Replique

Ultimate feminine fragrance. From the last breath of the dying era. The love for femininity is captured in a simple, nice bottle. It's an elixir of silk stockings, powder, and red lipstick clutching the cigarette of your husband. A warrior of your heart. It's simple food, a bottle of wine, red nails and drying lingerie. It's hair spray, hair rollers and sweat of him between your breasts, comploting new war. Giving new warrior. By joining wet soil and blood. It's love for a woman written in the fragrance. Every scent that doesn't contain some interesting carnal capture of the earth notes in the sense of earthly celebration of females is not feminine. Because of the earth. The water. The moonlight. The scream of birth. That is the celebration of a woman. The woman is the embodiment of nature. Lead by nature, loved by nature. Every good perfumer understands that. This is one of the last féminine Perfumes in history. Perfumes like this don't exist anymore. Since 1944 this masterpiece fights the darkness brought upon femininity. It's the shield of vestal virgins. Wonderfully provocative and opposite to today's light apologetic scents. It is opulent and sensual. The dry-down is also a bit dirty, which makes it even more special. Dirty in the sense that "I am your wife. Give me a son." Dirty in the Sparta wives way "My son, come home with a shield or on him." (This means the son is not allowed to lose his shield or should be brought back on the shield as heroes are brought standing on the shields. This means the son can't choose death.) "Replique (1944) was Raphael's first scent. In 15 years, he was to create just over a dozen (14 at my last count), most of which were sold only to European markets. Only his most popular, Replique and Plaisir (the latter a lighter version of the former) made it to the USA. The Raphael factory burned to the ground in 1959, taking with it almost all the formulas. Luckily, Replique and Plaisir (in pure parfum and edt versions) proliferate on eBay, so they are easily enjoyed. [Note that the current re-formulation of Replique bears no resemblance to the original, but is a thoroughly enjoyable scent on its own (Rose de Mai and French wildflowers.] Replique is one of my five favourite scents of all time. It shares with Coty's L'Aimant that indefinable lift and nuttiness that makes these two rather unique in my perfume journey. Replique is a lovely nutty, complex, floral chypre. If you love L'Aimant, you'll no doubt equally love Replique."(JackTwist) Sillage is big, and longevity is insane (20 hours and going strong, what with all the fixatives in the base). Initial drydown retains a good dose of all the ingredients in the top and heart, for a couple of hours. Long-term drydown is Powder over Ambergris. I already wrote my poem to L'Aimant. Review I mean. It's here on Fragnatica if you are interested. But let's talk more about this perfumery art. Top Notes Bergamot, Sicilian Lemon, Cardamom, Neroli, Coriander, Clary Sage, Aldehydes. It opens with that hairspray vintage aldehydes. Saturated with beautiful notes of Sicilian Bergamot, Sicilian Lemon, Neroli's finest notes, my eternal love Sage and spices Cardamom and the freshness od coriander. This itself is my dream soap. Unbelievable opening. I just adore it. Also, it stays till the fragrance lasts on your body. Acting with your skin and body warmth. Heart Notes Ylang Ylang, Lily of the Valley, Egyptian Jasmine, Mimosa, Tuberose, Heliotrope, Coumarin, Rose Go ahead. Imagine all these flowers together tightened by capricious masculine jasmine and Coumarin...Telling to pretending Mimosa "I am a powerful woman but I need a masculine hand to calm me down. To love me. To tight me." Simply the Top Notes with sense. Fitting to the nature of females. Blended to perfection. Spiced while entering Base notes safety. Base Notes Oakmoss, Olibanum, Powdery Notes, Musk, Ambergris, Vetiver, Patchouli. Leatherand Civet. One word. Earth. Connection of the female to earth. To animalism. Replique was housed in various bottles over the years including a lovely crystal flacon created for the parfum (extrait) that resembled a square crystal inkwell complete with a ground glass stopper. The stopper was in the shape of a stylized tulip with an R in the centre cut intaglio for Raphael. The stopper was originally a three-pointed tulip and changed to a two-pointed tulip shape in 1965. If your stopper has a plastic-covered dowel (called plaster), it dates to the mid-1960s and after. The bottles were made by Pochet et du Courval in France. Réplique. Means the answer. YES. This majestic fragrance is the answer to the world of destruction. Femininity.

Raphael Replique vintage parfum My best friend recently had a birthday party with a vintage burlesque theme. It was a black tie event, and everyone dressed the part. I wore a fitted lace fishtail dress by Mandalay that reminded me of the original Barbie from the 1960s. I received so many compliments that night, but the best one was when someone told me that I looked exactly like Rita Hayworth in her iconic pin up photo wearing a black lace dress. He even dug out his iPhone to show me a picture of what he meant. I caught my breath because the resemblance was uncanny. Ever since that day, she’s been one of my idols. She was a lifelong dancer, as I am, so I loved her immediately and since I already look like her, and dress like her, I also wanted to smell like her. I learned that one of her favorite fragrances was Raphael Replique, so naturally, I had to have it, curious to know what “The Love Goddess” smelled like. On a backpacking journey to the rainforests of Costa Rica, I was fortunate to have met a biology professor from the University on vacation with his children. I told him that it was my deepest desire to see a black panther in the rain forest. He laughed, but indulged me. That night, he took us hiking through the rainforest in search of my black panther. I cannot describe the feeling of being in one of the most beautiful rainforests on earth, in the dark of night, surrounded by the thick dense greenery teeming with animal life looking for one of the most dangerous animals on the planet. Raphael has bottled this scene for me. This fragrance is a deep resinous sexy green. The top floral notes in my vintage perfume have probably faded, but what remains is this musky base created by the olibanum, musk, oakmoss, and ambergris, all softened by a well blended heliotrope, mimosa, and jasmine heart with the tiniest touch of clary sage and powder. This is probably the sexiest scent I own. I found my black panther. One blog described it as a cross between vintage Tabu and Bal a Versailles, but that’s not quite the whole story. It’s even deeper, greener, and muskier on me. I would say it’s more of a mix between vintage Tabu, a touch of Piguet Bandit, and a drop of Bal a Versailles with a sharp opening of Irish Spring soap (which I love). All I know is that I feel incredibly sexy and dangerous in this, like a black panther circling her prey ready to pounce. This must have suited the Love Goddess perfectly. With this on, I have a bit of Rita’s swagger in my walk now, and I have my vintage Replique to thank for that.

