Tea Escape

Writing this for anyone who is wondering how it compares to Matcha Meditation. Later I discovered that Under The Lemon Trees is actually very much within the same green tea family of the other two, so these, in a way, comprise Replica's "trilogy" of green tea scents all coming from different angles. I like all three and none of them are scrubbers, but I like each of them to different degrees. - Matcha Meditation is heavy on the jasmine, and has the fullest body and strongest presence of the three. (Which, if you're looking for a calming and 'gentle' green tea fragrance à la Bvlgari The Vert etc., perhaps steer clear!) It also has the most powdery feel of the three, and is very much a cross between a sweet and frothy matcha latte and a jasmine milk tea. It's a full-bodied, classic white floral with sweet, earthy and lactonic accords. If I go back and forth smelling Tea Escape and Matcha Meditation, MM is drowned out by jasmine a lot more in comparison (though still recognizable as having a green tea note), while Tea Escape feels a lot more balanced and is much more forward about being a tea scent. Think of it as a sweet and frothy matcha latte with a strong and very present dose of jasmine, that mellows to a less interesting white floral musk. It's kind of like the baby of Tea Escape and Mugler's Alien. - Tea Escape has 85% of the same DNA as Matcha Meditation, with a similarly very creamy and lactonic feel, but it's instead more green, a little more citrusy and zesty (I'm a big earl grey lover so the heavy bergamot presence in the opening is very much welcome!) and has more of an 'herbal' quality to it thanks to the mint and mate notes. The drydown is cozy and smells like warm milk and rice pudding. Tea Escape also has jasmine helping to add a 'creamy' and smooth quality but it's not as heavily reliant on jasmine as Matcha Meditation is. Think of it as hot genmaicha tea, with a side of milky sweet rice pudding and with a spritz of mint leaves and citrus to add some freshness. It mellows to a cozy and sweet milky rice musk. - Under The Lemon Trees, despite the name, is definitely a green tea scent, and it essentially takes the more green and citrus aspects of Tea Escape and makes them the only star of the show. It has a purely citrus-heavy opening, so instead of the gentler splashes of bergamot and mint you're greeted with a strong dose of lime and dry spices, but the heart of it shares the DNA of Tea Escape (green tea + mate), just without any of the milkiness or creaminess. It's the only truly unisex fragrance of the three, and the drydown isn't warm or creamy or food-like but rather your more traditional ck one style woody musk. It's kind of the baby of Tea Escape and ck one. I can't really decide if I'd need to own more than one, I definitely like all three... and if I wasn't spoiled with Tea Escape (which is definitely my favorite) I'd certainly be just as happy with the other two. You're not missing out on a ton though, MM and TE are of the same school of thought enough to almost be flankers of one another. UTLT is not at all similar to Tea Escape in terms of scent family, however if you were looking for a more fresh and masculine-leaning approach to Replica's green tea/mate accord, it's worth a try as well!

Oh, how I adore this so. I ordered two different 10 mL off of Ebay, and the first one I was able to acquire is the official travel spray that was a mere dollar or two cheaper than full retail. While I normally don’t love paying full retail, I also take into account that this was discontinued, so then I’m not so sad. Silly meat brain tricks. Haven’t received my decant yet from the other seller, and I’m hoping to try that before this Ebay auction ends for a full bottle. Fingers crossed! Anyway, back to the scent itself. I love it. So so comforting. I’m really starting to love just about every offering that I’ve sampled from the Replica line. I don’t really drink lattes on even a semi-regular basis, but I do love green tea, and I have had at least one or two matcha lattes in my life. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I just had a light bulb go off that when people on Fragrantica refer to “lactonic” notes, that this is a derivative of “lactose”, aka milky. I know, DUHHHHHH, but it took me a while. Still don’t really understand what “indoles / indolic” means, but maybe that will hit me like a frying pan of realization someday soon... Anyway BACK TO THE SCENT, squirrel brain. I love it. It’s a balmy ~55 F here, after having a rough winter storm in the single digits last week. I feel like spring has sprung, even though it’s still February. This is a great springtime scent and makes my sad winter brain fire up some happy brain molecules. It smells just like a matcha latte and somehow also makes me “escape” to a more serene place. Truly fitting name, Replica marketing person. Good job. I want to find a full bottle ASAP (ya’ll stop outbidding me on Ebay, please).

Very different and very nice ,I only have a sample but this might be my next purchase as it's such a paculiar weird smell that it's strangly addictive , it lasts forever into the next day and the drydown to me is the best part. It's super creamy or let's say milky and has rice notes as well as amberette in the base. So I went to Sephora and sprayed a strip and put it in my pocket last week. The next day I put on my jacket and I smelled this super amazing milky , rice ,sandalwood smell. Very creamy and yummy ,a little sweet as well , I sniffed the sleeves of my jacket ,nope , where was this coming from ??? I was obsessed with the smell I smelled little whiffs here and there and needed to know which one of my perfumes has this heavenly drydown. I was at a loss. ,,, later in the day ,still trying to figure out where this familiar but strange smell was coming from I realized it was the tea escape test strip in my pocket. Once home i tried locating the sample they gave me and tried it on my skin. Tea escape is a very different ,milky ,rice perfume with tea notes and lime on top. Quite paradox and neat. It's one of those perfumes that you need for its uniqueness. It's strangely addictive. It's savoury , ozonic ,milky and yet fresh. Very warm ,cozy , almost hot but still fresh. It's so paradox !!!! I need it !

I received a few sample vials of Tea Escape from Nordstrom when I recently picked up my bottle of Sailing Day, and it afforded me the opportunity to revisit a scent I had long since written off. I really like this one and am surprised more men don't enjoy it. The scent definitely leans feminine, but the matcha/green tea aspects give it just the right amount of gender neutrality, counterbalancing the floral undertones. And, as others have noted, there is an almost licorice-like quality to the top notes, which I really like. As a guy this affords me the ability to smell nice when I'm tired of the amber/oud/musk contained within most modern men's fragrances. I also find that I can mix it up during the spring/summer/fall when I want something light, but am not necessarily in the mood for a citrus scent. Longevity is pretty good and I can go a good part of the work day and catch whiffs of the scent from time to time. Sillage is also slightly better than average, leaving a nice tea-like cloud in my wake. Overall, I liked this enough to pick up a full-sized bottle and have every expectation that I will use it throughout the summer and into the fall. Personally, it's a little too light to wear in the winter, but perfect for every other time of the year.

Tea Escape is unlike the usual green tea scents, it's more interesting and more realistic. At first there is a bitter note from the green tea and mate. I usually don't like bitter scents, but it is very refreshing at the same time and it also mellows down a little soon. The rice note is definitely there, as well as the milk note. It's creamy and only slightly sweet, like very fresh milk. There is nothing cloying or sour, as it sometimes happens with milk notes. Jasmine and bergamot aren't distinctive, but it's clear that there is something floral and a citrus note, it just makes everything smell more like a perfume and not like you just spilled tea and milk on yourself. As the fragrance dries down it becomes warmer, but it's still a fresh tea scent. The performance is average. I like Tea Escape on warm days, but I can imagine that it might be nice in winter, too, as a break from sweeter, warmer and more intense perfumes. On my wishlist. //edit on 11/14/18: I own this now and wore it a lot in spring and summer. I travelled to Japan in june, took a decant with me, and when I first tried a bottle of green tea from a vending machine there, it reminded me of my perfume very much. It‘s just beautiful and calming.