Virke

I wholeheartedly agree with the first reviewer here, although I like to refer to myself as a Scentaur...don't ask, it just popped into the brain one day and stuck. I've likely applied so many different fragrances to my skin in my lifetime I'm convinced that there's more linlool, SD alcohol and various marvellous perfume accords flowing through my veins than there is blood—now, if only I could sweat sandalwood... I'm a lover of all things wood—there's so much teak in my lounge my nails smell of tung oil from the constant polishing, and I'm convinced that wood just makes life warmer...wood has soul, and I consider it the most unselfish, altruistic material known to man, not in small part due to growing up with one of my favourite books, "The Giving Tree" by Shell Silverstein. I was a real tomboy (still am) and some of my best times as a kid were the rose-gold, blond summers spent as high as I could climb, in the branches of the olive trees, just hanging out with the sun and the clear breezes, just me and the sparrows in the grey-green leaves. As much as we surround ourselves with concrete and steel, we simply can't live without wood. Now if we'd just learn to respect it and not waste it... Virke is more aromatherapy than "a bottle of perfume" and it's pure and tart, juicy and bright..this is green, wet wood, wood you feel sorry for when you cut into it, not the wise, dried woods of temples and churches and ships, it's young, and I challenge you not to giggle when you first smell it. It almost tickles. Dare I state that it makes me...happy? Svensk scents are anti-depressants, and I'm forever on the prowl for anything to keep the black clouds at bay. Not to be a total dork, but wearing Virke is like an Ikea Moment, drinking tart, fizzy lingonberry juice while nibbling on odd ginger biscuits, surrounded by the smell of unvarnished Scandinavian pine, the joy of abandon...not caring how crap the furniture will look in your decidedly un-Scandinavian-style flat. I wear a mala prayer bead bracelet that is made of some of the best-smelling rosewood, and after years of soaking up whatever oils and scents I've worn, it' emits my favourite, calming scent. Wearing Virke has tipped the scales to a euphoric scent, and it's so full of essential oils it shines on my skin. It is indeed special, I've never smelled anything like it, and it takes real talent to create a juice this good using two simple accords.

I received my package of four deluxe samples from Svensk Parfym today: Virke, Prakt, Sadel, and Ljus. Thank you, Fragrantica, for the promotion that made shipping & handling free! Practically since I joined this site a year ago, I've been eyeballing Virke's raspberry goodness, so now that it was finally in my possession it was the first fragrance I tried. Spraying my wrists, I was greeted with the most refreshing scent of what must be the Swedish taiga. I've never actually been there, but I can picture it clearly: the pine and soft musk combine to present the coniferous forest on the shore of chilly inland lake, snow-capped mountains in the distance. Musk and I have a... contentious history, but we're getting along just fine here - I think it's because there are no flower notes (particularly white flowers) in this fragrance, so the musk is relaxing on my skin and not creating something too heady. Even now, I keep sniffing my wrists to get those beautiful pine notes, so refreshing in these warmer months. An hour later, though, I kept asking myself, "Where's the raspberry?" I thought there was a subtle underlying sweetness whenever I sniffed my wrist, but if I'd never read about this fragrance containing raspberry that wouldn't have been my guess. I was about to be mildly disappointed that I never got my fruity note, so I stopped sniffing, searching, *trying* to find it... and that's when it wafted up to my nose. The raspberry takes time to unfold, and it needs room to travel (you likely won't smell it directly on your skin); but it is so natural-smelling, more like a wild raspberry bush than a little package of raspberries at the supermarket. This is linear, but that's okay: all three notes stick around, and they're all good. I don't mind linear frags, though, anyway - often I'm sad when a gorgeous opening leaves and something I like less takes its place. All in all, I'm very happy with Virke! Edit: by the end of the fragrance's life on the skin (about 6 hours), raspberry is the dominant note. It's almost as if raspberry is the base note - pine and musk over raspberry (which is usually a top note in my experience), instead of raspberry over pine and musk. 2nd Edit: People at work can apparently smell this perfume in the hallway leading to the room where my office is at work. But they remarked that it's "refreshing."

