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.

I knew I shouldn't have signed up for a free sample. Now I love this, but it's so expensive that I won't be able to justify it. The longevity is kind of mediocre as well, and if it wasn't so, it might go on my want/goals list. Frustrating. This is really, really cool. A definite matcha tea with noticable milky notes and minty freshness. MY LORD that opening is stunning. Everything is in balance, and it's transportive. I love when fragrances can do that, this one makes me feel like I've sat down to dinner at this local (highly regarded) sushi place in town. There's a spicy, aromatic quality that actually has an effect on the bronchials when paired with that mint...glorious. It has this slight foodie quality that you get in the air in restaurants or markets, which must be that rice note. Not very often do fragrances provide most, if not all of the notes they claim contain. This one does, and does it well. It's scrumptious and totally unisex in my opinion. If anything, I think some ladies might find it too spicy, and I'd have guessed this was more of a men's fragrance (who cares though, wear what you like). Nom. 🍚🍵

I've wanted to try this for a while, and my mom happened to get a sample in the mail with a recent Nordstrom order (along with 4 other Replica fragrances - it's like they knew she was going to give all the samples to me!). This fragrance exceeded both hopes and expectations. I love tea notes and pink pepper together (Kenzo's Tokyo comes to mind), but here I was surprised to find a solid blend of the yerba mate and green tea notes. What it ended up blending like on my skin is the very distinctive scent of roasted green tea leaves. This is my absolute FAVORITE type of tea, in part due to the distinctly nutty smell, and having it project in such a non-synthetic way on my skin was amazing. The opener had a strong jasmine presence for me, and that's died out into a subdued sweeter yet not floral scent (milk/rice combo?). Very interesting fragrance that I've never had anything like before, and I really want to pick up a full bottle now.

I miss Tea Escape ;-; Light yet so seductive. Fresh. Milky. Inviting. I will admit I got a bit of the astringency some others described but only within first maybe 15 minutes of spraying, dry down was just heavenly. This used to be my signature scent before being discontinued and I did notice as my bottle aged more of the astringency came out but that was over the course of a few years and with quite a bit of exposure to sun and light. I'm kinda afraid to try Matcha Meditation based on what others have described bc tea escape was just so well balanced for me and fear MM may be overpowering or heavy for me. tbd. Forever a 10/10 in my heart and holding a grudge against Maison Margiela lmao. I would repurchase a newly produced bottle in a heart beat but have hesitated to buy an older 3rd party bottle bc of the aging issues described but if anyone does have a bottle that's still smellin swell would happily buy a decant off you <3

I am surprised people don't view this fragrance as more versatile, seasonally. I think that cream-y, sweet quality it has makes it unique and versatile for all seasons. That being said, I do think this is definitely a day time perfume. Matcha, mint, and tapioca. It smells like a creamy boba green tea was put in front of me and I just punctured that top film in a way that caused the scent of the cup's contents to waft towards my face. It is a comforting, realistic, contemporary (strangely?) cup of refreshing green tea. I love this so much and it is great for layering because it is both creamy and fresh. I highly recommend grabbing a tester of this from Sephora. I don't think you'll regret it. It makes my mouth water! Sillage - is probably about a 1-3 foot radius. Longevity - is moderate for it to have a more substantial presence. Longevity is lengthened if you count the very close-to-skin sillage that it leaves behind.

Holy cow, this is.. this is what I've been wishing tea perfumes smelled like. Tea is the first note when I spray this, and I expected it to fade away like a lot of other opening tea notes, but this only settled in and made itself comfortable. I loved the opening, tea, mate, a bready, fresh rice I kept sniffing all the way to work, and by the time I'd got there I was starting to smell cream. The cream mixed with the chilled sweetness of the tea, and for once the cream didn't turn into a cloying vanilla on me! The miracle I'd been hoping for! I think the rice helped the cream from going too far, keeping it grounded. Longevity was great- I was still sniffing my wrists when I got in the car after work, and it traveled the most when it was two and three hours- someone sitting next to me told me it smelled incredible, but mostly it trailed me through my day and kept me company while I worked.

Instant love! This scent is a creamy, milky green-tea jasmine marvel. I don't feel like I smell like Teavana, and it is totally wearable in a way that I didn't expect. I didn't get any of the top notes on my skin, but every chemistry is different. It didn't feel oriental to me, but more like a night watching Downton Abbey while drinking a London Fog while wearing a feminine, romantic perfume. This is the first time encountering rice/milk/osmanthus and I am obsessed with the creaminess. The jasmine, mate, green tea is soft and a well rounded scent. Normally, jasmine is a harsh note on me and I loved that that wasn't the case with Escape. This is the first time my husband has ever noticed, liked, and commented on a perfume. I am so glad that he loves it as much as I do. Instant favorite go-to, holy grail.

