Top Men’s Fragrance Picks
Top Ten Must Have Fragrances
At Cresswell Barber Co. we want to give you well rounded and comprehensive advice on all aspects of male grooming.
This doesn’t end at the barbershop door, no sir. We want you to look, feel and even smell fresh at all times!
Like a sharp haircut, good skincare routine or a crisp shirt, the right fragrance is the discreet necessity that every man needs.
So, we’ve taken the hard work out of finding a new men’s aftershave for you. But first, a quick guide to fragrances…
What’s the difference between an aftershave, eau de toilette and eau de parfum for men?
The main difference between all male fragrance terms, such as aftershave, cologne, eau de toilette and parfum is the level of essential oils (or aromatic compounds) used in the fragrance.
It ranges from as little as 1% up to 40% in some cases.
This level of essential oil will alter the scents longevity, price and overall performance.
What is an Aftershave?
The clue is in the name with this one! An aftershave is to be used on the face after shaving to disinfect the skin, refresh, tone and to leave the face lightly scented.
Strength: With only 1-3% essential oils used, an aftershave is your weakest option.
Longevity: 2-3 hours
What is a Cologne?
Unlike an aftershave, a cologne is specifically designed to make you smell good! Still relatively low on the strength scale, a cologne (or eau de cologne, to give it its full name) is ideal for everyday use, although it may require top ups during the day.
Strength: Typically, 7% aromatic compound
Longevity: 3-4 hours
What is an Eau De Toilette?
An eau de toilette is one of the most popular options when it comes to fragrances due to its higher level of essential oil and accessible price point. Spray your eau de eoilette on your pulse points to benefit most from the scent.
Strength: Around 4-8% oil
Longevity: 6-8 hours
What Other Options Are Out There?
Eau De Parfum & Parfum
These are less common for men, but that doesn’t mean they are not out there, and they are certainly worth a mention. With the highest concentration of oils they are the strongest fragrances you can get. If you love your EDT version, but want something to last a little longer, it’s worth checking if they have an EDP version too.
Strength: An EDP will usually have between 10 and 20%, while a parfum can have anywhere between 20 and 40% concentrated oils.
Longevity: Your EDP will last on your skin for around 6-8 hours where a parfum can last up to 12 hours, or more!
Your signature scent awaits…
Here, we bring you our picks of the 10 very best new men’s aftershaves, eau de toilettes and eau de parfums you can buy right now…
Horace & Horace
The first foray into fragrance from this fuss-free French male-maintenance brand, noted for their effective yet competitively priced solutions, is a testosterone-fuelled ode to masculinity. A spicy-cum-woody combo of cedarwood, iris root, white pepper, tobacco and sandalwood (Horace takes pride in its pedigree for using 95 per cent naturally derived ingredients), it is modern in its composition and unlike most perfumes doesn’t open with a traditional structure of bright top notes drying down to comforting, more settled base notes (which is typical of most scents). Instead, its first impression stays pretty much consistent from first spritz until bedtime. You can also personalise your bottle with your name!
£52 for 50ml – Horace.co
Molton Brown Fiery Pink Pepper
A bit of a departure for Molton Brown, seeing it enter the big time, with the relaunch of its eau de toilette range and the introduction of its first ever eau de parfum concentrations. As well as being higher in concentration, the eau de parfum formulations differ from their eau de toilette counterparts by benefiting from one extra key ingredient, chosen by the perfumer responsible for that specific scent. My favourite from the range is the sultry and smouldering Fiery Pink Pepper eau de parfum, created by senior perfumer Carla Chabert, which combines spicy pink pepper, tangerine and elemi, nutmeg, ginger and jasmine, freesia, lily of the valley, patchouli, cedarwood and oakmoss. You should also check out their very clever interactive profiling tool (on their website) that will help you find your perfect fragrance.
£110 for 100ml – moltonbrown.co.uk
Creed Aventus Cologne
Creating fragrances for the discerning few for more than 260 years, Creed is now pursuing the current trend to reimagine legendary signature scents in an easy-to-wear and more uplifting, summery, cologne-inspired composition. However, unlike many of the other reformulations out there, the new Aventus Cologne respects its origins but with a more energising outcome. An aromatic burst of ginger, mandarin and effervescent pink peppercorn is complemented by a more deep-rooted heart of patchouli, vetiver and sandalwood before trailing off into a leathery balsamic base of styrax, birch, musk and tonka.
£155 for 50ml – creedfragrances.co.uk
Jo Malone London Red Hibiscus Cologne Intense
Composed by master perfumer Mathilde Bijaoui, Red Hibiscus is JML’s first Cologne Intense concentration to enter the brand’s seasonal Blossoms Collection. The collection itself sees two returning scents, Frangipani Flower and Nashi Blossom (which were in the collection last year) joined by two brand new fragrances that both celebrate the unique qualities of the hibiscus flower. Yellow Hibiscus is a light, juicy, beaming scent, while Red Hibiscus is more a vivid solar floral and has more punch given it is the only intense formula in the pack. JML fans will notice it’s a completely fresh bottle design, which is reflected throughout this year’s limited-edition Blossoms offering.
