Lipstick On

I used up three bottles of this one, for me, it's an absolutely gorgeous scent, like no other, nothing was the same, I tried many of the 'reminds me of' and none were a good alternative. Then for some crazy unexplainable reason, I sold my last bottle, what a big mistake 😔 as now it's very hard to find. What I don't get is why someone hasn't released a clone and made it affordable, and while they are at it, put it in a nice big two hundred and fifty ml body spray bottle, I'm sure it would be a big hit. The Ange one up in the reminds me of section is an ok attempt but needs to remove the sesame seed note, it's killing the potential, and instead add something sweet powdery, so although Ange is a remind me of its like wearing lipstick on in an Asian street food stall where they use to much sesame seed oil, not pleasant after the initial excitement of the fact they almost nailed the lipstick on but then you realise they didn't. Anyway, there is so much potential here for perfumists to capitalise on the lipstick on DNA. Some of the other 'reminds me of' are nice but are making their versions too sweet, too berry, too lolly. What makes Lipstick On the winner is it's actually not super sweet, it's got a dry element to it. Most people would have enjoyed Lipstick on a lot more if it was a more affordable price so everyone could have had it. What I find ironic with a lot of these expensive perfumes is they make them quite weak and unaffordable for the average person and in this day and age there is no excuse for it. Let people have a good dose of the glory and they will return to the source. Someone needs to open the floodgates on this unique juice and put it into a great big body spray bottles and watch it fly off the shelves. I myself would buy a crate of it. But for the price of lipstick on and the way we have to hunt for this and the fact that many people can't smell it, even though I can smell it well, it's not worth it. I do remember the first year owning this I could hardly smell it and then I could after I got used to it, so if you have a bottle and having that issue maybe don't give up on it because I trained my olfactory sense to pick up the scent ten fold. So now I am using a dupe from Palermo W735 and it's very good, good enough that I think it's worth mentioning so people like myself can keep using this stunning DNA which after many attempts to find a substitute, nothing cured the itch until the Palermo, so I use that one now for the last few months and love it, but it's in only 50ml plain bottle so as I mentioned before I think there is an opening in the market for someone to dupe this as Palermo did but put it into a great big bottle and watch it fly out the door. Most people would be happy with its strength if they weren't having to pay over one hundred dollars for it. A remarketing for the wider audience is what is needed here IMHO Anyway as for Lipstick On, I love love love her and would welcome her back to my home with open arms. 💖 Highly recommended, grab a bottle if you are lucky enough to find one.

In a nutshell: Guerlain French Kiss + HdP 1889 Moulin Rouge = MMM Lipstick On I'm crazy about perfumes with cosmetic accords so I just had to give Lipstick On a try. Fellow Fragrantica and MUA member Sharks likened it to Histoires de Parfums 1889 Moulin Rouge, which I thought was an interesting comparison. After finally trying it myself, I couldn't agree more. Spot on. But it was an unexpected comparison to me initially based on the note pyramid. I was thinking it would be more along the lines of other violet makeup-inspired scents such as Chanel Misia or even Lipstick Rose. But to me it is nothing like the latter two, and I'm glad because it's more truly unique. But the reviewers below me here compared it to Guerlain French Kiss and I can see that as well. Basically, Lipstick On takes the waxiness from Moulin Rouge and combines that with the violet, heliotrope, and vanilla combo from French Kiss. What you get is a soft, sweet, and delicate ultrafemme scent, glamorous and chic. Lipstick On's waxiness comes from the iris/orris root mixed with the galbanum. I've only had it on for about 15 minutes and already the waxiness is fading away, as Jenge below noted. It's incredibly disappointing, because that waxiness is what gives this scent that lipstick feel. I've tried so many makeup inspired perfumes at this point and I think Moulin Rouge is the cream of the crop from this category. It is remarkably realistic to my nose and that lipstick-like waxiness lasts throughout wear time. For this reason, I think of it as sort of a novelty scent. Yet it is very wearable and distinctive, a must-try for anyone who loves cosmetic accords in perfumery. And so is Lipstick On. My favorite makeup-inspired scents, for the record, are Ombre Mercure, Lipstick Rose, Love, Chloe Eau Intense, Ferragamo Emozione, and Chanel Misia. I feel that Moulin Rouge and Lipstick On are different enough from each other to justify owning both, but if you're not crazy about this niche genre of fragrances, you probably won't agree. I'll have to test Lipstick On a few times before determining if it is full bottle worthy. UPDATE 11/18/15: I ended up buying a full bottle of Lipstick On, I just love the combo of lipstick wax + powdery sweetness in this scent. French Kiss is much fruitier and rosier in comparison. If you felt like French Kiss wasn't makeup-y enough, Lipstick On is an excellent (and much more affordable) alternative. Sillage is moderate and longevity is average for an EDT on my skin, about 8 hours. UPDATE 12/12/15: Just wanted to clarify about the waxiness fading- while the iris/galbanum decreases in prominence as wear time progresses, they do not disappear. The scent does become more vanillic, but the lipstick feel is definitely present throughout wear time on my skin, thankfully! Now that I've owned it for a while, I can say for sure that it's one of my favorite scents from this category, because of the realistic lipstick note.

