Worth it: Maison Margiela 'REPLICA' When the Rain Stops Eau De Toilette
A fresh scent with staying power.
Welcome back to Worth It, a bi-weekly breakdown of the new beauty products we’ve tested and adored: We're talking that drain-it-to-the-bottom-and-tell-my-friends-I’ve-found-The-One kind of love. If it's featured here, consider this our permission to splurge. Read on for the product you don’t want to live without.
The Promise
Speak to any perfume fan and an option from Maison Margiela's line of 'REPLICA' fragrances are sure to top their list of personal favorites. Every scent in the collection is meant to evoke memories from your past, and the resulting line includes everything from the clean-smelling Bubble Bath and the oh-so-summery-scented Beach Walk, to the heady, smokey favorite, Jazz Club. The newest addition to the line, When The Rain Stops, is meant to harken back to "the joyful feeling of seeing the sun return after the rain," with notes of aquatic accord, pink peppercorn, pine needles, and rose petal. Don't let this spring-inspired perfume fool you into thinking that it must be worn exclusively between the months of March and May—it's one of my favorite summer scents for this year.
When The Rain Stops follows in the footsteps of the Maison Margiela's Autumn Vibes fragrance from last year: Both scents were created by perfumer Fanny Bal, and they both evoke the freshness of being outdoors as the seasons change. The aquatic accord included in the formula, for instance, is designed to replicate the scent of the last few raindrops as they evaporate into the air while spicy pine needles and rose bring back memories of those first few fresh blooms in the spring months.
This new fresh-smelling scent is also Maison Margiela's most sustainable addition to the 'RELPICA' line to date. The rose petal essence ingredient is processed by LMR-Naturals—a vertically-integrated platform that works with local producers from around the world to deliver 100 percent pure and natural extracts in a way that's both sustainable and transparent—based in the Isparta region of Turkey. The patchouli essence at the base of the fragrance is also sustainably sourced in Bali. The result is an entirely unisex fragrance that lingers, unfolds, and warms on the skin as you wear it.
Why I'm Obsessed
To be honest, When The Rain Stops took me entirely by surprise when I discovered it as one of 2022's newest perfume launches. I'm not normally a fan of fresh-smelling fragrances, but I've grown tired of my collection of overly-sweet perfumes lately. What's more, the scent of pine needles normally makes me think of wintertime, but it feels warm-weather appropriate when combined with rose and jasmine grandiflorum as it is here.
I have obsessed over it since the very first spritz, and I especially fell in love with how it changed as I continued to wear it throughout the day. It smells heady at first application, but softens over time. When The Rain Stops is like the perfume version of 2022's "Clean" beauty trend: in the end, you just smell good rather than like any given flower or fruit. File this perfume under: Scents That Make You Smell Expensive, in the same vein as Le Labo's viral "Santal 33" fragrance or Glossier's "You" eau de perfume—you won't necessarily be able to detect any one note from the scent directly, but you'll sure know that it's there.
Yes, $144 is a tall order for a 3.4 ounce bottle, but it instantly upgrades any vanity or bathroom setup. Plus, you can pick it up in a rollerball or a mini size if you prefer to give it a test before you invest in the full-size version. The cap-less bottle design also makes it that much easier to spritz it on my pressure points before running out the door. And, the scent doesn't fade as I begin to sweat in the New York City summer heat, so it's won my seal of approval.
