Bapteme Du Feu by Serge Lutens Review

I ordered a bunch of Serge Lutens fragrances, almost two years ago, and thought that I had done write ups for all of them. Apparently, I missed posting about two of them, and need to rectify that oversight. One, is the subject of today’s entry, Bapteme du Feu. What does this one smell like? How does it perform? Is it worth a try?

What does Bapteme du Feu Smell Like (Review)?

Notes include: tangerine, wood, gingerbread, cinnamon, clove

Click here to try: Bapteme Du Feu by Serge Lutens Eau De Parfum 50 ml Spray 

My Full Wear Review

Before we get into my review, let’s see how Serge Lutens describes this fragrance: Imagine a village fair where the smell of gunfire from the shooting range mingles with the sweeter aroma of gingerbread, cinnamon, clove, and candied orange and you have Bapteme du Feu!

Right from the start, you know this is going to be an odd fragrance. I mean, just read the description. Once, you spray it on, its uniqueness doesn’t suddenly disappear.

Bapteme du feu opens up with a juicy and quite sugary blast of orange or tangerine. Yes, it really does have a candied aroma, and smells quite intense. Not too out of the ordinary, as many scents have a strong citrus.

However, then the gunpowder note comes in. It’s a warm spent cartridge smell. A bit smoky, somewhat powdery from mixing with the other ingredients, and hangs in the air with a metallic smell.

At first, this note gets mixed with some spiciness. Cinnamon and gingerbread, come through more, later in the wear. Near the start though, I get a lot of clove. It’s super sweet orange, clove, and gunpowder. Man, I really don’t care for these smells combined together.

Does Bapteme du Feu get better, as it moves along? Yes, once the clove dies down, I can stand it more. It continues into being more gingerbread dominant, with orange highlights, and a general hazy smoke aroma. That’s essentially what it is for the rest of its cycle.

So, expect a warm, sweet, baked goods, spicy, gunpowder smell.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

On my skin, this projects very well, but isn’t suffocating. The sillage is as strong as it needs to be and shouldn’t be an issue, unless you over spray, and have it become an annoyance.

The longevity is actually quite good. It hung around for about 9 hours or so, for me. Not a complete powerhouse, throughout, but did a fine job at not dying out early.

Is this a versatile scent? Not really, at all. It’s a cold weather wear, that’s for sure. It’s so odd, that I don’t know when you’d be able to wear it. It’s not really formal, professional, or sexy. I guess you could throw on Bapteme du Feu, as a casual wear, simply for yourself.

Overall Impression of Bapteme du Feu

Do I like this Serge Lutens perfume? Personally, no. I’ll give it points for being unique, but I really don’t like the smell.

At times, it’s like being surrounded by orange candy. Then, it reminds me of being in an arts and crafts store as a kid. There was always one aisle with candles and various other products, filled with spices like clove, and woods. I hated that smell.

Then, there is the gun smoke. I actually don’t mind that smell, in real life, but in a fragrance? Why? It has no appeal.

This is a definite niche perfume. I imagine some folks will love Bapteme du Feu, I’m not one of them. But hey, if it sounds like something for you, the performance is a strength at least.

Best Men's Colognes

Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with different fragrances, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, I have written hundreds of reviews and other pages about perfumes and colognes.