And more often than not, I get hit with the bittersweet revelation that I’m not quite ready to let go of summer yet. What’s my favourite summer memory for 2023, you ask? It’s the French seaside, no surprise. Let’s dive into the iconic marine scent to relive your favourite memory all year round with luxe body care products.

In 1994, Maison Margiela introduced the first Replica fashion pieces: garments and accessories hand-picked and reproduced while preserving their character and charm. In 2012, the concept expanded into an iconic fragrance collection, with scents recreated to evoke intimate yet relatable memories. Beautifully uncomplicated yet still so romantic.

Ten years later, the hype around the Replica fragrance range is still as strong as ever. Although describing a fragrance in writing is decidedly complex, Maison Margiela has nailed it with descriptors that succinctly characterise a moment with ambience. And true to their name, the first thing that comes to mind with this unique fragrance lineup is always a memory first, followed by olfactory notes.

Replica fragrances do precisely what they say on the bottle: they replicate specific moments in time for you to relive repeatedly. Whether it’s waking up to fresh, clean sheets on a Sunday morning or a beach walk on the holidays with a whiff of sun cream in the air, I think the collection hits everyone differently; your favourite will undoubtedly be for reasons personal to you.

Replica Sailing Day

Fragrance family: woody, aquatic

Top notes: aquatic accord, aldehydes accord, juniper essence

Middle notes: coriander essence, iris absolute, rose super essence

Base notes: red seaweed essence, ambergris accord, ambery wood accord

Sunny and invigorating, Sailing Day encapsulates the last vestiges of seaside days that linger long after summer. With an aquatic accord surrounded by coriander, red seaweed essence and ambergris, the scent is fresh and salty with a hint of woody spiciness – reminiscent of windswept days out on the water. The same crisp notes feel like a sea spray in the air, warmed by sunlight bouncing off waves. 

Of all the Replica scents, I find Sailing Day one of the most wearable. The faint, sweet notes from the underlying florals impart some softness to a marine scent that can often be harsh, while the zesty touch keeps it light and unisex.

Just this last month, we were lucky enough to spend time at the French seaside, where the days were long, and everything was likened to a sunbleached palette of creamy whites and pale blues. With gelato dripping in hand, afternoons were opportunities for people-watching by the sea, and we would watch the yacht masts bob up and down in the quay while the tide rose and fell. To me, this is what Sailing Day smells like: refreshing but with depth and a taste for bold, endless adventures ahead.

Sailing Day Body Care

The newer body care line to the Replica fragrances see the classic cotton label transformed into a luxe box, embossed with the Maison Margiela logo and soft to the touch.

My key to locking in a fragrance on your skin is to always moisturise before spritzing. Layering is another great way to intensify the results, and the Replica body care line does both beautifully. If you already have the Sailing Day EDT on daily rotation, the shower gel and body lotion will complement the fragrance and make it stretch further. Even when you don’t wear a fragrance, the body care duo provides a gentle hint of perfume that lingers into the day – my pyjamas now smell like a clean day out at sea!

My favourite of the lineup is the Sailing Day body lotion, which contains shea butter to moisturise while maintaining a medium consistency suitable for even the hot summer days on the French coast. The hand cream carries a thicker texture that works wonders around the fingernails, and because of how nourishing it feels (sans any stickiness), the scent lingers around for hours after, longer than any other hand cream I’ve had. It’s a lovely way to enjoy a fragrance refresh or simply relive the fresh sensations of seaside days on the go.

The original Sailing Day label reads “Paros, 2001”. Well, from now on, Sailing Day will always be ingrained as “La Rochelle, 2023” in my memory.

The products featured in these images are kind PR products from the Maison Margiela team without obligation to share them on my blog.

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