Why do they always discontinue such gems. I tried a sample of this before it was discontinued and fell in love. Being the deal-hunter I am, I was waiting for the next Sephora sale to pick it up. Just my luck, come sale time it was out of stock, never to return. I had resigned myself to the fact I was never going to have this beauty when it popped up on the L'Oreal clearance site, I snapped it up so fast. I am so happy to finally have this in my collection. The opening is almost all iris and galbanum. It is green, waxy and a little earthy. There is almost no sweetness in the opening. The iris is at it's most "lipstick-y" in the opening. As the fragrance dries down the waxiness fades away and the heliotrope and tonka start to bring their powdery character. The green notes from the glabanum also fade into the background. At this point the fragrance sweetens up and the powderiness intensifies and it smells more like makeup powder than lipstick. I picture a luxury makeup compact from the 1950's held by a glamourous woman. Lipstick On is Maison Martin Margiela being very successful in their intent with the Replica line. I picture exactly what they intend when I smell this fragrance. In the deep, deep drydown the fragrance is more iris vanilla than makeup-y on my skin. I find when it is also sprayed on clothes it retains a lot more makeup-y aspect. Lipstick on is ultra feminine. It is retro without being mature or old fashioned. If it was still readily available I would say it is a must try for everyone that loves lipstick-y and makeup-y fragrances. Sadly it is a little hard to find now, especially at a decent price. Lipstick On is one of my first choices to wear when I want to feel feminine, beautiful and glamorous. The one time of year I tend to stay away from it is summer. I don't generally like really powdery fragrances in high heat, and this one is pretty powdery. Lipstick on is a long lasting fragrance and takes time to go through all of its stages. Thankfully I really enjoy all of them. The waxy opening lasts around an hour, the powdery makeup mid lasts another 3-5 hours while the iris vanilla dry down lasts another 3-5 hours. In total this fragrance lasts 8-10 hours on my skin and on my clothes until I wash them. on clothes it stays mostly at the powdery makeup stage. I really like the combination of smelling that on my clothes and the vanilla on my skin. To me it's the best of both worlds. The projection is moderate, around arms length, maybe a little more early in the wear. Once it reaches the vanilla stage I find it stays a little closer to the body.