I think this Id a pretty cool scent. It’s very basic - but only in that there’s not a lot of depth. The scent profile itself is quite unique. It’s a robust, semi sweet raspberry musk. I’m not getting much wood. Obviously if you’re considering this fragrance, you’re likely looking for a unique take on the note of raspberry. I know I was - and all paths lead me to this. I find it to be fairly unisex - maybe a little feminine - but totally appropriate for either sex. Overall, I find it to be unique, as I’ve not smelled a scent profile close to this. It’s fun and playful - but I could see some folks finding this to be daring - maybe even sexy. It’s certainly off the beaten path. While I don’t consider this to be a masterpiece fragrance - I find that it’s novelty is something I was missing from my collection. If we weren’t dealing with Covid, it would be a great scent to wear to summer concerts. I’m a fan - and this will close the book on my search for a unique unisex raspberry. Great stuff!

I'm a fraghead, and I have owned and tried 500+ fragrances, so when the wife exclaims "Damn thats good, what did you put on?" you know you've found something special. And Virke is special. Its not a very complex fragrance, but I havent tried anything else that smells quite like it. It opens with a strong blast of fizzy lemon and red berries, reminiscent of sparkling rosé wine, accompanied by some clean but heavy muscs, woods and a hefty dose of ambergris. The drydown though is where Virke really shines. You get that wonderfull raspberry/dry woods accord and the longer it sits on the skin the better and smother it gets. It has monster longlivety too. I accidentaly sprayed some on my jacket and it stuck for days. Final words. A linear fruity/woody (potential) compliment monster with stellar performance.

I wore this in a very large room where people were wairing to get serviced. I had a very long wait but when I finally got called by a female representative, the first thing she said was, "Oh, that was you!" She had smelled the fragrance I was wearing, Virke, and wondered who was wearing it. She loved it and said it reminded her of the nice smell of White Owl Cigars in the box that her Dad used to have. She wanted to know the name of my fragrance and said she wanted to get it for her husband. Meanwhile, another female eomployee next door also seconded the great smell. So, I believe Kirke has great sillage and longevity and will attract compliments. I think the dry wood part of this fragrance shone through, thus the reference to White Owl. Another great one from Henrick Lestreus!

I live for discoveries like Virke: an aromatic, woody raspberry minus the typical floral note (rose, jasmine, etc) that would make this a commercial scent. The fizzy, soft sweetness comes from the wood note. I also think I’m picking up iso e super (or some other aromachemical) but it’s used with a light touch and complements the other notes. Speaking of compliments, you will receive them when wearing Virke. It’s unique but also people friendly and I think that’s what makes it special: you can wear it anytime, anyplace. I have not met anyone who hasn’t fallen under the Virke spell. Virke is also linear but I’m cool with that because I love the opening. If I could rate this 11 out of 10 I would. It’s truly wonderful, uplifting and a strong performer. LOVE.

Virke starts with the most realistic raspberry scent I have ever felt in a fragrance. It feels like I've been outside picking my hands full of raspberries and then mashed them against my body and rubbed them all over myself. Absolutely amazing! After a while there is a nice musk and a light woody touch appearing and they fits perfectly together with the raspberries and their lovely happy scent. Later the raspberries are toned down quite alot, but they are still there. Now the woody scent appears more and together with the musk it creates a fantastic musky wood scent with a tiny bit of raspberries in the background. This fragrance is pure perfection if you like raspberries, musk and wood!

Holy raspberry, Batman! Virke opens with raspberries - slightly tart raspberries straight from the bush, nothing synthetic or candy sweet about them. Drying down the woodsy notes come out to play, a freshly cut wood rather than old and dry, but with a softness to it brought from the musk. The raspberries take on a sweeter note, but are still miles from a jammy gourmand. I think it's a very innovative and whimsical scent, at first I wasn't even sure I liked it, but after a while I couldn't stop sniffing my arm. It's a classy and fun raspberry cologne if there is such a thing. Definitely unisex and definitely worth a try! Stays on well into the next day for me, with moderate silage.

