "Replica" line, essentially scents that intend to mimic very niche and specific moments in time. This fragrance is among my favorites in my winter collection, striking a perfect balance of pungent and sensually approachable. This is a true nighttime fragrance, any time of year you want to smell cozy and inviting; especially during the fall and wintertime. The initial spray and dry down are flat out strong, there truthfully is no sugar coating the intense burnt wood smell that is instantly apparent. The intensity is brief however, quickly simmering down into a very appealing woody fragrance. I personally adore the smell of fireplaces, so the first ten minutes are my favorite for the duration of the scent due to how familiar it smells to cedarwood and maplewood bonfires. Regardless, after the dry down it becomes warmly spicy with a tinge of smokiness in the best way possible. Imagine sitting next to a fireplace that has begun to simmer into a small, yet tremendously warm fire. The smell of the embers mixed with the slight smoke from burning wood, and a tinge of sweet vanilla. You will smell for a good five hours without any lotion or showering beforehand, and in my experience it can stick on clothing for days at a time. The sillage is also quite intense for an EDT, projecting a good 3-6 feet depending on the time of day and your personal skin chemistry. This fragrance is probably not a daytime wear unless its quite chilly outside, as the scent profile can be quite overbearing in warmer conditions. The price point to me at least is quite reasonable, especially for the amount of fragrance you get and the fact that the 100 ml bottle is refillable for 20% off. As always though, get testers beforehand and test on skin before making the purchase. OVERALL: 9/10 (Scent: 9/10) (Longevity: 7/10) (Sillage: 10/10) (Price: 8/10)

this was my second ‘expensive perfume’ purchase back in 2018 when I was first discovering proper fragrances, and I fell in love at first spray! I’ve never been a huge fan of mainstream / designer fragrances because the majority of them smell incredibly similar and incredibly chemical-esque to me, so I didn’t expect to love this so much when I picked up the tester in Mecca (though I guess it was a bit more niche at the time) and was pleasantly surprised by the uniqueness, the intensity and the actual layers to this scent. None of that chemical nonsense - By the Fireplace truly lives up to its name, delivering a strong dose of smokey, woody, spicy goodness from the get-go, followed by a sweet, spicy and smokey warm vanilla dry down that is to die for! Very reminiscent of a vanilla chai with a kick to it! It’s been 8 years and I still love this perfume as much as I did when I first tried it, despite having tried so many more fragrances (designer, high end, niche, indie etc) since then and developing and maturing my scent profiles - which is a testament to this scents perfection! I will always have a bottle on hand and it remains my top winter / night out scent - it’s also inspired my personal taste in many of the new scents I’ve added to my collection, keeping within the Smokey/woody/sweet vanilla/spicy profiles! An all time favourite and absolutely recommended🫶🏻x

I definitely lean toward loving pink pepper in scents, and this one hits all the right notes for me. I love that it gives a cozy feeling, and that you can still smell it on your clothes as you pass by them in the closet. If you are a fan of this as a fragrance, you must try a line of natural home/cleaning products created by Courtney Cox called Homecourt. There are hand washes and dish soap and counter cleaning sprays as well as lotions and candles, etc. Her signature scent for products is called CeCe, which has a nice smoky vibe to it and is wonderful. However, once a year she releases a limited-edition scent called "Balsam Fireplace" that is so close to By The Fireplace it's uncanny. If you'd like your home and kitchen (and your cleaning products) smelling like By The Fireplace, I'd truly suggest checking it out. I know that every year around October/November when she releases the Balsam Fireplace line I stock up, so that I can spend the cooler months having my home smell just like this scent.

In a previous review, I detailed how I smelled this in the store, loved it, bought a travel size... and returned it a day later, because I felt it was unfortunately too strong for me to wear around on my person. I remember writing I wish it was a candle or something, so I could still enjoy it without it being ME. As an update... Earlier this year I went on a couple of dates with this guy from Hinge. On date 2 I noticed he smelled sooo good... By date 3 I was insisting he show me what fragrance he was wearing. Imagine my surprise when he brought over his bottle of By The Fireplace!!! Suddenly it all made sense. This was an option I had never considered before... It doesn’t have to be me, and it doesn’t even have to be a candle — it can be a nice man I have around!! So he’s my boyfriend now. My sweet, smoky, woody, spicy boyfriend. (And if you want it in a candle... scent 35 by the brand Ninety Six is pretty much there!! I got it at Marshall’s.)

As soon as you spray it, you can identify the wood, chestnut and vanilla, accompanied by a smoky note that lingers throughout the development. For an EDT, it has good longevity around 5 to 7 hours becoming more intimate as time passes. It's a cozy, you can perceive the sweetness at first, but over time it turns drier. The drydown on skin is very rich. If you enjoy wood that gradually burns and turns to ash, with smoke that expands around you, you'll likely appreciate this fragrance. The sillage is moderate. This is a unisex perfume, best suited for cold climates, especially in the afternoon or evening. The opening can be somewhat challenging, this type of aroma isn't for everyone. However, I believe it's an olfactory experience that will invite you to smell it again. It's not something I'd wear daily, but it's definitely different from what you'll find on the mainstream market.