Sexy Viking

I love ordering the studio juices. I'm not near any proper perfume places, so they are a treat when they come out and I look forward to ordering them. I also have almost the entire line, so yes, they can be hit or miss: the halloween scent last year—handbook for the recently deceased (el cosmico remix) is still a regret, as is magnolia (too soapy floral on me). Lilac City is beautiful and I savor it in the Spring and Winter. St. Vetyver, Mississippi medicine, and several others from the main line are in regular rotation. I think the studio juices this year have been wonderful: honeysuckle city (still a favorite months later with its electric lactonic crackle honeysuckle!), pistachio, and this latest one, sexy viking, is divine if you like black current and woody-amber little bits of leather scents, which I do. Olympic Orchids and baies from diptyque immediately came to mind. I also suspect it has some dna in common with the base of their recent 'Leatherize' scent. In summary: I look forward to wearing this and seeing how it develops. It was not a disappointment. And, yes, perfumers exist to make money.

Update: This stuff just smells really good. That’s all. Hmmmm, I like this alot! Getting mostly currant and woods. Going by the name I was expecting a sword to the head but instead it’s Sexy Purr. Yeah DS&D why didn’t you name it that?:-) Sillage seems like it’s low-moderate though still only about 30 minutes after applying. Glad I was able to purchase. Was kind of scared since my skin seems to mega-amplify anything with pine but it’s very well-blended and quiet here.

I like this fragrance, but it's very one dimensional to my nose...maybe two dimensional as the drydown changes slightly, but not as much as I'd like. This starts with black currant, and I love black currant, so that's why I like this fragrance...but it also smells mainly like black currant throughout the whole wear and I was so hoping to be able to smell the many marvelous listed notes like the bitter orange, the pine, the juniper, the barley and the wheat, etc. All these notes should be smelled to create the image that DSM is attempting to convey in the description of this fragrance and I personally don't feel that it achieves that as it's far too one dimensional in my opinion. I have noticed just a slight hint of a grain presence in the far drydown and that's why I mentioned that it might have a "slight" two dimensionality about it...but it is far to faint for my taste. I want to smell the listed note transitions throughout the wear as the sales pitch for Sexy Viking was so interesting and intriguing. I'm hoping some of the other notes will intensify in time as this fragrance ages, but of course there's no way of knowing if that will happen. Time will tell.

I don’t know if I’d say a Viking is what comes to mind when I smell this. If you were to smell this in medieval times it would be more along the lines of a British or French noble.... I have no idea wtf I’m talking about. This stuff is pretty good, though. Worth trying out.

They are making a second batch, which begs the question of why it was a "limited release" for which you had to pay a premium in the first place. If no scarce or especially costly materials were used, then this confirms what I've felt about the past few studio juices: quick cash grabs that rely on artificially imposed scarcity tactics. (Until they realize they can sell another hundred as an equally limited "second batch" that is). I'm not always convinced of the quality of the studio juices, and having smelled Sexy Viking my opinion still stands. The scent profile is completely divorced from the concept. They know people will be blind buying these and therefore, to ensure repeat customers, can't really go too "out of the box" with these releases. Their customer ultimately wants a neat name and bottle design but a wearable, inoffensive scent that doesn't quite match its conceptual idiosyncrasies (or maybe just enough to say they're "not like the other girls"). Therefore, what we get is a pretty straightforward fruity cassis with a "malty" base (and no, the malty base isn't as interesting as it sounds). This is not to hate on DS and Durga, from which I own and love many releases (the discontinued Vio-Volta, Amber Kiso, El Cosmico, Mississippi Medicine and St. Vetyver are all great!). But unfortunately they've taken a turn for the worse with their recent output (the uninspired Grapefruit Generation, redundant Sweet Do Nothing, forgettable Bistro Waters and the cynical Pistachio or questionable Wipeout studio juices) and uptick in price ($190 for 50ml). I say this also to maybe assuage any frustration people might feel on having missed out on this or other Studio Juices. With the exception of DYLAN, which was quite good, these haven't been as groundbreaking or fascinating as the copy would have you believe. If you haven't already, I'd recommend using the money to explore their permanent line instead. Leave the Studio Juices for the Soho/Williamsburg nepotism babies.