Replique (1944)
by Long Lost Perfume (orig. by Raphael)

Wow. What a surprise. I had never heard about this frag but saw a vintage bottle, still wrapped in cellophane, online and purchased it. When it arrived, i could see that the cellophane was quite old and brown but still amazingly intact. It was exciting to think that I was the first person to open this bottle and sniff. From the look of the graphics on the box I would guess it might be from the 50's. The scent began as I expected, dated but classic, very few modern scents open with this kind of drama. It is a bit pungent, but the citrus herb mix is balanced and provocative. Edwards calls this a mossy wood, and the wood appears in the drydown but very softly, cushioned by the other ingredients. The drydown is rich but subtle and somehow powerful. A very wonderful scent from beginning to end. I might recommend this for a man or a woman. I plan on dousing myself in it this evening and just enjoying.

Thanks to Moondeva for the notes list of Replique. I have a vintage version as well- by Raphael. My bottle has round shoulders and a cute pressed glass stopper w/ an R carved in it. The dark silky remnants in my bottle are stunning. The scent is spicy and creamy, nutty resiny, almost pine-ish and very smooth. The clary sage and coriander are perfectly blended here and give the perfume a mild herbal aspect, like a finely milled French soap... the orris and moss cushion the ylang... the amber and civet and musk... the vanilla...leather... yes, it's all there. I think this must have been a very popular perfume when it came out. Every nose is different though, and there is so much to smell here... My husband proclaimed it smells just like church incense to him (the good kind, he said). I think the newer versions probalby smell pretty grreat, too. Check around online and at little second hand or antique shops in your area, and you might find a bottle, too.

This is for the vintage Replique by Raphael.
The scent has a certain sourness to it, a refreshing sourness like a lemon is sour. More citrusy than green. The base is warmer an spicier and perhaps a hint animalic. I might detect some floral sweetness too, but very understated. It smells pretty chic, but the citrus is a little artificial, it doesn't have the freshness of modern citrus scents.

I just bought Replique (no doubt the reissued version) based on Moondeva's review, and my take on it is radically different. It is a powdery chypre, with somewhat harsh green/floral top notes and a slightly leathery, mossy base. I can't detect civet (the prominent animalic note in Tabu), musk or vanilla in this concoction, and would not imagine it as an inspiration for YSL Opium or any similarly lush, spicy oriental. In fact it doesn't strike me as an oriental -- or even a spicy floral -- at all. It does, however, have an old-school French sophistication on the drydown. I am more inclined to keep this in my collection as an example of a classic scent than to wear and enjoy it. Perhaps I have to keep trying it now and then.

I have the Long Lost Perfumes version of this scent. I've never tried the original, so I don't know how close it is but I am really in love with this scent. I just immediately felt at home in it. The word I alway think of is creamy. I agree with Moondeva that this is a beautiful but not overpowering oriental. Perfectly suitable for daytime. I ordered another bottle of this right away because I was afraid they might stop making it. I tire of scents very easily, but this is one I know I will always want to own. It's perfect.

1947 : (Vintage) REPLIQUE!

This amazingly spicy, sexy oriental may have been inspired by Dana Tabu and shares many of trademark attributes of an old school oriental: deep woods and spices over rich but discreet florals over a warm sultry patchouli and vanilla base. www.scentdirect.com lists classics such as Dioressence, Estee Lauder Cinnabar, Basile, Chanel Coco and Karl Largerfeld KL as sister scents, and though similar Replique stands apart in a niche of it's own.

I believe that Replique may also have been the inspiration or at least a strong influence upon many modern day fragrance formulas for men including YSL Opium, Tiffany for men & Balenciaga pour homme. Replique could definitely be worn well by both men and women.

John Oakes in 'The Perfume Book' describes Replique as an elegant deep green, the smell of 'liquid emeralds'. Maybe my Vintage bottle has lost its green notes for I found that though distinctly woody, chypre to my nose, Replique is all about the spice. From the nose storming beginning to the refined elegant end, spices are the major theme of this 1940's scent.

Where Replique shines is that even though it is a full-blooded, red in tooth and claw oriental it is never ostentatious or over blown. Where Tabu can be too much for many due to its heavy emphasis on patchouli, Replique reins in everything with the use of leather and oakmoss in the bases notes making the dry down more elegant (non-powdery) Chypre in nature than dynamite seduction.

I have happily found yet another beauty to add to my arsenal. A full bodied Chypre oriental for Winter and the times when I want rich spice but without the gourmand vanilla of Organza Indecence, Fendi Theorema, etc or the animalistic cat on heat patchouli of Tabu, KL or Bal a Versailles.

Top: Bergamot oil, Clary Sage oil, Coriander, Neroli, Orange,


Heart: Clove Bud oil, Jasmin, Orris, Rose, Tuberose, Ylang-Ylang,


Base: Amber, Civet, Leather, Moss, Musk, Patchouli, Vanilla,