27 Best Fragrances for Men in 2024
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This article was published in partnership with Blu Atlas.
Whether you’re looking for your new office fragrance, a cologne to impress on date night, or a whole new signature scent for a whole new you, we’ve got you covered! Start with this list of the best fragrances for men in 2024!
How We Chose the Best Fragrances
There are lots of factors that distinguish the best fragrances from the rest. Here are just a few we took into consideration when curating this list:
- Distinctiveness. Our guess is that you don’t want to go around smelling just like everybody else. That’s why one major factor in making our decision was choosing colognes that smell different. Some combine notes in unexpected ways, while others are just the very best in their category. Luckily, since fragrances smell slightly different on each person anyway, you’ll be sure your scent is wholly, unequivocally unique.
- Feeling. For us, this means both the overall vibe of the fragrance and the way it makes you feel when you wear it. Some will ignite your inner Romeo and make you feel like the most suave man on the planet, and others will bring you to a place of contemplation and solace. We chose the fragrances with the best overall feelings—meaning that they made us feel great when wearing them and provided a great aromatic experience.
- Versatility. When you buy a cologne, especially an expensive one, you want to get a lot of wear out of it before it expires (and yes, colognes do expire!). That’s why we kept versatility in mind when testing perfumes, ensuring that the scents on our list can be worn for multiple occasions or seasons.
- Quality. You can tell a quality fragrance by its maker, its complexity, and the sources of its scents. All our favorite colognes are made with top-quality concentrates by highly trusted brands. You won’t find any sickly sweet cheap perfumes on this list or fragrances that fade soon after spraying!
- Longevity. While you may not necessarily be seeking a cologne that lasts you all day and night, you still want it to get you through a chunk of the day before it fades and you need to reapply. That’s why we looked for fragrances that linger for anywhere between 6-10 hours, giving you lots of coverage throughout the day.
- Projection. When it comes to projection, we were looking for colognes that were right in the middle of the spectrum. Some colognes have too strong of a projection, making someone sneeze on the other side of the room when you walk in. Others are so faint and intimate that only you catch a whiff every once in a while. We want something in between those extremes that leaves an impression on the people around you without driving them away.
- Value. Colognes with high price tags aren’t necessarily better than affordable colognes! But we were searching for the value sweet spot, where what you get out of the fragrance is what you pay for. There is a wide range of prices included on this list, but each one passed our value test.
Blu Atlas Atlantis was inspired by Bali’s coastal jungle, so if you’ve ever been to the Indonesian island, you know how magical and exciting that sounds. This best fragrance for men in 2023 guides you away from the beaten path toward an adventure for the ages. It’s equal parts exciting and sensual, making it a cologne you’ll want to wear absolutely everywhere. We love how good this cologne smells, and we aren’t the only ones—it has tons of five-star reviews, even from fragrance connoisseurs and collectors.
It all begins with a fresh and exciting head of citrus and black currant, followed by an earthy, somewhat sweet heart that makes you feel like the jungle is beckoning with notes of peach, apricot, and lavender. The base is alluring and sexy, combining musk with orris, oakmoss, and ambrette seed for an intoxicating finish. It really doesn’t get better than this.
[$100; blueatlas.com]
Sometimes a man wants to feel a little dangerous, even if that just means smelling like a bad boy. This cologne makes you come across as both sensual and mysterious, making it an ideal date night scent that’s appealing without being overly forward.
Danger has this effect thanks to a blend of fresh and spicy notes on the top (like bergamot, tarragon, and cumin) mixed with a floral heart and an earthy base. After the dry down, you’ll smell like a complex blend of rhubarb, patchouli, vanilla, tonka bean, cloves, and musk, meaning anyone nearby will be dying to learn more about you. Whether you indulge that desire or not is up to you.
[$230; amazon.com]
3. L’Eau D’Issey Pour Homme Eau & Cèdre 
Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme Eau & Cèdre EDT
Courtesy Image
If you’re into high-quality perfumes, you’ve probably come across L’Eau D’Issey Pour Homme before, but have you heard of this cedar variation? We dare say it’s almost better than the original, which was hard to beat. This cologne is simple but captivating—it holds many different contrasts, just the way earth does.
Upon first spray, you’ll get a fresh dose of cardamom, which melts into an earthy heart of cedar and dries down to reveal vetiver and patchouli. There are lots of woodsy men’s fragrances out there, but this is seriously number one, earning it a top spot on this list of the best fragrances for men in 2023.
[$110; macys.com]
If you’ve tried a lot of blue fragrances, you know they can blend together in your mind after a while—but not this one. Versace Dylan Blue always sticks out, thanks to its blend of refreshing blue notes with smokier, more intense notes that sizzle away in the background, making you feel like the answer to whatever you’re searching for is just beyond reach. The aromatic experience is endlessly fascinating!
At the top, you’ll get a hit of citrus along with aquatic notes and a touch of bitterness from fig leaf. In the middle, ambroxan and black pepper await, along with dry papyrus, patchouli, and violet leaf. The base is where it darkens and pulls you into a trance thanks to incense, musk, saffron, and tonka bean.
