Bake by Akro

I’ll keep it brief because there’s not much to add: it smells like lemon cake from start to finish, not too sweet. I feel it as a middle ground between Devotion, which is too sweet for me, and Nishane Ani, which is more woody.

I understand the comparisons with Devotion due to the dry-down, which has a similar vibe. But in the top and heart notes, they are very different things. This one has a little lemon that’s sweet, acidic, and slightly bitter (like citrus peel) mixed with rum, a delight. Obviously there’s no jasmine, which makes comparison with D&G impossible. The dry-down has that base of sugared lemon cake and vanilla; I get the same in both dry-downs, but Akro Bake is much more gourmand, like sweet lemon candies, although the top is more boozy with lemon zest. It stays soft at 5/6 hours but lasts over 8 hours on the pulse. I’d love to bathe in this scent, it’s exquisite. They also compare it to Lira, but I must warn you that NO, it’s one of my favorites and it’s more like a vanilla candy or the glaze on a citrus pudding, completely different things. For me, Lira doesn’t resemble Devotion either.

How I’ve been craving a good citrus-vanilla! Since L from Lolita Lempicka, none have pleased me as much as Bake. It’s a perfume that’s quite photorealistic lemon cookies, neither cloying nor synthetic nor body spray type. I think these conceptual perfumes by Olivier Cresp are cute: not bad price, minimalist design, good quality… They’re not imaginative show-offs, but they hold their own. Anyway, very cool Bake. Without nuclear performance, it still gives you your good four or five hours smelling like cheerful French pastry.

Imagine a fine patisserie in Paris; you walk in and they’ve just made lemon cupcakes, fluffy, warm, and soft. That’s what this perfume smells like. Although it has a rum note, it’s not a ‘boozy’ or drunk perfume; the rum is there to add maturity and prevent it from being a childish lemon caramel. It doesn’t have the best longevity (about 6 hours on skin), so I recommend wearing it on clothes. Perfect for any season and occasion. Definitely gourmand.

One of my favorite perfumes. It’s a scent that brightens your day. A sweetened citrus that reminds me of the sugar on top of a muffin. It’s not cloying at all, it doesn’t have much projection but its sillage is incredible. On skin it lasts all day, for me it can last around 7-8 hours. Totally unisex. I do see it as much more unisex compared to other perfumes it’s compared with, like Lira or Devotion, which don’t resemble it at all. The one that resembles it most is Devotion, but this one has a super sweet dry-down that borders on cloying and synthetic. It’s super versatile for any season, I’ve used it in summer and I’m using it now in autumn. In short, love at first sight. Just like I smelled it in the store I had to take it home. One of the best from the Akro house 🤩.

I feel this one is more masculine, I find the lemon very artificial, it reminds me of a powerful lemon cleaner. Then it leaves a strong burnt cake or bread aroma. It’s not for me, too gourmand, too sweet and pasty. I’d say it’s more of a cold weather perfume, autumn and winter, but I wouldn’t buy it. And I think it would look great on a man.

Evocative aroma of a lemon tart, lemon muffins, or something similar, like just out of the oven. Feels good to start the day. Very tasty smell. In the line of Dark and Awake. Highly recommended. I’d like it to last a bit longer on skin. In any case, highly recommended.

Bought it after trying a decant in less than two days. To me, it’s a masterpiece. Opens with a sugared lemon, similar to the lime with brown sugar from cocktails, making my mouth water. Gradually, the warm gourmand side emerges, more pastry-like, but it’s perfectly wearable on hot days. I own Devotion by Dior, and while they share the same nose and are family, this is fresher, more refined, with more nuances and that sweet lime note that has me hooked. Wish it had better longevity on skin, though it sticks to clothes better. Projection is moderate, never overwhelms me. In my opinion, it’s well worth it.

Bake is delicious. It has an extremely citrus opening, perhaps a bit sharp for some, but I love it in all its phases. It’s sweet and sour and lasts quite a while. At first, the citrus blends with woods and a hint of incense, not listed, giving it a totally unisex character. It reminds me in style of Lush’s Avocado Co Wash, another sweet citrus with incense, just more pronounced. After five or six hours, it becomes creamier and starts to resemble Dolce&Gabbana’s Devotion. On my skin, the trail is noticeable and lasts over 12 hours. The first time I smelled Devotion, I thought it was a clone of Bake, but when I tried Bake again the next day, I drew different conclusions. They are very similar, especially in that late dry-down of Bake that in Devotion seems to dominate from the start, smelling of creamy lemon cake and vanilla. But there are differences: Bake is more citrusy, less creamy, and less vanilla-heavy, whereas I sense Devotion as more feminine, creamy, and vanilla-forward. If I find Devotion at a good price, I’ll add it to my collection. Although they seemed redundant at first, now I see they aren’t. Compared to Zara’s A Sweet Pastry, neither of the previous two resembles it. A Sweet Pastry is a more obvious gourmand, cloyingly sweet, sharp at the start, and rough, lacking the creaminess of Bake or Devotion. All three perfumes I’ve tried from Akro have been amazing, and along with Devotion, they reaffirm that Olivier Cresp is one of my favorite perfumers. Scent 7.75/10, Longevity 10/10, Sillage 8.5/10, Value 8/10, Versatility 7/10, Packaging 6/10. Would I buy again? Yes.

The opening is spectacular and very photorealistic, but all that initial richness disappears and it becomes a vanilla perfume with buttery notes, like puff pastry. In the dry-down, it’s very similar to Profumum Roma’s Dulcis in fundo. If you like gourmand vanillas, it’s a good option.