The best perfumes for men: a shortlist by style, from fresh to warm

How to choose a men's perfume

Most men's fragrances fall into a handful of styles. Knowing which one you like narrows a wall of bottles to a short list.

• Fresh and citrus. Lemon, bergamot, grapefruit and other bright top notes. Easy in warm weather and at work.
• Aromatic. Lavender, sage, herbs and pepper, usually over a woody base. The classic men's profile, clean and confident.
• Fruity and woody. A bright fruit opening over woods and moss. Lively by day, polished enough for dinner.
• Warm and sweet. Vanilla, tonka bean, cinnamon and amber. Rich, close to the skin, at home in cold weather and in the evening.
• Woody and powdery. Iris, sandalwood, cedar and vetiver. Quiet, grown-up and good in a small room.

If you already own a fragrance you like, start in its style. If you do not, start with one fresh scent and one warm one: the contrast tells you a lot about your taste. Our guide to choosing perfume without smelling it explains how to read notes before you buy.

Fresh and citrus

Imagination by Louis Vuitton

Imagination opens with citron, Calabrian bergamot and Sicilian orange, then warms up with neroli, ginger and cinnamon before settling on black tea, ambroxan, guaiac wood and olibanum. It is fresh without being thin, and the tea gives it a calm, polished finish. Community voters pick it for spring, autumn and winter, and for day, office and evening wear, so it covers more of the year than most citrus scents. Most community voters rate its longevity long lasting.

L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme by Issey Miyake

L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme is yuzu, lemon, bergamot and mandarin with tarragon, cypress and coriander, then a watery floral heart of blue lotus and lily-of-the-valley with nutmeg and saffron, over vetiver, musk, cedar and sandalwood. It launched in 1994 and still reads clean and bright. Community voters pick it for summer and spring, for day and office wear.

Torino21 by Xerjoff

Torino21 is a herb garden in the morning: mint, lemon, basil and thyme, then black currant, rosemary, lavender and jasmine, over musk and vervain. Green, sharp and very fresh. Community voters pick it for summer and for day wear, and it makes an easy choice for the office.

Aromatic: lavender, sage and pepper

Sauvage by Dior

Sauvage pairs pepper and Calabrian bergamot with Sichuan pepper, lavender, geranium and elemi, over a base of ambroxan, cedar and labdanum. Bright, peppery and mineral, it is one of the easiest men's scents to wear anywhere. Most community voters rate its longevity long lasting. Community votes on its sillage lean strong, so one or two sprays go a long way.

Y Eau de Parfum by Yves Saint Laurent

Y Eau de Parfum starts with apple, ginger and bergamot, moves through sage, juniper berries and geranium, and dries down to amberwood, tonka bean, cedar, vetiver and olibanum. Fresh at the top, warm and ambery underneath. Community voters pick it for spring and autumn, by day and at night.

Terre d'Hermès by Hermès

Terre d'Hermès is orange and grapefruit over pepper, pelargonium and a striking flint note, with vetiver, cedar, patchouli and benzoin in the base. Citrus and stone, dry and earthy. It launched in 2006 and community voters pick it for autumn and spring, for day wear.

Explorer by Montblanc

Explorer is bergamot, pink pepper and clary sage over Haitian vetiver and leather, finishing on ambroxan, akigalawood, patchouli leaf and cacao pod. Woody, fresh and easy. Community voters pick it for spring and summer, for day and office wear.

Fruity and woody

Aventus by Creed

Aventus is bergamot, black currant, apple, lemon and pink pepper up top, pineapple, patchouli and jasmine in the heart, and birch, musk, oakmoss, ambroxan and cedarwood in the base. Fruity at first, then smoky and woody. Community votes on its longevity lean long lasting, and on its sillage they lean strong. Community voters pick it for spring and summer days. It launched in 2010 and remains the reference point for this style.

Hacivat by Nishane

Hacivat puts pineapple, grapefruit and bergamot over cedar, patchouli and jasmine, with oakmoss and woody notes underneath. Sharper and more mossy than Aventus, with the same bright fruit. Community votes on its longevity lean eternal, then long lasting.

