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If you already have a go-to scent, then it might be time to build out a “fragrance wardrobe”—one that allows you to switch between scents based on mood, occasion, or even season. Take the best colognes for men to wear in the summer, for example: They’re a terrific way to keep an upbeat, cool mood that complements weekends spent on the beach, at the lake, or by the pool.
But these scents won’t just boost your mood when the mercury rises. “I love wearing summer scents all year round, especially in winter,” says Leila Zagwolsky, co-founder and CEO of perfume discovery platform LUXSB. “When I wear a refreshing ‘happy scent’ of aquatic or citrusy notes, it instantly triggers an uplift of energy reminiscent of summer vacations.”
What you deem a “summer fragrance” might differ from your friend’s definition. But one thing is universal, and that’s the feeling the scent gives you, says Clayton Ilolahia, evaluation and communications manager at Fragrances of the World, an organization that helps set the standard for how scents are categorized. “I choose fragrances that put me in a literal summery mood, and these notes may vary from person to person,” Ilohalia says. “I lean towards a lot of fresh, light fragrances with notes of citrus, sea salt, green leaves, and clean musks.”
To find such scents, look for notes classified as green, aquatic, aromatic, or citrus. But remember, it’s all subjective. You might find a heavier, woody, or spicy scent that has certain summery notes to it, which can also make it feel right for the season.
The Best Fragrance Note Combinations for Summer
While few perfumers will label their work as “summer scents,” a fragrance’s accords will typically suggest seasonality (if it’s not something otherwise down the middle, like a nice woodsy number). For example, just as something overtly leathery or spicy may seem best suited to cold weather, the following combinations are more common in “happy” summer expressions.
Citrus and floral: “This combination provides a sophisticated freshness with a luxe olfactive style,” says Zagwolsky. “It’s great to wear on a hot or humid summer day.” Infiniment Coty Paris’s Entre Genres, with its blend of musks, white flowers, and tangerines, exemplifies this notion.
Earthy and woody: “Woods are perceived as heavy, but a blend of earthy notes balances the woody notes, creating a masculine freshness,” explains Zagwolsky. “This makes them appropriate for the warmer summer weather.” A great flag-bearer for this idea is Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Masculin Pluriel, which uses grapefruit, vetiver, and vetiver to balance out patchouli, cedar wood, and a leather accord.
Aromatic, fresh, and citrus: Zagwolsky says this combination smells clean thanks to its blend of greens and zestful citrus notes. “It’s usually on the lighter side, evoking the vibrancy of summer with an aquatic energy. It is an instantly uplifting rejuvenation, like a vacation.” A textbook example of this is Chanel’s best-selling Allure Homme, with its notes of mandarin oranges, oakmoss, and patchouli.
Read on for our picks of the best summer cologne for men—plus some favorites from Zagwolsky and Ilolahia.
The Best Men’s Colognes to Wear This Summer
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Parfums de Marly Castley Eau de Parfum
Image Credit: Parfums de Marly Castley is decidedly urbane, striking a fascinating balance between fresh and spicy. It opens with ginger, pepper, and citrus before settling down into a resinous, woody selection of base notes that make it appropriate for year-round wear. But the bright burst of zingy scents you get when you first put it on will make it an essential addition to your warm-weather rotation.
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Ormonde Jayne Vetiveria Eau de Parfum
Image Credit: Ormonde Jayne This scent smells like someone threw a gin and tonic at you, and we mean that in the best way possible. Though its titular ingredient, vetiver, definitely makes its presence known over the course of the day, it’s all lime and juniper at the outset. Spritz this one on for a refreshing dose of attitude on the weekends. The office is not the place to try this scent out.
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Imaginary Authors The Soft Lawn Eau de Parfum
Image Credit: Imaginary Authors Each Imaginary Authors scent takes a made-up literary giant (and one of their novels) as inspiration for its scent profile. In this case, that means a heady 1916 tome about a privileged, college tennis champion turning away from life with a silver spoon in his mouth.
In practical terms, that results in a verdant scent rich in oakmoss, camphor, and woods, with just a hint of yellow flowers to keep things balanced. There’s also a distinct scent of fresh tennis balls, so if you notice something synthetic, that’s what it’s meant to evoke.
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Penhaligon’s Fortuitous Finley Eau de Parfum
Image Credit: Penhaligon’s Fortuitous Finley Eau de Parfum With a tinge of liquorice, this scent threads a really interesting needle. It’s right on the line between woody-spicy and verdant, a mix it achieves by blending pistachio, star anise, matcha, leather, and violet leaves. It’s also surprisingly long-lasting, which means you can enjoy it well into the afternoon.
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Louis Vuitton Pacific Chill Eau de Parfum
Image Credit: Louis Vuitton It’s impossible to write about summer colognes without mentioning Louis Vuitton. The even harder task is narrowing down which of its summery scents merits inclusion in a list like this one, because the company and its master perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrude have built an entire roster around the season. The enduring winner, though, is a 2023 launch, Pacific Chill, which is pure effervescence and optimism. It uses black currant and cedar to create the olfactory equivalent of a freshly mixed paloma.