This is my first review. And I'm actually new to wearing perfumes. I wore them–of course–in my twenties (in the 80s) but later just got out of the habit. I remember in my early thirties having a client who had chemical sensitivities, so when we met I couldn't have freshly washed my hair or even wear deoderant so she could be spared any possible reactions. From then on, I didn't make wearing a perfume part of my routine. But during the pandemic, I got into scented candles and then perfumes. Just for the luxury, the experience, and for the pleasure. My top preferences are gourmand (fruity) with tobacco - so for a long time, Tom Ford Bitter Peach was my favorite. Lately though, I find myself reaching more and more for this - Maison's Replica Lipstick On. The first time I wore it, I was like others - hmmm. Didn't smell lipstick, but powder. Then, I guess it was about the third or fourth time? I finally got the lipstick. Now it's so obvious I wonder how I missed it. The mind is a funny thing. And it's an odd scent to say I'd like to put on, but I do. It's oily and greasy soon after spraying, like stage makeup. Settles into a sweet powdery scent with that base continuing to ground it. Keep it from falling over that edge into too sugary. I find myself continuing to check out my wrist all day as it continues to warm up to a more comforting slightly caramel tone, but still with that powderpuff hint. What I like is it is consistent through wear, yet complex enough that I don't get exactly the same experience every time I catch a whiff of it. So it doesn't get boring or singular or too linear even though it's completely recognizable. Fortunately decants and originals and samples still available as it's been discontinued. It might become a signature for awhile...

First Impressions (sample spray): I bought a sample of this and it’s an immediate yes for me! The beginning and the middle of the perfume smells like earthy makeup in the bottle. As the title says. The dry down is a sweet vanilla. Edit: I’ve tried this again and I will say that the heliotrope gives an almondy sweetness and the vanilla makes it very sweet to my body chemistry. Not the cloyingly sweet that makes you sick, but the type that is absolutely lovely. The dry down also when I sprayed it more does smell like rice powder. I think it’s the galbanam. It overall does smell sweet, earthy, and waxy. Edit 2: 10/10/23 I just a spray of it, and MY GAWD. That waxy note not grabs my heart everytime. I’m absolutely sad that this is discontinued. Like WHYYYY?!? Bring it back. I actually now want a full bottle of it. Alas, it’ll never be. Overall: I think if you love the makeup smell, and you want to travel in time back to the 50’s, Or you want to smell like your grandmother’s vintage lipstick. This may be for you. As for me, I would say it’s a like for me because I’m not sure if I want to be reminded of my womanly ancestors having to be on barbiturates to get through a man’s world. This appeals to my girly side, and makes me feel pretty. It also alienates my strong masculine side. I also think that for my personality I’m not a sweet person. Thus, this perfume is a mismatch for my blunt, tomboy personality. However, if your are a sweet girly girl kind of person you’ll probably love this one. I think I want to buy a bottle just for date nights or when I feel not the best. Verdict: Sadly a pass- it’s sadly a pass because it’s discontinued, people are selling this for hundreds of dollars, and no one else is creating dupes of this masterpiece. :,(

There are but a few perfumes in this world which make you change your lifestyle, your personality, your location in time. Lipstick On is one of those lucky few fragrances. With this perfume I am a star of the silver screen, a box office bombshell of classic Hollywood cinema, alongside the glamorous likes of Greta Garbo and Elizabeth Taylor. I live in a 1920’s photograph pushed into the edge of a mirrored makeup table, my slightly out-of-focus face made all the more mysterious with the creasing and sepia tone gained through the passing of 100 years. I am draped with pearls, lying luxuriously on my velvet fainting couch in my boudoir, awaiting the Gatsby-esque party taking place downstairs in but a few hours. Come, play pretend with me. Open my well-traveled train case of ladies’ necessities and inhale the vintage fragrance of pressed powder, cold cream, and lipstick ruby-red as pigeon’s blood. Breathe in the scent of a ritual as old as time itself and engraved on the heart of every woman. Gaze up in wonder at your still-young mother, seated at her vanity and putting the last finishing touch on her makeup, just as she did with her mother a lifetime ago. Though in time every perfume that ever existed will surely be used up, the notes of Lipstick On will linger as long as there are cosmetics to be worn and paramours to woo. Maison Martin Margiela, I thank you dearly for this signature scent.

