WHAT I SMELL: Wow…Baptême du feu has a wonderful opening that’s cool to the touch, incredibly juicy and vibrant with a blast of bright citrus and bergamot. The perfume begins to warm quickly and the juiciness subsides to reveal a ripened osmanthus along with an orange rind like sourness. After 10 minutes or so, a ginger note begins to surface along with a wafting incense. What was joyous and bright has moved to a mysterious tonality. The perfume then takes another turn and the incense disappears and the perfume become fully ginger…and it grows exponentially in projection. But of course, Uncle Serge needs to contradict my words and once again, a wafting incense reveals itself. The ginger makes the perfume a little sweet, but not too much as there’s a light herbal base that resides under the candied root. After an hour, the perfume begins to dust and powder with a metallic edge as the candied aspects are lessened. In the end you’re left with a woody powdered ginger dustiness.
From the Serge Lutens website:
My emotions are fluid. Like liquid wax poured into a mould, they determine what seduces me—like this gingerbread heart. – Serge Lutens
The fragrance features gingerbread, powdery notes, tangerine, castoreum, osmanthus and woody notes.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Pippi Longstocking…it starts off bright, juicy and full of candied ginger…but as it wears it loses its initial gloss and becomes rather tiresome.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE BAPTÊME DU FEU: semi-sweet, pleasant, semi-interesting
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT BAPTÊME DU FEU: Persolaise, Kafkaesque, Perfume Posse
BOTTOM LINE: For the first 45 minutes of wear, I loved this perfume as its full of life and absolutely delightful. After that, its pleasant enough. Ho-hum.
- Bone Rating: 3 out of possible 5 bones
- Scent: Oriental
- Classification: Unisex
- Expense: $150 for 50 ml eau de parfum
August 24, 2016 at 8:32 am
I had high hopes for this scent, but alas, it sounds like another scent where the money has gone into the opening, and left the rest as a bit of a bally disapointment.
LikeLike
August 24, 2016 at 8:42 am
Well… I will admit that Uncle Serge and I don’t always get along well with each other. High concept here, but it falls rather flat. I’m sure many will like it… the ginger note is actually quite nice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
August 24, 2016 at 10:50 am
Surprising that there are no ‘smoky’ notes. I’ll have to sample it sometime.
LikeLike
August 24, 2016 at 3:24 pm
No smoke, but just a light incense which did add a nice dimension.
LikeLike
August 24, 2016 at 11:21 am
Steve, I almost spewed tea outta my nose when I got to Pippi Longstocking. What a perfect illustration, and I now have zero interest in trying this. Thanks for the heads up! 🙂
Now I’m going to go find your post that featured Pig-pen, another gem of yours that will brighten my day.
LikeLike
August 24, 2016 at 3:25 pm
You can always tell when I’m in a snarky mood can’t you??! I’ll share the sample with you… I would love to get your opinion.
LikeLike
August 24, 2016 at 7:39 pm
I initially read this as skanky mood and got tangled there for a second, then moved on 🙂
LikeLike
August 24, 2016 at 7:44 pm
I am never skanky!!! Snarky yes, skanky no 🙂
LikeLike
August 24, 2016 at 2:00 pm
Hello there. Well you haven’t sold it that’s for sure. Pippi Longstocking!!!! Serge is my gateway so I’m always interested in what they come up with. Unfortunately the uber expensive one sounds a lot better but way out of my spending range at what I think was 600 Euro a bottle. EEK!
LikeLike
August 24, 2016 at 3:26 pm
Megan…Serge was my gateway too with Ambre Sultan…but since then, he just has not really cooperated with me. and 600 Euro is a crime!
LikeLiked by 1 person
August 24, 2016 at 7:37 pm
I can’t wait to try this and if it is good enough, I’ll pounce when it gets to the discounters. It sounds like it could be a good perfume to layer over or under something with a blah start and a fab drydown.
LikeLike
August 24, 2016 at 7:44 pm
Such a smart girl. I never thought of doing that! Funny, because I really liked the ginger at the beginning and I’m not a huge ginger fan…or I haven’t found the one ginger that I like. This would go nicely with an interesting incense based perfume that was more linear.
LikeLike
August 25, 2016 at 4:23 pm
I had high hopes for this but it seems like I shouldn’t rush to try it. Money saved.
LikeLike
August 26, 2016 at 5:12 am
My dear Poodle. No rush needed. :_
LikeLike
August 26, 2016 at 12:22 am
“semi-interesting” – LOL
More SLs do not work for me than do, but whenever I get a chance I try everything new from the house. I won’t be holding my breath waiting to try this one but it might unexpectedly work: I like ginger.
LikeLike
August 26, 2016 at 5:12 am
Undina – the good thing about the house is that you can actually find them at local stores to check them out. The ginger here works for me…but the metallic bland finish is just not worth the trip. But the opening is fantastic!
LikeLike