Wow what an amazing perfume! I get raspberry on a woody base. This wood is very young wood, and of course light musk. It is very long lasting on both my skin and clothing. I applied it and then took a shower a couple of hours later, went to bed and the scent was on my arm the next morning. My shirt still has it and it’s been days now. The overall feeling from this perfume I get an overwhelming feeling of love. Like a whole space around me with this perfume is filled with love. It changes on me, not a linear scent. I appreciated the packaging that it arrived at my door. It was carefully packed and the box had a handwritten note. Felt very personal and nice.

For me, Virke is a great spring and summer fragrance. I love this combination of raspberries, wood and musk. It's very well done. The raspberry doesn't feel artificial at all to me, but natural and just like my nose closing in on a handfull of raspberries. The only downside: If this fragrance would have had a bit more sweetness and sourness to it, it would be perfect. Apart from that it's a 10. The woodsy notes in the middle and base is really good and makes this fragrance stay a good +8 hrs on my skin. Good to medium projection IMO.

I don't really know what you two have to win leaving comments like that. What's your major problem? Yes, I created a profile here to review Svensk Parfym first and foremost, because I wanted to do it for them. What's wrong with that?! I think good things should be prized and greater should be prized even more. Also, I think it's nice to speak up and support newcomers. Do you? I think they need every help they can get. (Just edited my first post.)

I continue to receive compliments with this fantastic fragrance. Almost every time I wear it I have been noticed in a favorable way, from being outside on windy days to in the office in a large room...easily one of my signature scents. It just seems to come alive on my skin in a very positive way. En, Prakt and Sadel I also like a lot from Svensk but this one has been the most compliment getter. Bravo Henrik!

Virke. I fell in love with them. So simple and at the same time unconventional. Literally raspberries spread on a piece of aromatic tree, including musk, so sexy. Something beautiful <3 I heartily recommend to sniff. This is a perfume masterpiece. Projection big, lasting for me to 10h, which is very good. Beautiful, I recommend!

I received a sample of this with my order. As soon as I sprayed it, I was mesmerized. It's a sweet, fruity, woody scent but unlike anything else I've smelled. It's absolutely gorgeous and I'll be purchasing a full bottle.

Raspberry delight with woody undertone. So natural, fresh and quality ingredients. Not beastly by any means but a very pleasant fragrant, definitely unisex. Well done!

This is My favorite one from svensk parfym. I Love the raspberry note very much. IT has good projection on me.

So I wrote the "I totally go to bed with this one" but somehow I was logged out...Love this fragrance!

Today I cracked the third bottle from Svensk Parfym-Virke. Right away the scent of sunheated raspberrys picked at the forrestfelling together with my grandma meets me. The raspberrys smells of real raspberrys and not synthetic. The raspberrys is resting on a scent of wood. Not newly feeled wood but still not completely dry. I really want to love Virke. The scent is so natural and well composed. I really want to but I cant. I dont like raspberrys. I dont like the taste of raspberrys, I dont like the feeling of the small beads in my mouth and I absolutely hate the thought of how many worms I eat with every raspberry. The raspberryscent in Virke make me feel the taste of raspberrys in my mouth. I really wants to love Virke as much as I love Prakt och Stilla but I cant.

I quite like it. Like many reviews say, it is simple and linear, while still being sofisticated - this is quite difficult, right? For me it is a raspberry musk with woodsy base. I really enjoy it. It would be perfect for an everyday scent to work. It has that similar to Santal 33 vibe, lingering in the air. It might be iso-e super, which is this scent is all about. I would not run to buy it, but I will keep my eyes open in case I find it heavily discounted. EDIT: the overpowering iso-e super killed me at the end. And I just can't remember which scent this one reminds me off, but this similar raspberry note....

I have been sampling Virke up against Frojd, mostly because they occupy roughly the same fruity ecosystem. Today is the day I decided that I just can't make Virke work (Frojd, too), and to just accept it. The fruity goodness is actually mostly Iso-E, which isn't a bad thing, but, it isn't a good thing either. Iso-E makes everything and anything smell good (probably vetiver), so, we have agreed to part ways and just stop. That said, it is a damn good scent, just not for me. Leans femme a smidge, but by and large, just not a 'me' kinda smell...