It's a masterpiece of the "vintage makeup" genre, the warm and cozy rice note is almost gourmand in nature but it never really smells like food, just a creamy, waxy lipstick you're really tempted to take a bite into. I've owned iris-heavy 'powdery' fragrances before like Guerlain Meteorites and L'Heure Bleue, but as beautiful as they are to smell on a test strip, they smell so old-fashioned that they can offend some noses, and they definitely have a more aristocratic attitude about them that makes them harder to wear. But this is a vintage feeling iris done right, it's sexy, it's intimate, a little nostalgic, and the tonka and bourbon vanilla accords makes for an incredibly cozy drydown in the vein of By The Fireplace. It's quite simply the best fragrance that Margiela has ever put out, and it's a drastic loss of credibility of their brand for this to have been axed in favor of bland and incredibly low quality mass appeal frags like Bubble Bath and Sailing Day, and really even Jazz Club and Lazy Sunday Morning smells cheap in comparison to this. Under the hands of someone who gave enough of a shit, this would have been sold for decades as a a flagship fragrance and one of the most genius compositions of its decade.

warning, this is a rant review lol. i think what made this one special to me is that the whole “memory in a fragrance” thing mm is trying to go for with the replicas was at full force here. this is a 90s estée lauder lipstick in a bottle. sweet, powdery, with this sort of waxy quality to it. it’s like you’re a kid playing with your mother’s or grandmother’s makeup again. granted it was never my favourite to wear, but it was so fun to go back to. i remember lipstick on being quite polarising when it came out and as far as i’m aware, at least in my country, it wasn’t really selling much, so i get that the smartest business move was to discontinue it (especially since everyone just buys by the fireplace or jazz club anyways) so i don’t want to get to “i miss the old replicas” sappy, but man, the more recent releases just don’t capture that nostalgia like they used to. lipstick on smelled like an actual vintage lipstick, funfair evening smelled like you were actually at a fair. when the rain stops smells like generic men’s cologne, on a date is just gucci guilty remix, they just don’t hit the same. bring back the cool scents that actually triggered memories.

Incredible fragrance. I had to make an account just to review it. This perfume has...aura. It starts out with a boozy burst of sweetness and settles into a quasi-almond scent. I don’t know if I lack olfactory imagination but I actually don’t get much lipstick from this. I get a powdery, vanilla cherry soda/ Dr Pepper scent with a touch of booze and the most faint waxiness to it but not enough to smell like lipstick. I can’t explain it. But it’s very comforting, cozy and well-blended. I got the similarly discontinued l’ange noir by Givenchy in another similar stroke of luck on Vinted but that one doesn’t project much and has quite a dull, faint smell in my opinion. Oddly enough I find this to be more like Alien Essence Absolu, another boozy vanilla. The projection on this beauty is just perfect, strong enough so you can smell yourself and enjoy the scent but not cloying. A shame this discontinued this beautiful fragrance. Much better than anyt designer fragrance I’ve ever smelled, apart from classic Muglers. I lucked out and got this an unopened bottle of stunner for a bargain price on Vinted. Best Christmas gift I could have gotten myself.

This is THE most perfect vintage lipstick, powdery, cosmetic fragrance ever made. I am a collector of this perfume category as it's my favourite, and I'm sorry to say it as it's discontinued, but it is perfection. This is a very melancholic perfume, in the same way Guerlain's Après L'Ondée is. It is watercolour, cool-toned pastels, seen through a rainy window. Nostalgic of a glamorous world gone by. The combination of iris & heliotrope with vanilla & tonka is to die for. I don't wear it everyday as it's not an "easy reach" by any means. I need to be in a very specific mood and I wear it to please myself as I'll never get a compliment from it. But if you love the same things I do (history, glamour, boudoirs, cats, Sofia Coppola cinematic universe, etc) and fetishise vintage lipstick and powder, this is a very very special little gem indeed. Other perfumes in this category: Frederic Malle's Lipstick Rose, Guerlain's Shalimar Parfum Initial, Histories de Parfum's 1889 Moulin Rouge, Elie Saab's Essence No. 1 Rose, Parfums de Marly's Delina, Sylvaine Delacourte's Florentina, Etat Libre d'Orange's Putain des Palaces. ♡♡♡

