Baptême du Feu (2016)
by Serge Lutens

Magnificent! Smells like cold, dark red fruit. It's unisex, but I think it leans feminine.

It is one of the more unique scents I've smelled in my years. No questions about it, you should at least sample it.

Probably my favourite Lutens so far. His scents seem to turn on me a bit, and this one doesn't. A beautiful, rich, fiery, spicy, yet deep, dark and seductive perfume. I'm getting lots of cinnamon - or is it that gunpowder impression that appears cinnamon-y to me? Maybe there are some dried fruits under that to give it some slight sweetness, too - but overall fragrance is not sweet. It does feel like fire - a bit. And the name - Baptism by Fire - is both so beautiful and so fitting here. I couldn't wear this all the time, but I can definitely see myself growing to love it a lot.

Cirque rouge by Marc Chagall 1956-1960

fish

I am slightly fascinated by this scent. It's unusual. To my nose, this opens with autumnal dried fruit that immediately calls to mind Lutens's Arabie. It settles to something in the same family but rather different. To test, I sprayed Arabie on my other arm -- it's sweeter and more "potpourri"-ish.

Except for mandarine, I am unfamiliar with the notes in this perfume. It's maybe because of this that the individual notes are indistinguishable to my nose. But after reading about them here, I think I'm primarily getting the gingerbread -- but the way it's done is quite unusual. Maybe it's the "gunpowder" (whatever chemical compounds that actually is) that gives this its unique character?

Worth a sniff, at least.

I have no idea what this is about when I smell it. It's smoky, powdery, sweet, spicy, woody, floral. It's everything at once, with a predominant clove. A gorgeous pot pourri. I love it. Longevity is good but sillage is average.