Straight as it is. Woody tart raspberry. It's not as gourmant as most raspberry scents that smell more like a raspberry dessert than anything else. It's one of the only realistic fruity scent that last on me a couple of hours. It's beautiful and feels different despite the simple and common notes. At first it is more woody, hence I can see why it is truly unisex. Then it's more about the red fruit like if you smashed wild raspberries onto yourself. If you feel for a simple but uplifting scent it is a good choice.

I see a pattern through Stilla and Virke, in that they both have this Frederic Malle-esque medicinal vibe. A citrusy handcream opening, that tranforms into a suave leathery raspberry (think Tom Ford Tuscan Leather, but smoother and not as loud). Simple, but really nice, leans more masculin, but who cares. I prefer this over Stilla, as this is more contemporary (to me anyways). Again, longevity is good on my skin, 8-10+ hours.

Virke starts off with a soft raspberry. I'm not a big fan of this note as it often feels very synthetic, however I didn't get that feeling here, it feels very natural. After a couple of minutes I sense a more masculine note, must be the woody notes. I get the musk note at the end, really liked the mix of the woody notes with the musk. This scent feels more masculine to me even though it's fruity.

This was my least favorite from Svensk Parfym but that's because woody notes don't really suit me. However, the raspberry in this is gorgeous! Very light and fruity and just barely sweet. To make it more me, it's lovely layered with Svensk Parfym Stilla, which is a light lavender. It also is awesome with a violet fragrance such as Violetta di Parma.

I find Virke woody in an etherical and citrusy-tart kind of way. My nose experiences juniper wood and juniper berries, grapefruit, tart raspberries, dewy rose and a hint of tobacco. Possibly guaiacwood. There is a clingy chemical element that doesn't agree with my skin. Apart from that, not a bad cocktail.

My first impression about Virke was not so impressive due to the fact I'm not such a fan of raspberry. It was not bad but not impressive until the wooden notes came upp. Then the hole thing turn towards more what I love: wooden and musk mixture. Perfect every day perfume!

Love that crisp raspberry note.. But wait... I can feel a rose note as well. As a non-rose fan I get worried.. Usually I don't like rose at all. By this mix with the rasberry do satisfy me. It's a faint rose note. But I detect it. 7.0/10

I would describe it as a Raspberry soda, fresh, bright, uplifitng. It lacks that depth which I love in fragrances. It will retain a "like" for me, very pleasant. Jolly scent

I just bought a 5ml sample of this very pleasant natural raspberry/woody scent. Tho i mostly get the raspberry note with the wood lingering in the back. For me this slightly leans femenime but i would still say its unisex. I would recomend this for someone whos Into more natural scents and love raspberry. This also reminds me of like a raspberry soap for some reason i am not sure of.

I’d like to first thank Svensk Parfym for the opportunity to test their first six fragrances. The opening moment of Virke is filled with tart-sweet lemon and a cool, almost medicinal greenery, of which the combined effect reminds me of frozen lime. Soon, a ripe, rosy/fruity sweetness arrives along with a slightly animalic woodiness in order to complete the olfactive profile of raspberry. However, with all the pieces of a raspberry puzzle present, I was unable to claim that it smells like realistic raspberry to me. One main reason is that its texture is not juicy and sparkling to evoke the sensation of biting into a ripe raspberry, but a bit dry and powdery because of the prominent woody element, sometimes even a bit reminiscent of lipstick. Another reason is that the rosy sweetness and the animalic woody note employed here strongly remind me of the rose-oud accord in many western oud fragrances. Virke is not as heavy or aggressive as many of them, but the association is difficult to shake off in my mind. With time, the animalic aspect and the ripe fruity sweetness becomes lighter and more translucent thanks to the infusion of a steamy, clean white musk. Virke becomes a rubbery wood and clean musk fragrance tinged with a light pink hue of raspberry sweetness about 3 hours in, and it remains so until it disappears from the skin. The sillage is mostly moderate, while the longevity is about 11 hours on my skin. As I've become jaded with many western rose-oud fragrances lazily depending on this kind of raspberry-rose-oud accord, I have certain difficulties dealing with the similar accord in Virke. But I really appreciate the addition of musky animalic note to bring the raspberry alive, as many commercial fruity floral focuses solely on its fruity sweetness and smells more like artificial gooey jam. The strong presence of a dry wood also helps to keep the sweetness at bay. If you're looking for a woody raspberry and don't have the same aversion to a certain raspberry-rose-oud accord like me, I think Virke is worth a try.

