Eros vs Eros Flame (and Dylan Blue): how the Versace scents differ, by their notes

Mint, citrus and water: the three ideas behind these scents

Most of this comparison rests on three ways of making a fragrance feel fresh, so it helps to know them before reading any note list.

Mint is the coolest opening in perfumery. It reads almost like a breath of cold air, and it fades faster than the notes beneath it. When mint sits on top of something sweet, the two play against each other: the first minutes feel icy, the hours after feel warm.

Citrus with pepper is a different kind of fresh. Orange, mandarin and lemon bring brightness, and pepper adds a dry, prickly heat. The result feels sunny rather than cold, and it leads naturally into a warmer, spicier heart.

Aquatic, or watery, notes are the third route. They do not smell of any one thing; they give a scent a clean, airy, open-window quality. Paired with grapefruit and bergamot, they make a fragrance that reads light and easy in warm weather.

All three of these Versace scents share a sweet streak in the base. In the two Eros scents it is vanilla with tonka bean; in Dylan Blue it is tonka bean alone, with incense and musk doing more of the work. How much sweetness you want is the second question to ask after the fresh one.

What Eros smells like

Eros by Versace

Eros launched in 2012, and the first spray is its loudest idea. Mint arrives first, cold and bright, with green apple and lemon adding a crisp, slightly sour edge. It is a very recognisable opening.

As the mint fades, the heart comes through: tonka bean and ambroxan, with geranium giving it a green, faintly rosy lift. The sweetness starts here and keeps building. The base is Madagascar vanilla over two cedars, Virginian and Atlas, with vetiver and oakmoss keeping the vanilla anchored and a little dry.

So the arc of Eros runs from icy to warm. Vanilla, aromatic and green lead its accords, with fresh spicy, amber and fruity close behind.

On longevity, community votes lean long lasting, with moderate in second place. Its sillage votes lean moderate, then strong. Winter and autumn nights are when community voters most often reach for Eros. Its listed occasion is work, which is a useful reminder that the sweetness is not only for late evenings.

What Eros Flame smells like

Eros Flame by Versace

Eros Flame followed in 2018 and takes the same family in a warmer direction. The opening is a bowl of citrus with spice in it: mandarin orange, lemon and chinotto, sharpened by Madagascar pepper and a herbal thread of rosemary. There is no mint here, and nothing cold.

The heart is geranium, rose and pepperwood, which keeps the spice going and adds a soft floral side. Then the base: vanilla and tonka bean, as in Eros, but set on sandalwood, Texas cedar, patchouli and oakmoss. That woodier, earthier floor is what makes Eros Flame feel deeper and more rounded.

Its accords lead with citrus and vanilla, then fresh spicy, aromatic, woody and warm spicy, with a powdery touch at the end.

Most community voters rate the longevity of Eros Flame long lasting. Its sillage votes lean strong, with moderate behind. Like Eros, it is a cold-weather choice for voters, picked for autumn and winter evenings. Its listed occasion is going out.

Eros vs Eros Flame, side by side

The two share more than their name. Lemon, geranium, tonka bean, vanilla, cedar and oakmoss appear in both. What changes is everything around that shared core.

• Opening: Eros is mint, green apple and lemon, cool and crisp. Eros Flame is mandarin orange, lemon, chinotto, Madagascar pepper and rosemary, warm and spicy.
• Heart: Eros pairs tonka bean and ambroxan with geranium. Eros Flame pairs geranium with rose and pepperwood.
• Base: Eros is Madagascar vanilla on cedar, vetiver and oakmoss. Eros Flame is vanilla and tonka bean on sandalwood, cedar, patchouli and oakmoss.
• Feel: Eros is fresh-then-sweet, with a clear contrast between top and base. Eros Flame is warm from start to finish, with spice and wood carrying the sweetness.
• Listed occasion: Eros is listed for work, Eros Flame for going out.

On the community votes, the two sit close. Both lead with long lasting on longevity. On sillage, Eros leans moderate while Eros Flame leans strong. Voters pick both for the colder half of the year and for night.

If the idea of mint on skin appeals to you, Eros is the one to start with. If you would rather skip the cold opening and go straight to warmth, start with Eros Flame.