This wasn't love at first sniff, but after a year of testing intermittently, I simply adore this fragrance. It evokes that 1950s boudoir vanity, with vintage beauty powders, elixirs, and classic red lipstick. It is imparts an immediate mood, with the waxy and powdery opening. It takes me to places I haven't been, but can only imagine. This leans more 'feminine' initially, but balances during the amazing dry down. The waxy quality softly pulls back and a boozy vanilla emerges, as if some butler delivered a vanilla bourbon with syrupy maraschino cherries and placed it on your vanity. At dry down, the waxiness has lost its presence and I'm left with the most comforting, sweet vanilla, edging on gourmand territory. I don't smell much patchouli, but moreso the play between tonka bean and bourbon vanilla. This is one of the only powdery fragrances I have liked, and it's one of my favorites. Longevity is moderate, maybe 4-5 hours tops. Sillage is soft, but present. This is the Replica scent I appreciate most, followed by 'By the Fireplace'.

This is one of my absolute favourites..!! At first I thought it was way too sweet, too plasticky and too much like artificial cherry sweets or Play-Doh. But then I learned how to read it right... and I fell head over my heels in love. It is heliotrope, it is tonka beans, it is powder all right, and lipstick for sure, and it is soft iris, and it is oh so so lovely. The only reason I don’t put it as my signature, is that I’m afraid that I will be without... I do not understand why they discontinued this one!! I think it is just as lovely in any season of the year, day and night. Never too strong, never too much. NOT a gourmand. Just PRETTY, PRETTY and PRETTY. (I love Replica, would like to try more of them. Jazz Club is my other favourite, even though they say it is for men. I don’t care. But: the bottle I owned, I had to give my son for his 20:th birthday, because he loved it so much. So I will have to buy another one for just me myself & I. If I don’t marry some guy: then I might have to share, again...)

This perfume is so stunning and unusual! For the first three minutes after spraying I can smell some kind of wax like a few of the reviewers below me have said, which is quite off-putting but then it transforms into something beautiful - imagine walking into a high-end makeup boutique and trying on the most exquisite lipsticks and face powders! This perfume smells just like heaven for me - a lady who embraces her femininity, takes pride in the way she presents herself and always make sure she looks immaculate (well, not always, but currently trying very hard ha!). To me this is the perfume to wear when you want to feel your best. It is attractive because of the woman it symbolises but it is not sensual or sexy in my opinion. It is the scent that will boost your self-confidence! Sillage is soft once dried down. Just the way i like perfumes to be (please note I'm normally a light sprayer). Longevity is moderate (5-6 hours on my moisturised skin).

I smelled a sample of this back in the day when I first worked at Sephora. I put it on my wishlist then. But I didn’t have the money to buy full bottles back then. Finally when I’m looking to actually buy it I come to find it has been discontinued to make room for some pretty unfortunate releases by this brand. Going off vague memories of that sample I found a reasonably priced partial and I have been so thankful for that. I love this and will cherish every last drop. It evokes so many emotions in me because I started wearing makeup for theatre and dance as a child of the 90s and this evokes a lot of the scents of that time. Waxy, sweet, vanillic and powdery. I’ve also sampled all the “reminds me of” fragrances but they are all missing this element of addiction. Brands too often mis the mark on timing when it comes to a style of fragrance and I feel like had this been released now it would’ve been more of a hit .

Absolutely incredible fragrance! It's a favourite. I cannot tell you how much I adore this fragrance! Very rare find, I searched high and low to find this... Smells like vintage lipstick and luxury powder, with a sweet and floral dry down. Very unique fragrance, I’ve tried many dupes and there’s nothing like it! Frederic Malle Lipstick Rose is close but no cigar; a beautiful powdery waxy fragrance, but quite fresh and green... L'ange Noir is very strong on the almonds, again waxy and powdery but nothing like Lipstick On... 1889 Moulin Rouge is very nice, an absolute trip, and definitely worth smelling at least once in your life, opening with a strong masculine whisky which takes a step back and settles into sweet, powder and floral with booziness lingering in the background. Also lasts forever! All dupes are close in some way but nothing compared to Maison Margiela Lipstick on! My favourite of the bunch!