He changed the formula! It’s now concentrated parfum and it smells horrible. Like burnt plastic, very bitter. I feel so depressed! Why the fck people change formula when the original one is already fcking amazing! Previously I wear Virke it turns heads, now people avoid me. It’s no longer smooth, creamy young wood and bright happy. It smells like burnt plastic and urine! It’s so horrible. I hate the parfum version. Please bring back the original formula or at least make 2 versions available! This is a horrible decision Henrik!!! So sad!!! I am extremely depressed this has been my signature scent for so long, now I feel I lost my identity!!!

What is assumed to be a raspberry note is quite chemical and if I wouldn't read that this is raspberry I would never guessed. Overall this is a huge let down for me - smells a bit chemical on the brink of giving me a headache. Linear, long lasting, stains clothes, very simple, nothing special. I think it's severely overpriced and it's overall a strong dislike for me

Plus it is no longer long lasting, the original version even cuts through underarm sweat, no it just disappears within a couple of hours. If they don’t bring back the original version, I will boycott this brand!

I blind bought this one for just the novelty of having a high quality spring fragrance that was woody musky and had some raspberry. I never thought I would really enjoy a fragrance that only smelt like raspberry off my skin, but I do with this one. Since I only smell raspberry I can only comment on the raspberry. People in the comments talk about it being synthetic or realistic, I think there's a balance of both the synthetic candy-like quality and the tart smell you only get by being around actual raspberries. If I were to lean one way or another, it smells pretty realistic and not overly cloying to me. The balance of those things plus probably the woods and musks just makes it very beautiful and I love getting whiffs of this throughout the day. If you're not a total freak about notes being realistic or fake and just like high quality fragrances regardless of synthetics or real notes then you'll probably like the raspberry. The wood and musk in this but it's probably used more as a backbone / enhance the smell of the raspberry but I barely detect any of it. Also, wood and musk notes in fragrances are pretty subjective and different in each one based on how they're manipulated. I bought this knowing even though it was gonna be expensive (also, their prices are for 1 oz bottles), the ingredients, blending and staying power was gonna be top notch based on what I read about Svensk fragrances. Like 2 sprays will last you 10 hours or more. Someone here was saying that it's oil based and will stain clothes, 2 sprays on the neck will be good and you will get your fair share of whiffs without putting your nose inside your shirt. For me this raspberry fragrance is perfect for spring, day or night. I find raspberry to smell perfect for not hot not cold weather. It's linear all the way but it sticks and projects. Even though I blind bought this one and never tried this house, I've collected for a while and I know which ones to risk buying before smelling and I would advise anyone not that experienced to get a sample or smell it on a strip before buying. I would also recommend this to anyone that likes the smell of raspberries in fragrances. You could use this for layering too if you're into that. I don't know what else to say, very raspberry, and I'm really enjoying this so far.

As carefree as a summer day Summer is more or less history by the time I am writing this text so the timing could not have been better for taking Virke on a ride. You see, it feels like I just turned back time a couple of months to mid-june and the setting is the Swedish country side. It's as if I had some well derserved mid-day drinks and now I happened to fall asleep next to a raspberry bush. The most lifelike scent of red and tart raspberries fills the setting. There is a aromatic aura going on as well. Could it be junipers? When I look closer the smell of dry woods, almost like pencil shavings start to dominate. It's relaxing. It's cheerful. It's innocent. This fragrance is as free from sorrow as the sky is from clouds on a rare sunny Swedish summer day. On a side note. If I view this scent from another angle it does remind me somewhat of a skull shaped candy with raspberry and licorice flavor. To wrap it up, Virke definitely delivers what it promises and is a solid debut from an exciting perfumer.