Dylan Blue vs Eros

Versace Pour Homme Dylan Blue by Versace

Dylan Blue launched in 2016 and belongs to a different family from both Eros scents. It opens on Calabrian bergamot, grapefruit and water notes, with fig leaf adding a green, milky freshness. The feel is clean and open rather than cold or warm.

The heart is where it gets its backbone: patchouli, papyrus and ambroxan, with black pepper and violet leaf. The base is incense, musk, tonka bean and saffron, which gives a soft, slightly smoky finish. There is no vanilla in its notes, so it never turns as sweet as either Eros.

Amber, citrus and fresh spicy lead its accords, with musky, aquatic and smoky further down the list.

Most community voters rate the longevity of Dylan Blue moderate. On sillage, a clear majority of voters say moderate too. Spring and summer days are the times voters choose it. Its listed occasion is work.

Against Eros, the overlap is small: ambroxan and tonka bean appear in both, and that is about it. Eros is a sweet, cold-to-warm evening scent in the community votes; Dylan Blue is a clean, watery daytime one. You may end up wanting both, one for each half of the year.

Two more to know

Eros Energy by Versace

Eros Energy launched in 2024 and is the brightest scent here. It is almost all citrus at the start: lime, grapefruit, blood orange, Sicilian bergamot, lemon and mandarin orange. White amber, pink pepper and black currant form the heart, and musk, oakmoss and patchouli form the base. Citrus is its only listed accord. Longevity votes for Eros Energy come in mostly at moderate. Warm months and daytime are when voters choose it, summer first, then spring.

Aventus by Creed

Aventus launched in 2010 and is the one niche perfume on this list. Apple, black currant, bergamot, pink pepper and lemon start it off; pineapple and Moroccan jasmine with patchouli form its heart; birch, ambroxan, cedarwood, oak moss and musk make up the base. Fruity, smoky and woody, with a bright top and a darker finish. Its longevity votes lean long lasting, then eternal. For Aventus, community votes on sillage lean strong. Unlike the two Eros scents, voters choose it for spring and summer days. If you are curious what separates a niche house from a designer one, our guide to niche vs designer perfume explains it.

Choosing without smelling first

You can get most of the way to the right choice from the notes and the community votes alone. Ask yourself two questions.

First, what kind of fresh do you like? If you like a cold, minty start, choose Eros. If you like sunny citrus with spice, choose Eros Flame. If you like clean, watery and airy, choose Dylan Blue. If you want pure citrus for hot days, choose Eros Energy.

Second, how sweet should it get? Both Eros scents finish on vanilla and tonka bean, Eros with a crisper, drier cedar floor and Eros Flame with sandalwood and patchouli. Dylan Blue stays drier, with tonka bean, incense and musk. Eros Energy has no sweet base note at all in its list.

The seasons the community votes for follow the same line. The two Eros scents are picked for winter and autumn nights. Dylan Blue and Eros Energy are picked for spring and summer days. If you want one for each, pair a warm one with a fresh one rather than two that do the same job. For a wider view across styles, see our shortlist of the best perfumes for men or browse all perfume for men.

Wear it before you buy the bottle

Notes on a page only get you so far. The mint in Eros can feel exciting on day one and too much by day five, and the pepper in Eros Flame reads differently on every skin. The honest way to choose is to wear them.

Start small: a 3ml, around 60 sprays, is the discovery size. Order Eros and Eros Flame as a 3ml each and wear one on each wrist on the same day, then swap wrists the next morning. You will know within a week which opening you look forward to and which dry-down you keep noticing.

When one wins, move up to a 10ml decant: around 200 sprays, weeks of daily wear, and small enough for a pocket. Keep your favourite in a 30ml, around 600 sprays and the best value per ml. All three sizes are decanted straight from the original bottle, with nothing added.

For a sense of how a small size holds up in daily use, see how long a 10ml bottle of perfume lasts. If longevity votes weigh most in your choice, our list of long-lasting perfumes for men has more to try.

The bigger picture: The best vanilla perfumes, by the kind of vanilla you like and Eau de parfum vs eau de toilette: what changes, and which strength to try.