I prefer this over other greentea fragrances like eau the vert because the smell of citrus in other greentea fragrances are too overpowering for me. (I have never associated greentea with citrus before so I was surprised that citrus was so prominent when I first tested other greentea frags. ) To me this is much closer to what greentea smells like. It's fresh but it also has this milky quality to it that I find very pleasant, and I have never smelled anything else like this before. The only things that disappoint me are its poor longevity and the fact that it is now discontinued. I don't know why they discontinued it because it's such a wonderful fragrance and it deserves so much more love. I also feel like it could have done well in Asia... If anyone knows of any dupes for this please let me know!!

So bloody hard to find now that it's discontinued! I'm actually heartbroken that I didn't purchase it when I had the chance to. Personally, I think that discontinuing this, Funfair Evening and Lipstick on was a sore mistake on the brand's behalf. Even though the other 'memories' seem bit more edgy and modern, the three mentioned above stood out to me as the most nostalgic. This is straight up milky matcha green tea - but not heavy or cloying. Hints of jasmine can be detected too, which provides a bit of warmth and elegance. This is what I would wear if I wanted to relax, but if I wanted to take myself out and make a day of it. I hope one day I can get my hands on this.

Maison Margiela Replica Tea Escape Smells like... you went to some wealthy asian friend's house. their house smells real nice, theres the heavy scent of tea around. they serve u that tea and you sip on it. you close your eyes, spaced out because it's just so quiet... just the wind blowing gently by the tree, you see it from the glass sliding door.., so relaxing.. then you look around, there's a dry bowl of rice your friend left and a glass of good milk next to you. they leave it there, you feel at home. then you sniffed again, there's a well taken care of mint bonsai on the coffee table. I couldnt smell the jasmine much, which thanks to gods not a real fan.

At first the mint is a bit more prominent than I would like (I tend to dislike mint), but this is blended together beautifully. It starts off as a fresh and fabulous tea scent. For me this is an artistic rendition of tea, very perfume-like and easy to wear for any occasion. I drink unsweetened green tea everyday and this is not a hyper realistic / plain tea scent, nor is it bitter. It does dry down to become a sweeter, milky almost vanilla green tea. I have about one more wearing left in my decant and I will miss it when I run out. I can easily see this becoming my signature scent.

I have a decant of this perfume and it is beyond lovely! The opening notes are tea + bergamot, so it is like a bright cup of Earl Grey. That quickly develops into a mellow minty green tea. The mint gradually fades, leaving that delicious matcha tea scent with milky sweetness. Just amazing development - I love every phase of this gorgeous scent. Downside is longevity - it just doesn't stick around long enough. At this price, I'd like to see more staying power, but honestly, it is so beautiful that I am still adding it to my want list. This is a must for tea lovers!

Why must I always fall in love with discontinued gems! This is everything I wanted Matcha Meditation to be. Matcha Meditation is very jasmine heavy for me and the white chocolate does not appear on my skin. This is a fresh, cup of green tea with a slightly minty touch. Soothing, slightly lactonic, I just want to sink into it. Intimate projection but about 4 hours on clothes. If it wasn't for the insane mark up, I'd be buying at least two bottles of this. I'm hoping that I can find another tea fragrance I love as much as this that isn't discontinued.

Very unique tea scent! First a bergamot blast! Then the tea, milk, mate and rice come creeping in. I smell something powdery..maybe violets? The spiciness from the pink pepper is there too, in the background. I personally didn't find this in the genre of perfumes to be called "fresh", but it's beautiful, sweet and smooth! It's really nice, but I didn't find myself wearing it very often, so I decided to sell it. Now I regret not taking a small decant from it, just to be able to smell it from time to time...

Instead of bergamot, I get a strong blast of lemon, then rice and tea in the opening. Then it dries down to something softer. I think I get a hint of mint and strong mate note. While this is a perfectly fine fragrance, I like Matcha Meditation more. Update: 03/11/2025 I sprayed again today on my clothes, not on my wrist, and I like this much more. Upgrading to love. I think this is better for spring and summer whereas Matcha Meditation is nice during colder months as well.

After a productive morning of stressful tasks to clean around the house, you finally feel the weight fading off your shoulders as you sip away to a cup of milky green tea complimented with a bowl of steaming jasmine rice, as you sit down on your cozy couch next to the glass wall overlooking the rainy forest during Japanese monsoon season. Cozy, lactonic green puffy rice tea. 9/10 Yearning for a full bottle, unfortunately this is discontinued and is extremely expensive.