Opens up almost like a big realistic raspberry candy solinote - after a moment the other aspects come out and blend to almost impart kind of a vanilla feeling underneath. It shifts between coming off like vanilla or soft woods - interestingly after a little while longer of drying down it actually almost goes back to being a raspberry candy solinote. The projection is good, longevity seems like it should be respectable for what it is but I've only had it on for 2 hours so far. Edit after a wear: Made it through a 12 hour work day as a pretty noticeable skin scent. Still lingering there at 8PM - put it on at 6:35 AM.

I received a nice, 5 ml deluxe sample of this with my order of Prakt- which I blind bought. So far I am very impressed with this house. The fragrances are tart, mouth-watering and feel natural. To me this raspberry note seems quite natural but perhaps artificial at the same time, as someone below said. I love the woods underneath and now I want this one too.. It reminds me slightly of Blackbird by Olympic orchids which is a blackberry/ forest smell. They are definitely different though.. This feels very sophisticated as well.

First time I tried it It was all RASPBERRIES, a really yummie and refreshing raspberry. then there came some Woods and musk and i thought, this could work for bouth guys and Girls. Today when i tried it i didn't get any raspberry only lemon, pepper and Woods. (almoust like cardbord-woods, like in Bois blond from Atelier perfume). But now a few hour after aplying i get back the raspberry and it is realy yummie. great one! easy to wear. (based on a free sample)

I recently got samples of the three fragrances from Svensk parfym and started with Virke. I'm not good at analyzing notes so suffice to say I thoroughly enjoyed it and wished that I had more so I could spray it instead of dabbing. It was unusual but not strange which isn't too common. I loved the stories behind the scents and how well they were executed as fragrances. Will probably buy the discovery set.

What a peculiar fragrance! I definitely can smell the citrus in the beginning but then everything morphs and I definitely don ́t get any raspberrys... I get adhesive. I can ́t explain it in any other way. it ́s really odd but not really bad actually. After a few hours the woody notes pops out, but they never stay. Then it ́s all adhesive again. I would love to try it again though!

It’s simple It’s linear Its got some “designer” like qualities. BUT I love it. Fresh tart raspberry with a hint of sweetness and enough woodiness and musk to keep it interesting. I wear a fragrance to work every day, but haven’t received out of the way compliments like I did yesterday wearing Virke. One of the compliments was 12 hours later.

I Absolutely Adore Virke. Its so wonderfully weired with the Classic masculine Woods paired with juicy sweet raspberries Its gorgeous from start to finish. Definately full bottle worthy. I havnt tried anything like this and that is a rare thing in the neverending stream of crowdpleasers.

I'm really enjoy this one. It's light, delicate, classy and smooth. The musk and woods are great, and through out the whole life of the fragrance you can detect the raspberry in the background. Nothing sweet, nothing cloying, and nothing synthetic about this fragrance. Love it.

I was so excited to be finally ordering a sample of this and it did not disappoint. At first spray it was an overwhelming artificial raspberry but then it quickly dries down to delicious raspberry woods, quite how I was expecting. Lasts fairly long on me

A very clear wild raspberry scent, with a woodsy note that appears after a while. Im not a sucker for musk so Im happy its toned down, and gives freshness and structure to the composition. Very good stuff, fresh, playful, and not to sweet....

Just love it! Love the Raspberry, Woodynotes and Musk - mix. A great unisex indeed. Bara älskar den! Hallon, tränoter och musk-mixen är ljuvlig. En suverän unisex doft.

I love this scent . It takes me to a happy place . The smell is so fresh an pure . I love to use it when I do activities like yoga and meditation

The very artificial raspberry note makes it unwearable for me unfortunately. The idea of the perfume is great, byt is does not work.

This is straight up raspberry on me, but I don’t mind that at all. It’s almost a candied raspberry but I am really enjoying it!