Usher in the Warmer Months With the Best Summer Fragrances for Men
Memorable scents from Maison Crivelli, Moncler and more
Will the Met Office sound the heatwave alarm this summer? We can only hope. But despite the British weather's textbook fickleness, this summer will be, largely, like the one before it. Which means nothing is off the table. Pubs. Stags. Hens. Dates. Mates. Dinners. Dinners outside, even. Time to get anxious, baby! And it's also high time you punctuated the oncoming season with a new men's summer fragrance or cologne.
Because summer, the veritable feast of weird sights and smells that it is, requires freshness. You want something light yet statement. Something that makes you the one who receives the routine "ooh, you smell lovely" as giddy bodies clamber into the back of another Uber at 4.2 percent surge.
But it's not just a case of simple spritzing and then commanding a rapturous mob with a fragrance, like that strange Ben Whishaw film (Perfume, if you were wondering). Men's summer fragrances are not a monolith. There are florals. Spicy ones. Lots and lots of citrusy scents. Even subtle, gender neutral savours. You've got options, is what we're saying, and every single one will cement you as a Nice Smelling Man as summer finally opens up.
Here are the best men's summer fragrances for 2023.
Maison Crivelli
In collaboration with the ‘Master of Oud’, Jordi Fernandez, Maison Crivelli presents an unexampled exotic oud distinguishable by a transportive top note of passion fruit.
50ml; £220; selfridges.com
Moncler
Moncler Le Bois Glacé – part of the Les Sommets Moncler collection that pays homage to the French alpine village from which the brand emerged – contrasts Haitian vetiver with Calabrian bergamot to formulate a summery woody breeze.
100ml; £175; harrods.com
Acqua di Parma
When in doubt, elect for Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Bergamotto di Calabria – the unofficial scent of summertime in Southern Italy.
150ml; £143; selfridges.com
Penhaligon's
If you fancy yourself a present-day Indiana (Jones), Penhaligon's Legacy of Petra deserves a spot in your olfactory arsenal this summer. Appropriately enough, the amber scent is evocative of the golden deserts of Jordan; so too is its warm orange colour.
100ml; £195; sephora.co.uk
MCM
MCM sustainably sources ingredients from across the globe – lavender from France and ginger from Nigeria, to name two – to concoct Onyx, a confident summertime fragrance contained in a black Viestos backpack bottle.
50ml; £74; mcmworldwide.com
Byredo
Inspired by his father’s diaries that document his African travels, Ben Gorham, founder of Byredo, developed Bal d’Afrique for a 2009 release. Almost a decade and a half later, the spicy, comforting fragrance is regarded as a contemporary classic by fragrance aficionados the world over.
50ml; £140; cultbeauty.co.uk
Maison Francis Kurkdjian
Maison Francis Kurkdijan’s three-year-old fragrance L’Homme À la Rose explores the masculine facet of rose via wood and citrus essences, resulting in a norm-breaking fragrance for the unconventional.
70ml; £195; selfridges.com
Byredo
As clean as a men's summer fragrance can be, Byredo's De Los Santos is said to be inspired by the customs and traditions of of Día de los Muertos and All Saints’ Day. That smells like a light floral mix of sage, plum and iris suit – and that's what we want to smell like all summer long, frankly.
£127; endclothing.com
Maison Margiela
Ah, sailing day. Remember that? Nor do we. But we can imagine it smells a lot like Maison Margiela's eponymous fresh and zingy fragrance from the Replica collection: unisex scents inspired by real word stuff, but interpreted through the storied brand's otherworldly prism.
100ml; £98; spacenk.com
Versace
You might think Versace is sexy, and brooding, and best-suited to a pumping Milanese club with a 'no open shirt, no entry' door policy. And you'd be right! But the Italian heavyweight is just as adept in brewing lighter, summer-friendly fragrances like the simple Pour Homme: bergamot-based, with a touch of cedar and neroli. And yes, it's still a tiny, teeny, little bit sexy.
100ml; £55.50; thefragranceshop.co.uk
Le Labo
As a consciously-sourced mix, Le Labo's Another 13 is 'better for the people and the planet', but also a better way to command the respect of colleagues/mates/absolute strangers who'll ooooh their way into a "you smell nice" compliment. Thank top notes of jasmine, and a solid mossy base.
100ml; £220; selfridges.com
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