[$52; amazon.com]
5. Escentric Molecules Escentric 03 
The brand Escentric builds their formulas around Iso E Super, an artificial scent molecule that gives fragrances a softness that envelops you. They’ve had success with formulas 01 and 02, but we think 03 takes the cake. It provides an invigorating, somewhat intense experience that will instantly wake you up and motivate you to take on the day.
One of the most important additions to this formula is vetiveryl acetate, Escentric’s take on vetiver that lacks the bitterness of the traditional scent note. With lime, ginger, and pepper at the head, tea and jasmine in the middle, and earthy, musky notes at the base, this makes for one of the best fragrances for men in 2023.
[$145; amazon.com]
6. Cremo Spice and Black Vanilla 
You can count on Cremo to deliver classic, barbershop scents, like this one that outsells many of the most popular colognes on Amazon. That’s probably because, at $20 a bottle, you’d be hard pressed to find a better deal. Make this your cold weather fragrance, and wear it all winter long; you won’t tire of this cologne’s divine effect!
The combination of fragrance notes is fairly simple. You get a fresh blast of spice at the head with cardamom, then experience ultimate coziness in the form of cashmere wood at the heart. On the dry down, you get bourbon vanilla and vetiver, which will stick around until right about the six-hour mark from your first spray.
[$20; amazon.com]
Courtesy of Amazon
Tom Ford has become one of the most renowned names in men’s colognes, thanks in some part to this fragrance, which the designer describes as one of his personal favorites. It provides a sophisticated take on sensuality, giving off a powerful vibe that will prove irresistible.
The top notes are bright and fresh, with violet, pink pepper, bergamot, and verbena. Then the middle comes alive with iris, rose, black pepper, clary sage, and nutmeg for a floral-earthy mix. At the base, you get vanilla, amber, leather, benzoin, and styrax, among other notes. These complex blends reel you in and envelop you in a fantasy you won’t want to leave.
[$135; amazon.com]
Aesop has become a cult-favorite brand, providing bourgeois skincare and perfumes that are of premium quality. They’ve had a few fragrance hits over the years—like Tacit, Marrakech, and Karst to name a few—but we have a soft spot for Eidesis, one of the best fragrances for men in 2023. While its spicy, woodsy notes make this a cold weather fragrance, we think it’s wearable year-round.
Eidesis is classified as an amber woody fragrance, so it’s great for outdoorsmen or those who are drawn to forest-like scents. It features petitgrain with frankincense and black pepper at the top for a striking start. Then the cologne becomes more approachable with a heart of cumin, cedar, and frankincense, and it ends on an uplifting note of sandalwood, along with cedar and vetiver. Notes like cedar and frankincense trail throughout, giving you an aura of sweet woods all day long.
[$195; aesop.com]
Reckless Leather breaks all the rules and conventions, and we love it. This is the kind of cologne you want to wear when itching to stand out from the crowd and make a name for yourself. The thought behind this fragrance is to showcase “seduction of the mind,” so if that sounds like the super power you’re after, this is definitely the right pick for you.
The head is a whirling combination of fresh and aromatic, with galbanum, fenugreek, cardamom, nutmeg, and pink pepper. Then it quickly sidesteps into a darker realm, taking you on a journey through notes of oud wood, leather, ambergris, and patchouli. Because it couldn’t just end on a boring note after that, Reckless Leather finishes up with cyrpiol, musk, and sandalwood. What a wild ride.
[$360; saksfifthavenue.com]
10. Diesel Only the Brave Tattoo 
Diesel’s Only the Brave fragrance collection is like a commentary on what it means to have courage, and if that’s the case, then this cologne is all about the fun in being brave. It gives off a heck of a lot of fruit, so you might be overwhelmed with sweetness before you reach the herbaceous heart and masculine base, but trust us when we say it’s worth it. Plus, this cologne lasts forever, so it’s a one-and-done kind of product.
If you’re up for an exciting aromatic experience, spritz Only the Brave Tattoo, and get overwhelmed by an apple and orange head. Pepper and sage counteract the sweetness in the middle, and tobacco mingles with woods at the bottom for an enigmatic finish.
[$68; amazon.com]
11. Frederic Malle’s Noir Epices 
This cologne is perhaps the most underrated from Frederic Malle, but to us, it’s a clear addition to the list of best fragrances for men in 2023. It provides a Spicebomb-like experience thanks to layers of different spices, but it doesn’t come across as heavy. In fact, you could rock this at a summer party!
It’s partly thanks to the floral top that this is true. Geranium, orange, and rose create a spring-fresh head. The middle is where the spices appear: cloves, nutmeg, pepper, and cinnamon unfold in turn. At the base, you get a classic combo of patchouli, sandalwood, cedar, and vanilla, solidifying this cologne’s spot in your collection.
[$375; saksfifthavenue.com]
Every man wants to be desired, but not everyone has The Most Wanted on his side. It’s a fiery cologne with a spirit all its own, guaranteed to help you feel like the center of attention every time you walk into a room. Thanks to a combination of warm notes, this has users labeling it “heaven,” and we think you’ll agree.
Ginger comes in hot after the first spritz,..