Cedrat Boise by Mancera

Cedrat Boise opens with Sicilian lemon, bergamot, black currant and spicy notes, moves through fruity notes, patchouli leaf and water jasmine, and settles on cedar, leather, sandalwood, vanilla, white musk and moss. Citrus and leather, with a soft sweetness at the end. Community voters pick it for spring and autumn days.

Warm, sweet and spicy

Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier

Le Male is lavender, mint, cardamom, bergamot and artemisia over cinnamon, caraway and orange blossom, with vanilla, tonka bean, amber, sandalwood and cedar in the base. Clean lavender meets warm vanilla. It launched in 1995, and community voters pick it for winter and autumn evenings.

Eros by Versace

Eros opens with mint, green apple and lemon, then tonka bean, ambroxan and geranium, over vanilla, cedar, vetiver and oakmoss. Minty and sweet, bright and warm at once. Community voters pick it for winter and autumn, and for night wear.

Stronger With You Intensely by Giorgio Armani

Stronger With You Intensely is pink pepper, juniper and violet, then toffee, cinnamon, lavender and sage, over vanilla, amber, tonka bean and suede. Sweet, spicy and cosy. Most community voters rate its sillage strong, so it suits cold evenings better than a warm office.

Layton by Parfums de Marly

Layton blends apple, lavender, bergamot and mandarin with geranium, violet and jasmine, over vanilla, cardamom, sandalwood, pepper, guaiac wood and patchouli. Fresh at the start, spicy and creamy later. Community voters pick it for autumn and winter, by night and by day.

1 Million by Rabanne

1 Million is blood mandarin, grapefruit and mint over cinnamon, spicy notes and rose, with amber, leather, woody notes and patchouli underneath. Spicy, sweet and bold. Its sillage vote in the community leans strong, and cold nights are when voters reach for it.

Woody, powdery and quiet

Reflection Man by Amouage

Reflection Man opens with rosemary, pink pepper and petitgrain, then a soft floral heart of jasmine, neroli, orris root and ylang-ylang, over sandalwood, cedar, vetiver and patchouli. Clean, floral and woody, it is a refined choice for work. Community voters pick it for spring, for office and day wear.

Prada L'Homme by Prada

Prada L'Homme is neroli, black pepper, cardamom and carrot seeds over iris, violet, geranium and mate, with amber, cedar, sandalwood and patchouli in the base. Powdery, soapy and very clean. Community voters pick it for spring and autumn, for office and day wear.

Oud Wood by Tom Ford

Oud Wood is agarwood, Brazilian rosewood and cardamom, then Sichuan pepper, sandalwood and vanilla, over vetiver, tonka bean and amber. Smooth, dry and warm, an easy introduction to oud. Community votes on its longevity lean moderate, then long lasting. Voters pick it for winter and autumn evenings.

Aftershave, eau de toilette or eau de parfum?

In the UK, "aftershave" is often used for any men's fragrance. Strictly, an aftershave is a light product for the skin after shaving, with far less fragrance in it than a perfume. What most people mean when they ask for the best aftershave is an eau de toilette or eau de parfum.

The words on the bottle describe concentration. An eau de parfum is usually the richer mix of the two, and a parfum or elixir is richer again. A stronger concentration tends to sit closer to the skin for longer, but the notes matter as much as the label: a citrus eau de parfum can fade sooner than a woody eau de toilette. For more on staying power, see our long-lasting perfumes for men.

How to find yours before buying a bottle

A shop strip tells you about the first minutes of a perfume. What you wear all day is the heart and the base, and those only show up on your skin, over hours, on normal days. So try before you commit.

1. Pick three styles. Choose one fresh or aromatic scent, one fruity or woody scent and one warm scent from the list above. Start with a 3ml of each: around 60 sprays, enough for a week or so of real wear.
2. Wear each for a few days. Spray in the morning, check at lunch and in the evening, and notice what you reach for without thinking.
3. Move the winner up. A 10ml decant is around 200 sprays, weeks of daily wear in a bottle that fits a pocket. When you know it is the one, a 30ml decant is around 600 sprays and the best value per ml.

Our men's perfume collection has every men's scent we carry in 3ml, 10ml and 30ml, and our comparison of decants and full bottles explains when a small size makes more sense. If you like the warm style, the note pages for tonka bean and lavender list more to try. For fresh scents, start with bergamot and vetiver.