We rounded up a comprehensive guide to the best colognes for men because shopping for a fragrance can be tough—much less if you’re doing it online. But it’s one of our favourite grooming products because of the huge variety in sensation each fragrance summons—or the story each cologne tells if you want to be a little grandiose. You can’t get much of a story from a moisturizer or shampoo. But a great fragrance can turn heads for the right reasons. It can build a positive association with a friend, a date, or a total stranger.
We try to test as wide a range of cologne for guys as possible, and to put together this guide, we sniffed and sprayed over the course of literal years. Maybe you’re shopping for your definitive, “signature” scent. That’s not something we get to do, which is a curse and a blessing, because we love helping others find the colognes that best represent them, in hopes that they get to attach memories to these smells.
So here are 31 of the best fragrances for men, in all kinds of categories; perhaps these will help guide you towards one or two of them, to make shopping (even if online) all less stressful. Some of them are new, some classic, but each should make a favourable impression. Read on for the 39 best colognes for men.
The Best Colognes Shopping Guide
The Best Cologne to Start Your Day Right: Creed “Aventus,”
The Best Cologne for a Big Night Out: Tom Ford “Oud Wood Intense,”
The Best Cologne for the ’90s Nostalgist: Calvin Klein “Eternity for Men,”
The Best Cologne for the Guy Who’d Rather Be Outside: Aesop “Eidesis,”
The Best Cologne for the Hopeless Romantic: Frédéric Malle “Portrait of A Lady,”
The Best Cologne for the Highly Specific Nose: Arquiste “Misfit,”
The Best Cologne to Start Your Day Right: Creed “Aventus”
Before decamping to Paris and pivoting to fragrance, Creed made its name as a tailoring operation in London in the 1700s. So, it’s fitting that the brand’s fragrances are formulated with cut-and-sew precision. A decade after its debut, Aventus remains Creed’s calling card. The fruity scent features top notes of pineapple, bergamot, and apple balanced by hints of birch, ambergris, and sandalwood—a strong, masculine combination that (much like a perfectly-cut suit) will help you stand up a little straighter and walk a little taller.
The Best Cologne for a Big Night Out: Tom Ford “Oud Wood Intense”
We wrote an entire Tom Ford fragrance roundup, but the truth is, they’re all pretty fabulous. In a head-to-head race, though, Oud Wood might eke out the overall brand win, for its smokiness, spiciness, and woodiness. These broody notes also make it a frontrunner in the winter category, since it warms on contact, and for lack of a better word, smells incredibly masculine. It really is an Alpha Male kind of scent, despite the industry skewing unisex of late. (Along those lines, I also know a few women who wear it for dates and rainy days alike.)
Chanel “Bleu de Chanel”
Since its debut over a decade ago, its intoxicating blend of incense, ginger, and citrus has converted thousands of customers year after year. Its marketing was next-level, sure, (think cinematic promos directed by Martin Scorsese and starring the late Gaspard Ulliel), but the scent itself more than deserves its legendary status. Pony up for a bottle of your own and suddenly all the commotion will make perfect sense. Congratulations: you’re officially a Bleu guy. Don’t screw it up for the rest of us.
Givenchy “Gentleman”
If you’ve ever made a disparaging joke about patchouli and hippies, you owe it to yourself to give this classic from Givenchy a spin. It’s unapologetically based on patchouli, but whipped that dankness into a hyper-refined cocktail.
Dior “Homme”
Sometimes, fashion houses confuse consumers by releasing new versions of a classic and not changing the name. Dior Homme is one such case—the original is certainly great, but it’s this 2020 woody, musky, ambrous remix that might be one of the most universally appealing scents on the market. That’s to say, this eau de toilette is probably one you’ll smell on a few other people since it’s such a crowd-pleaser.
Kilian “Angels Share”
ne decade-plus in the making, Angels Share takes its cues directly from the brand’s founder, Kilian Hennessy, perfumer extraordinaire and heir to the cognac empire that bears his surname. In other words, this is the good stuff—housed in an appropriately handsome glass bottle and infused with the sweet scents of cinnamon, oak, and tonka bean.
Malin+Goetz “Dark Rum”
If you already dig everything else in the brand’s repertoire, try taking its signature scent out for a spin, too. This one tweaks a typically spicy aroma by infusing it with hints of plum and bergamot along with notes of creamy milk for a lighter—but no less potent—effect.
The Best Cologne for the ’90s Nostalgist: Calvin Klein “Eternity for Men”
Eternity EDT is evergreen: sage, cedar, bergamot, and moss combine for an earthen and refreshing finish, and at a price that is friendly to the greens in your wallet. This is one of those scents that everyone recognizes, since it’s an easy pick as a signature scent, or as a gift for the cologne-curious.
Jean Paul Gaultier “Le Male”
If you have even a passing interest in perfumery, you know Francis Kurkdjian. He’s the nose behind Baccarat Rouge 540, easily the most hyped fragrance out right now, and he just took over at Dior. But this 1995 release is where it all started: it’s a slightly-sweet, definitely masculine banger. It’s nostalgic at this point like you’re partying in the last years of the 20th century and never going to grow up.
Ralph Lauren “Polo Cologne Intense”
Another remix on a classic, Polo Cologne Intense from Ralph Lauren is intensely grounding, thanks to a hearty patchouli base. It exudes the same calm you want from a weekend, whether it’s spent playing polo (…anyone?), escaping to the beach, or grilling bratwursts with the in-laws. Supported by crisp grapefruit and fresh sage, it smells like an invigorating, spirit-cleansing shower.Origioinal article posted: https://www.gq.com/story/best-colognes-for-men