I have just applied a generous amount of the vintage parfum/extrait to my forearm and the emanating fumes are so strong that my nasal hairs will never be the same lol, I detect lemony aldehydes, clary sage, jasmine, loads of oakmoss, sandalwood, aniseed? and natural ambergris along with a healthy dollop of civet and nitro musks thrown in for good measure, the jus I have used came from a early sixties 3 pronged stoppered 4 fluid ounce flacon, in fact when it arrived the stopper was still sealed and it took me a couple of days to carefully extract it from the bottle neck as it had glued itself tightly inside, I have been collecting vintage fragrance for many years and have several Raphael *Replique* flacons in my collection this being the largest and rarest so I've been told, the bottle is housed and sits in it's own coffret of cream board & satin, truly a sight to behold, many other sealed and full bottles are squirreled away for those inevitable rainy days. This perfume is definitely of it's time, I too note a similarity to Rigauds *Un Air Embaume* as well as Coty's *Emeraude*, it's starting to settle now quite nicely, becoming slightly more floral with a hint of heliotrope plus lashings of patchouli & vetyver and maybe some iso-quinilone, oddly enough I do not detect any rose, jasmin Yes but no rose? this is so very complex, the notes detected are so few as I can only imagine the true extent of it's formula, both unique and most intriguing... To be totally honest I would not be game to wear this out in public, I'm just not that brave tho it's great to wear this from time to time in remembrance of how this grand chypre fragrance was so skillfully authored so many years ago, a total & absolute blast from the past. two thumbs up and a very respectful nod to the legend & memory of Rita Hayworth... & Bette Davis UPDATE: I have been wearing this for 6 hours now and it is utterly divine, gorgeous muted florals of an alien nature/concentration? think datura or rare orchids, perhaps due to the age of the juice, all bolstered by grey ambre, vetyver, oakmoss & musk, softer but still powering away nicely, will decant a small quantity into atomiser for future ease of use, so very different to the initial opening... MMMMMMMMNice, VERY NICE!!!

I have a very tiny bottle, unsure of concentration, with the original "gothic"-style lettering. Unique for a bodily fragrance. Not very warm or sensual, but still intriguing and beautifully refined. On today's terms I find it to be quite unisex, but in a very classic way. Despite having no leather notes, it smells like the perfume of a fine leather satchel, purse, or new car interior. But more like leather grown cold from the air-conditioning. The powdery undertones evoked Rouge by Dita Von Teese at first, but applying it was far from Rouge. It's herbal, soapy, and clear, with a distant, bracing menthol-esque quality in the background - thank the beautiful spice cardamom and clary sage. But don't worry - it fades soon and smells nothing like Bengay muscle rub. Then, weaving in and out is something clean, that briefly smells like... a mixture of lemon oil, Irish Spring and an Axe 3 in 1 soap (this Axe soap specifically). I mostly appreciate that this doesn't rely on any smoky or incense notes - I think adding those would have made this less lovely. Altogether, it doesn't smell like much of a person's fragrance, but rather a place. A breezy, ritzy hotel lobby, with an ornate fountain as its attraction. The smell of fountain water hitting the stone tiles, mixed with leather chairs and a porcelain bowl of lemons. This could be the scent of its little soaps and shampoos. Surely, if some name or niche brand bottled this as a unisex fragrance, it would be hailed as trendy. But this is a snippet of 1944, and apparently a favorite of Rita Hayworth? Very unique for its time, and I guess that's why there is only one Replique. Adding an extra note: drydown is everything. I was pleasantly surprised to see how it became an unexpected skin scent, and perfect for daytime. A wonderful, elegant, sophisticated, and green soap quality, that isn't feminine in the traditional sense. This scent is capable of time-travel. When you'd think it's too old-fashioned for today, the more it proves you wrong.

A small addendum given I was able to secure the Irma Shorell EDP interpretation (bold red box) of this mournfully undersung beauty. To start, it was as if I could sense the remnants of a Réplique skeleton when sprayed in the air - that familiar lemony, musky oakmoss. And I used an original EDT as my control. However, the comparison really ends there. On the skin, instead of evolving into the balmy, lemon-earth soap of the original, IS hearkens straight to a drier, less floral Chantilly. As it continues to wear, it sadly doesn't go into the characteristic depth of Réplique. A brief flash of lemon, then direct to the nose with aldehydes. Yes, the soapy quality is there, but not at the level of the EDT or parfum. Not as clear, warm, and sweet; nearly screechy but never crosses that line. None of the herbal qualities were retained. The drydown is oddly similar to that of Dana's Chantilly too, whatever that can be described as (synthetic oakmoss?). The continuous aldehydes almost seem to steer it a là No. 5, but again, with far less depth. For those who are able to procure the true parfum, there really is no comparison to it. Breezy yet warm, sophisticated yet hard-headed, calculating yet mysterious. Antiheroine to both gaudy glam and tortured fatale. IS unfortunately wasn't able to recapture Réplique's real spirit, now forever trapped in the past. But I can only admire the dedication they had to trying, with what limited resources there were, in preserving its history. I will forever be fascinated and stolen by the story of Réplique...