A true makeup scent. It starts out as lipstick and then the face powder comes out in the base. Starts out smelling amazingly like a vintage tube of waxy lipstick. A rooty iris that is creating that effect is very strong at this point. Soon raspberry shows up, joining the iris, and it transitions to the scent of a modern lipstick. Very weird but great. As it continues to wear on, it gets softer with heliotrope and powder, but not musky, and suddenly it transforms into a face powder. Replica really nailed the scent of both cosmetics perfectly. I feel like I'm shopping for makeup in a department store. I absolutely love it. Nice silage and great longevity on me too. Though the silage is soft, it is noticeable, and it lasts all day. I'm so glad I managed to get a bottle of this before it was discontinued, and the price ridiculously jacked up. I am going to hoard this treasure.

I have been very ignorant towards niche fragrances lately, busy with other collections and generally on less enthusiastic side of exploring etc. But today I received a decant of this beauty from my friend and -------------- OHHH how smitten with "Lipstick On" I AM! It has so much charm and gloss and at the same time so sensual, it is an iris, that you would happily be wearing at the office, for job interview and for the date, it is just super appropriate and at the same time extremely beautiful! Usually "appropriate" fragrances means boring fragrance, standard fragrances, not out of the crowd one. This one breaks these boundaries and lets you shine even at work. Feminine iris, that in blend with vanilla and heliotrope creates an aura of a sweet rosey fragrance. Elegant glamour with young energy, it makes me happy and I want a FB!!

This is such an addicting scent! It sits close to the skin but I get such beautiful wafts of it and I can still smell it on my clothes hours later. It truly is *the* nostalgic sweet, powdery makeup scent and although it says female fragrance on the bottle, I think the right male could pull this off, too. I don't know what is going on over at Maison Margiela that led to Lipstick On and Whispers in the Library being discontinued while they keep weird and boring scents like Autumn Vibes and Beach Walk in production for years and years. It is so hard to find now, and full 100ml bottles are expensive as all get out but I found a 10ml decant on Mercari for $50 and it was worth every penny to have this beauty again. Also FYI this is one of the few fragrances I own that stains clothing so I have to be mindful of where I spray it.

lipstick - 6/2019 Iv sampled several MM fragrances and i have to say i really like this . As a guy im not sure if i would wear this but i would defiantly want to smell this on a women. I will buy this for my wife if i see a good deal come by, and maybe would wear it. I did 2 sprays to my skin and i do get a waxy makeup lip stick vibe but a very good one ,not weird or overly feminine or fake / chemically but a seductive mature women vibe to me. not necessarily older women just mature, any age could pull this off. The dry down starts to reveal the vanilla and tonka but does retain some of the opening I would say you can go heavy on the sprayer with this and double or triple your spray spots to make the opening last longer 2-3 on each side of the neck and a couple to the torso and hair . I would rate 8.5/10 on smell alone

I have tested nearly all Replica's fragrances - they are everywhere and samples just come my way. Nothing has really impressed me, they ranged from "this is not bad" (From The Garden, Matcha Meditation) to atrocious (Never-ending Summer, Under The Stars). And then I received a sample of Lipstick On from a fellow fragrance enthusiast. I would have never in a million years thought this gem was from Replica! And they discontinued this? THIS? So many mediocre fragrances from this brand, and they axed the top notch one? Well, I guess it was not vibing with Sephora's Born In Roma loving crowd... This fragrance is very close to being a masterpiece. Powdery, slightly carrotey iris pairs perfectly with bitter galbanum, which occasionally gives of very subtle fresh cigarette aroma. Waxy, powdery, dusty, vintage. Perfection.