Viking Revolution's fragrances · Brotherhood Of Scent

Viking Revolution's fragrances

Viking Revolution is a name many of you are probably familiar with already. It's a men's grooming company that has expanded from tools into hair and skin care. What started as beard oils is finally EDP strength perfume. Out of the current 12 solid-bar fragrances they have at least 7 in spray form now. There are also EDT versions. The website does not separate their fragrances from skincare so it's hard to tell what is available. I have 4 30ml EdP travel bottles from the sample pack offer.

@Stephen DeMent

was generous enough to share some of his recent sample sets with us around July and I've been living with them on my road trips. I'll give a fair appraisal, personal thoughts, and a rundown of their other products that I own. There aren't many breakdowns of the notes available.

- Spiced Vanilla -

This is a gourmand-styled soft vanilla but with enough spice underpinning to keep it inline with the men's market. There are a lot of florals mixed with pink pepper and a balsam note. Official notes for the EDT version are peony, pink pepper, iris, jasmine, rose, vanilla, balsam, leather, oud, and raspberry. The EDP does not have strong florals.

This is a lot like Mancera Xplicit Vanilla. It isn't exactly fruity, it's a little powdery, and without wood notes it would be an Ariana Grande fragrance. I find this to be the softest of the 4, and it's easy to wear and layer. It lasts around 3 hours. It's fine but you could just get Spicebomb EDT at this price now.

- Sweet Tobacco -

This is that nice type of barbershop tobacco leaf smell. It is fairly sweet and has a dominant cedar note, like Hero. You will smell patchouli and tonka. The EDT notes are coriander, cumin, orange, frankincense, laudanum, tobacco, cedar, patchouli, and tonka bean. It's all in there but it's too compressed to register most of it. Cumin and orange is a pleasant note but it won't last long.

This smells a lot like a happy Cartier version of 18.21's Sweet Tobacco. It stays light and playful. This is my favorite of the 4 but it has the weakest legs and fades out around 2 hours. If you love the Declaration line, imagine it with some pipe tobacco in it. It's a buttoned-up fragrance.

- Sandalwood -

This is not creamy sandalwood, or palo santo. It's a little harsh and flanked with leather and fruit. There is a strong carrot seed iris and tonka in here that makes it doughy. I'm using my nose here but it has some floral in it like lilac.

If they wanted an easy sandalwood they missed. I'm not sure where they were aiming but it lands between Dior and Tom Ford. The iris does not smooth this out. I'm probably more sensitive than most to iris notes so it spoils the mix for me. I gave this away to a woman already. Lasts around 2 hours.

- Coffee & Whiskey -

I think most men are going to gravitate to this first. It has a strong leather and nut smell with a little sweetness. It smells a little like black hazelnut coffee with an alcohol tinge. There is some basic pine needle note buried in this. I can also smell some tonka and cedar.

The rest of the fragrances stick to one accord and it's probably for the best. This tries to hit two accords and you're getting the least of both. It's a very mild whiskey fragrance and the coffee is gone in minutes. I can only get 2-3 hours of this on my skin before it gets swallowed by my normal smell.

After playing with these for a few months I would choose a bottle of Sweet Tobacco over everything else. It's the sharpest smell of the 4 and the most interesting, if not a little too sweet for most guys. This layers fine with the Vanilla bottle. Some of these go up for sale in the ~$30 range for 100ml. As a fraghead these are going to be a pass for anyone with encyclopedic cheapie knowledge. These are better for people with fragrance sensitivity, as a gift, or for people that need their fragrance to be simple and settle down on the morning commute. I think these are better than most of the fragrances I've smelled in this weight class and I won't have a problem finishing the bottles.

Now if you're interested in the rest of their products, I can fill you in on the beard box set and two of the razors. The tin I got had a brush, comb, balm, oil, and scissors. This was a groomsman gift. I like the comb and the beard oil was nice. The sandalwood smell is basically gone from this oil now so it has a shelf life of a few years. The scissors need some work because they are not sharp enough for trimming a beard.

What will tempt a lot of people are the Viking razors. They sit in the budget category but don't come with all of the pitfalls of buying a standard safety razor in the $20 range. The metal is not potmetal/zamack casting and the mechanical closures are quality. I have tried the original Chieftan, and have the new EVA women's version in rosegold color. Both feature butterfly heads with closed combs. The first Chieftan was not a forgiving razor. The head was too large and the blade angle was more aggressive than stated. I got the worst shaving cut of my life trying to use that thing under my nose and didn't go back.

The EVA is an improvement. This is marketed to women and thankfully has a very mild blade angle. Nothing is quite as easy or mild as my Merkur 34C but this is acceptable for $20 and doesn't clog nearly as fast. I got this for my girlfriend to ween her off of the awful disposables and it's going well.

The Viking double-edge razors blades? These suckers are rough and I don't know where they get them but they remind me of Sharks. I used one on my beard and it worked fine but it has a grit to it that you don't find on better brands. I replaced it immediately in the EVA with a Derby Extra to make it tolerable. The Viking blades gave some pretty nasty cuts for an inexperienced wet shaver.

Thank you for reading my reviews. I am going to only be around periodically because there is simply to much happening right now to sit and write. I have shifted to sampling and stopped buying new fragrances last year. The Perfume Guy has been my main source for a year. I currently am working through a box set with Vibrato, Dodo, and Murmure. I have also picked up an array of Montagnes and they have lived up to the hype this year. I'll try to check in more as things settle.

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Viking Revolution's fragrances