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Vacation After Sun Eau de Toilette
Image Credit: Vacation The ever-cheeky sunscreen brand Vacation has summery scents across all its products. But this travel-friendly eau de toilette evokes the smell of the aloe vera gel you might apply after tanning. Think aloe, melon, resort towels, and a tray of cold gin highballs. It’ll make you smile the second you spritz it on, and its verdant qualities can even help calm the mind on the hottest of days.
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Michel Germain Michel French Oak & Sage Imperiale Parfum
Image Credit: Michel Germain Zagwolsky adores this scent’s fresh green crispness and earthy notes. “Fig leaves and sage are balanced with royal French oak and cedarwood, to evoke a walk through a forest at sunrise on a summer day, but with a misty cooling morning dew,” she says.
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A. N. OTHER – FR/2018 Parfum
This enduring scent has a clean, refreshing dizziness, which awakens the senses like a bubbly summer cocktail. (Its top notes of melon and grapefruit zest play a big role here, and pair well with its juniper heart notes and a woody, musky base.)
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Diptyque L’Eau Papier Eau de Toilette
Image Credit: Diptyque This scent is a rousing musky-woody cologne, and an olfactive love letter to paper. The blonde wood, steamed rice, and white musk notes put a soothingly youthful pep in your step. There’s a sophistication to it, too, and an almost gourmet finish—something to savor like a slow summer weekend.
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Caswell-Massey 2571 Eau de Parfum
Image Credit: Caswell-Massey This is terrific pick for your signature scent, thanks to its balanced and layered recipe. As an ode to the earth’s many elements, it hits many of the major fragrance groups: woody, floral, spicy, aromatic, ozonic, and amber, just to name a few. What makes it particularly suited to summer, though, is its liveliness, like everything is in full bloom, the sun high in the sky, and all of your senses are stimulated. Wear it in winter as a sunshine supplement, even.
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Perfumehead Somewhere Extrait de Parfum
Image Credit: Perfumehead This long-lasting extrait is among the most highly concentrated fragrances on the market. That means it’ll burn as bright as the sun on the summer solstice, no matter the time of year. It’s a feverish blend of broody patchouli, bitter neroli, fresh jasmine, powdery orris, crisp bergamot, earthy oakmoss, and rousing musk. It’s a break from the mundane, from work emails, from your Zoom calls or commute, and from all other responsibilities.
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Tom Ford Mandarino Di Amalfi Eau de Parfum
Image Credit: Tom Ford What’s a summer scent roundup without an ode to the Italian coast? That’s what this herbaceous, floral, and citrusy scent is selling to all those who encounter its transportive powers. There’s a cleanliness to it, too, almost like a soapiness that helps reset the senses and relax the nerves like a long shower after a stressful day. Of all the scents on this roster, many of which are unisex, this is the best one for those couples who like to share a his-and-hers pick; it stays squarely middle of the road, even as it hugs the curves along those Amalfi cliffs.
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Hermès H24 Eau de Parfum
Image Credit: Hermes H24 has been one of Ilolahia’s go-to summer scents for the past few years, since the new pillar fragrance launched in 2021. However, it started as just an eau de toilette offering, and this eau de parfum was 2022’s more highly concentrated “punch up”, with a greener finish and some more prominent bitter undertones. “This green aromatic fragrance makes me feel energized, but there is also an elegant serenity about it,” Ilolahia says. “It ticks many boxes and is a real pleasure to wear.”
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Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Ginger Eau de Toilette
Image Credit: Escentric Molecules Escentric Molecules is continuing with its “remixes” on its classic, velvety, barely there Molecule 01 fragrance. First came individual pairings with patchouli, iris, and (our then-favorite) mandarin, and the most recent additions are another trio: guaiac wood, black tea, and this exceptional ginger-tinged spin. It adds a pinch of spice to the classic Molecule 01 formula, almost like you’re slicing fresh ginger for an afternoon tea.
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Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Nerolia Vetiver Eau de Toilette
Image Credit: Guerlain This scent is a great play on bitter-floral neroli. It combines this alluring citrus with vetiver, one of the most universal and perennial notes in perfumery. This is a terrific spring-summer companion for the person with a fragrance wardrobe. It is among the lighter options on this roster, though, so don’t expect it to last much longer than lunchtime. That’s to its benefit, though, for anyone who wants to cast a refreshing but non-polarizing aura will appreciate it. If all your work meetings are before noon, try this one and see how many compliments it gets you at the office.
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Sisley-Paris L’Eau Rêvée d’Hubert Eau de Toilette
L’Eau Rêvée d’Hubert is that cool kid from summer camp—the one who somehow shot the winning layup and starred in the play. It’s got an incomparable minty-fresh kick that opens the scent, and graduates into a citrusy-green place that plays out for hours. Of all the picks on this list, it is also the best for layering—just as you might layer clothes on a frenetic weather day, you can layer scents to help embolden certain aspects or draw out new moods altogether. Sisley-Paris calls it an “enhancer” for that reason, but it stands alone beautifully, too.
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Byredo Rose of No Man’s Land Eau de Parfum
Image Credit: Byredo Rose is a chameleon in perfumery, and a terrific floral note that more men should consider. In certain scents, like this one from Byredo, rose rightfully gets the spotlight, and those Turkish petals are countered beautifully with spicy pink pepper and alluring amber. This one is uplifting, yes, but its heftier notes keep it planted. You could wear this one year round, too, given its balance between lightness and gravity.
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