Sailing Day

BIG BIG FAN HERE. I have been wearing this for a while and am declaring it my signature scent. I'm not sure if my take on Sailing Day is weird, but my reactions are more than just a uniquely good scent from MM's Replica series. Overall, this blue bottle might not be number 1, but it doesn't matters because it matters to me, more than just simply "nice". Starts of floral sweet with a hint of aquatic and smaller traces of saltiness. Like the balance is good, just like that silver salted caramel ice-cream I had back when I was 14. And the capturing of nostalgia doesn't end here, that "Paros, 2001" is a part of my most favourite country (Greece) and the year of my birth respectively. Then, it dries down to being more seaweed than anything else. Not the raw and part decayed ones floating towards the beaches of my city, but the kind that is fresh, pasteurised and flavoured with melons and other ingredients that are beyond what I could afford. The cold side dish to a feast on a mid tier cruise ship, made even better when the weather suddenly shifts to a cold windy rainstorm. The first time I've ever tried Sailing Day was via the sampler box that was $95 in my local currency. Ever since then, I've been using oil dupes and have been rebuying it more than any other scents. Similar to the original by 95% and the missing 5% is for the incomplete mixture. But its not so much of "you buy what you've paid for" because it is better to solve it by shaking it than to spend over 20 times for a 100ml. As for a weird take on romantic story writing, I also like to pair it with Beach Walk. 💙💛 Like a young couple going to the same beach, with one liking the thrill and adventure of boating while the other enjoying the feel of bare feet on the warm golden sands. 🌊⛵️🏖️✨

I'm surprised with how controversial this is, because to my nose, Sailing Day is the most authentically fresh and marine fragrance I've ever found. I adore marine perfumes, which I blame on my childhood spent in the DelMarVa region, on the beaches of the Eastern Shore facing the Atlantic, surrounded by lighthouses and seashells. I grew up with that familiar saline, ozonic scent my whole life–and having swapped the Atlantic for the Pacific, I still seek out the beach and its smells whenever possible. Sailing Day does that for me. To my nose, Sailing Day is pure, clean, fresh and soothingly marine, from the opening to the dry down, complemented by the lovely juniper note and the hint of seaweed. I don't detect any red pepper or coriander despite them being listed, and the ambergris doesn't come across as animalic to me. I imagine that the combination of these notes might be too literal for most people. Coriander and ambergris are notoriously love-it-or-hate-it notes, so I'm glad that at least I don't detect them–but I imagine they put off a lot of people from this fragrance. I consider Sailing Day the marine counterpart to fellow Replica fragrance When the Rain Stops, my absolute favorite from this brand–whereas When the Rain Stops is an ozonic, pine, grassy and mossy aquatic, Sailing Day is more of an oceanic, cedar, juniper aquatic. Both share a subtle rose note at the heart, which I love. The sillage is intimate but it has decent, four to five hour longevity on my skin, and up to seven hours on my clothes and linens. I think this would great to spray on my sheets and clothes for that optimal soothing, nostalgic experience.

I remember instantly falling in love with this when I smelled it at a Sephora, enough that I purchased a 15ml sample that was on sale for $15. While I could be absolutely convinced this was the scent that was permeating throughout Paros in 2001, I wouldn't pay anywhere close to the $165 that MMM, and some other places, are asking for it, but that's mostly due to me being cheap. Thankfully some discounters now have it at over half that cost. Replica fragrances do what the name suggests, and this one does it at least as well as the others I've smelled. Now, mind you, I've never "sailed" per se, but I have been around enough bodies of water to know that each emanates distinct smells. The quality, however, doesn't beget longevity, and projection lasts on the lower side of 3 hours. Even so, I love how this fragrance blends its notes together so that it creates harmony rather than confusion or awkwardness. While the iris is prominent, I wouldn't have realized that there were notes of coriander or red pepper before it. Nor does the dry down reek of seaweed, like Acqua Di Gio Absolu Instinct does before it even gets there. The worst thing about this fragrance then, is that it doesn't come with a time machine and teleporter, and the cheapest flights there are running north of $1000. Pick up a bottle of this, do a quick Google search for Paros, and for less than 1/10th the price, it can give you an idea of what that time and place might have at least smelled like. All you have to do is spray. 9/10

I love this fragrance. THIS has been my favorite Replica so far! (used to be Under the Lemon Tree). Sailing Day paints such a clear picture, and it tells a story, simple but effective; On the opening you get an almost realistic artificial wood accord, like if you were smelling recently barnished banisters, almost like you were at the port. There's definitely an aquatic/marine note in the beginning, what you get is pure freshness after all, but the wood is what has me so in love (I always say I hate wood in fragrances and this just made me change my mind). It's a saling day after all, so it's only natural to actually sail, leaving the port and the wood behind (sadly) as it dries down, to be met with a very fresh and aquatic, almost salty and slightly spicy fragrance. It's not really all that complex, it's very light, you're not going to get Megamare off this, but if you're looking for something light that still tells a story, this is worth a shot. I will say, this is a bit more masculine than feminine, and it's a perfume I would loveee to smell on a male partner!! However, I still get a kick out of wearing it myself, to me it smells like freedom. What can I say? I love the sea 9/10

I am writing this for the 10 mL travel size. I smell this perfume every time I go into Sephora and have considered buying it for years. However, the full price for a large bottle ($165 for 100 mL in my country) is just way too expensive for the short duration it can be smelled. I do really love the smell - it reminds me of being in Greece or on the beach in Nazaré, Portugal. It doesn’t have the cheap synthetic smell that a lot of beach perfumes do, nor does it smell like sunscreen, vanilla, or coconut (all huge NOs for me for ocean scents!) I have found this compliments Claus Porto’s Brise Marine line of soap and hand cream (more driftwood) as well as Williams Sonoma’s Fleur de Sel hand soap & lotion (more floral). When used together it extends the life of both products and leaves a really nice summer time scent. If Maison Margiela could find a way to increase the lifespan of this fragrance I’d buy 10 bottles because it is perfect for me and inoffensive in the workplace - to others it’s a generally nice clean smell, not perfume-y.