Maison Margiela Under the Lemon Tree

Warm-ish day, so I continued with the Maison Margiela discovery set. Today was Under the Lemon Tree.

It opens with photorealistic lime, earthy petitgrain and cardamom, quickly followed by heavy green nuances from tea, coriander seeds and mate. I have seen mate mentioned a lot online but never really in perfumery. In the drydown, the lime and cardamom fade, bringing in woody cedar, musk and a faint fresh rose.

Replica still stays true to its name. If I close my eyes, it genuinely feels like being under a lemon tree on a sunny day. Unlike many citrus fragrances, this one is dry and airy.

Performance is okay for an EDT. It projects about 1 foot for the first 45-70 minutes, then starts to fade. Around 7 hrs in it becomes a proper skin scent, and I can squeeze out another 1.5 hrs, so roughly 8-9 hrs total.

It is a decent fragrance, but it does not have a strong advantage in any area. It edges into room freshener territory. If not for the earthy notes, it smells very similar to my Dettol antibacterial wipes.

A solid 6.5/10. Below-average projection, lacks complexity, somewhat forgettable, and priced on the higher side. There are better options out there, so this is the first pass from the set.

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