£134 for 100ml – jomalone.co.uk
Tiffany & Co Tiffany & Love For Him
Tiffany & Love sees the famed U.S jeweller dipping its toes into the dual-fragrance category for the first time (one for him and one for her) and is also the first masculine scent to be released under the direction of Reed Krakov, chief artistic officer at Tiffany & Co. Created in collaboration by two perfumers; Sophie Labbe and Nicolas Beaulieu (the man behind Concrete; Comme des Garcons), it is described by its makers as “A citrus, aromatic fragrance with a wood infused base”. Perfect for day and when you don’t want anything too complicated or overpowering, Drying down to a base of sandalwood, vetiver and blue sequoia (a signature ingredient in both the men’s and women’s fragrance); top notes include ginger, mandarin and cardamom oils, with a juniper-cypress blend (achieved by a co-distillation process created for Tiffany) at its heart.
£77 for 90ml – tiffany.co.uk
Bulgari Man Glacial Essence
Bracing and invigorating, the latest addition to the Bulgari Man franchise slays with its icy freshness. Master perfumer, Alberto Morillas was tasked with the job to create a scent that would capture the invisible force of air and its overwhelming power to change things. The result is an empowering and macho composition that embodies the unbridled magnitude of a frozen mountain-scape, leading to a deep feeling of inner grandeur. It’s sparkling top notes of effervescent and spicy juniper berry essence, ginger extract and geranium essence awaken an unexpected aromatic, herbaceous and velvety heart of Australian sandalwood essence, orris concrete and artemisia essence. Like a pure breath of fresh air, even the intense tones of its masculine base; cedarwood Alaska essence, cedarwood accord and musk accord have a frosty crystallised dry-down. Good as a sports fragrance and for men who like living their life to the full.
£92 for 100ml – bulgari.com
Diptyque Orphéon
Fresh, floral, sensual and woody, Diptyque’s latest gender-free offering celebrates the brand’s 60-year anniversary by paying homage to the Orpheon and its colourful and creative backstory. To give this some context, the Orpheon, along with places like The Montana and The Tabou, were places to meet and talk philosophy and politics, open from 8pm until 8am and an icon from the golden age of cafés on the Boulevard Saint-Germain. The Orpheon (circa 1961) was an evening ‘escape’ for the team behind Diptyque, a collective of Desmond Knox-Leet, Yves Coueslant and Christiane Gautrot. The ground floor cocktail bar, seating with crimson velvet upholstery and its vaulted smoky cavern have manifested themselves into this celebratory composition. Olivier Pescheux is the master perfumer involved, who broke the scent down into crucial elements. The space; dominated by wood, coffee tables, shelves, the dance floor in the basement (Cedar, vetiver, patchouli).
£125 from 75ml – diptyqueparis.com
Christian Dior Tobacolor Eau De Parfum
The intoxicating power of tobacco has inspired a joyful new fragrance from Maison Christian Dior, a scent that is actually full of unexpected surprises. It is said that perfume first arose “per fumare” (through smoke) and Tobacolor’s creator, Francois Demachy, first looked to the unique hot-cold experience of smoking tobacco through a narghile, brought to life with a hint of liqueur and fruity notes. It has a surprising luminosity that is very original and instantly powerful and mysterious. Sweet vernal grass, like the scent of golden hay, is accompanied by gourmand plum and peach dipped in a drop of rum. Freshly rolled leaves provide a bitter and mouth-watering blend to its amber heart, an enchanting black tobacco absolute from Turkey, which underpins the entire formula. Glazed tobacco leaves, dried under a blistering sun, joined by mate and the sweetness of honeyed notes, caramelised chocolate and mellow tonka bean are heightened by an unexpected liquorice note. A guilty pleasure that is both bitter and sensual and not at all what you might expect.
£99 for 40ml – dior.com
Acqua Di Parma Blu Mediaterraneo Bergamotto Di Calabria La Spugnatura
An elevated spin on the original Bergamotto Di Calabria, using an ancient and exquisite artisan extraction technique, La Spugnatura brings something very special to Acqua Di Parma’s Blu Mediterraneo portfolio of sunny-destination and hero-ingredient-inspired fragrances. An ode to the rare and precious essence of bergamot, it is a rich yet luminous, summer-ready scent that is bursting with vitality. A limited-edition eau de toilette, it is intensified thanks to the inimitable result of extracting the oil entirely by hand, with the peel being pressed into sea sponges using a precise technique. In short, it’s the result of the artisanship of human hands and the very best that nature has to offer. With bergamot (it takes 200kg of fruit to make just 1kg of essential oil by this time-honoured extraction process), bitter orange, mandarin and grapefruit in its top, green notes of galbanum and geranium in its heart, it drys down to a very calm base of cedarwood and vetiver. Presented in a unique porcelain bottle (a first of its kind for ADP), manually decorated with an abstract bergamot pattern in white and gold, it has all the promise to be a citrus/aromatic bestseller for the Italian brand.
£124 for 100ml – johnlewis.com
Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Patchouli
Dubbed the anti-fragrance fragrance when it first launched back in 2006, Escentric Molecules’ Molecule 01 scent rewrote the perfumery rule books by being composed of a single aroma-molecule in a bottle called Iso E Super, an abstract synthetic that was actually created in a lab. To celebrate the aroma-molecule’s influence on the modern fragrance landscape, Molecule 01 gets a plus-one in three different iterations, each paired with a single complementary natural scent ingredient, collectively known as Molecule +. The pairings include mandarin, iris and, our personal favourite, patchouli, with a bewitching moodiness about it. Patchouli is a unique natural: unlike most perfume ingredients we associate it with a particular period (the 1960s and 1970s bohemian spirit) and it has a cool, aloof woodiness to it. Two different qualities of patchouli have been used, the biggest chunk of which is patchouli coeur, a very clean, soft patchouli oil combined with the more camphor-like notes of patchouli oil from Indonesia.
£95 for 100ml – escentric.com
