
While it's one of the loveliest things to receive, fragrance is also, hands down, one of the hardest gifts to give; few things are more personal than the scent we keep close to our skin. Getting it right can be a minefield. But if you do pick a winner, you can start someone on a lifelong love affair with a perfume that becomes forever meaningful, evocative, and happy making (brownie points for decades to come).
With this in mind, and Father's Day around the corner, we've rounded up the best new, niche and classic fragrances for men. Running the gamut from fresh, citrusy cologne-like classics to fiery, intense accords by way of unexpected soft-yet-strong blends, there is something for every personality type, scent preference, and mood. And who says you can't buy one for yourself while you're at it?
The best men's fragrances to gift this season
Tom Hardy is the new face of this fragrance. Need we say more? Probably not, but we will because we do love to extol the virtues of a fantastic fragrance, and this certainly is that. Clean, aromatic notes of cypress blend with grapevine and warm amber for a scent that is, by turns, subtle yet bold... and at all times dreamy.
The original fig scent (although also laced with lashings of green, aromatic, woody loveliness), Dune Pour Homme has remained a cult classic since it launched in 1997. It's got a rugged fougère quality to it (that kind of resinous, forest floor feel) but the notes of juicy fig and some choice floral flourishes turn in into something a little unexpected... a classic, but most definitely with a spontaneous twist.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
3
For something irresistible
Versace Eros
The clue is in the name: this scent is all about love, lust and sensuality. Warm, come-hither ambroxan and tonka make for a pretty irresistible heart accord, only made more luscious by a base of vanilla, vetiver and cedar wood. Thankfully, top notes of mint and lemon cool everything down a touch...
This fragrance was inspired by a love story, and you can sense this in the first spritz. Boy of June recounts the early days of the brand founder's relationship with her now husband, starting with a hit of beautifully optimistic citrus. This then intensifies into fresh green geranium petals, ultimately evolving into something deep and meaningful by way of incense, patchouli and white leather. We challenge you not to fall in love with it.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
Inspired by its perfumer, the legendary Alberto Morillas, driving his dream car through the streets of Madrid, this fragrance is equal parts strong, racy and fresh. There's an airy, almost liberated quality to the scent through joyous notes of raspberry and iris, while guaiac wood and resinous styrax keep it all grounded, earthy and sensual.
An overwhelming sense of crisply clear cleanness is what we get from the opening of this fragrance, thanks to bergamot, ginger and sparking green apple, and from there it goes into something more aromatic as geranium fuses with sage and lavender. So far, so gorgeous, consolidated with a woody base that brings this fragrance into balance perfectly.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
This fragrance - one of five unisex scents in Moncler's Les Sommets collection - works as perfectly on men as it does on women. This is crystal clear, aromatic mountain air bottled, thanks to notes of clean white musk and crisp mandarin, played off powdery iris and sultry sandalwood. Very much a mood of long hours of midsummer daylight and heady summer nights.
As popular now as it was when it launched almost 30 years ago, Le Male's enduring appeal is as much down to its quirkiness as its classicism. While the fragrance comprises a familiar warm woody base and aromatic top notes, it's the unusual heart of spicy cinnamon and cumin combined with orange bloom that gives it a unique (and wholly addictive) edge.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
And for something equally shareable but that brings a more southern European, Mediterranean orange grove mood, few fragrances can beat this new accord from Molton Brown. Available in this eau de toilette, and also in more intense eau de parfum edition, the hero ingredient clementine brings a fizzy, optimistic quality to fig leaves and earthy vetiver.
Strange as it might sound, ink has been having a bit of a moment in perfumery, its mineral-y, papery quality evocative of a simpler, quieter pace of life. But simpler and quieter must not be confused with dull, because this fragrance is anything but. Notes of patchouli, musk and woods bring intensity, mystery and dare we say brooding to the mix.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
Take the original Boss For Him fragrance, set it alight with pimento pepper, and you have The Scent Elixir for him - a fiery, fierce, passionate mix of spice and sandalwood tempered with a little lavandin at its heart. Be warned: this is a seductive scent, so spritz with caution.
12
For a sultry summer mood
Calvin Klein Eternity Aromatic Essence For Men
Now 20% Off
Thanks to a blend of classic cologne notes (juniper, lemon, lavender) and creamy coconut, this fragrance is a walk through fresh, grassy dunes and then along a sun-soaked shoreline. The fact that Idris Elba is the face of the fragrance (and his wife Sabrina the face of the women's) doesn't hurt its credentials either.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
A walk along a rugged cliff-top path in a scent: this is an expansive, bracing blend of watery, citrus, spicy and woody notes that bring the vitality of big skies, of idling away hours strolling along unspoilt coastal pathways, and skimming stones along the way.