Maison Margiela
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
A bright, peppery bergamot floods the senses with immediate freshness, quickly chased by a cooling mint that feels crystalline and almost sharp. The pink pepper adds a peppery snap that keeps the opening from reading as purely citrus, instead establishing a slightly spiced, herbal character that's distinctly aromatic rather than fruity.
The green tea emerges around the 30-minute mark, and the fragrance suddenly finds its focus. Jasmine Sambac contributes a creamy, slightly floral sweetness that wraps around the tea's grassy notes, whilst osmanthus adds an unexpected apricot-honey dimension that deepens the composition considerably. By the two-hour mark, the floral and green elements have married into something almost edible, with the milk base beginning to soften the edges into something more intimate and skin-like.
The fragrance becomes increasingly creamy and intimate, with the milk note becoming the dominant character. The green tea fades to a ghost of itself, leaving behind a subtle bitterness from the mat absolute that prevents the creamy base from becoming cloying. What remains is something barely perceptible, intimate, almost more of a warm skin scent than a traditional fragrance—but those final traces carry an unusual sophistication.
Tea Escape is an exercise in restraint masquerading as simplicity—a fragrance that whispers rather than declares. Fabrice Pellegrin has constructed something deceptively delicate here: the bergamot arrives with a crisp bite, immediately tempered by a cool mint that feels almost aqueous, whilst pink pepper adds a subtle prickling warmth that prevents the opening from becoming too clean-lined. What's remarkable is how quickly the composition pivots toward its true intention.
The heart is where Tea Escape reveals its sophistication. The green tea note—not the bitter, stewed kind, but rather the fresh, slightly grassy character of newly steeped leaves—becomes the fragrance's gravitational centre. Jasmine Sambac absolute typically carries a creamy, almost indolic richness, yet here it's been restrained, contributing only a whispered floral sweetness that hovers around the tea rather than overwhelming it. Osmanthus, that underrated apricot-scented flower, adds a subtle honeyed warmth that prevents the composition from becoming austere.
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3.6/5 (104)