Best Summer Fragrances for Men

The Scent

Eau Intense opens with a rush of citrus, salty aquatic notes, and juniper. The opening definitely fits the “Intense” moniker. The citrus and salty marine accord defines this fragrance. As it dries down, you get more of the aromatic and woody elements and clean musks. Like Versace Pour Homme, Light Blue Eau Intense is often compared to “fresh laundry.” Overall, a very easy-to-wear citrus scent that’s high-heat approved and a great casual summer fragrance.

The sexiest beach fragrance you can wear. Smells fresh and clean… like a salty sea breeze with freshly-cut citrus.

Top 10 Best Summer Fragrances for Men, Curly Fragrance

Performance

The best of The Big Three. Longevity and projection is above average, and projection is especially strong in the opening.

Final Verdict

While most in fragrance community prefer Light Blue Eau Intense (saying the original version had poor performance), there are some that prefer the original Light Blue Pour Homme, saying the marine accord is muted in the Eau Intense version.

To me, the Eau Intense version lost [the original’s] magic when it added this generic fruitiness to it.

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It’s your call. You can’t go wrong with either Light Blue Pour Homme OR Light Blue Eau Intense Pour Homme.

Price: £61 for 50 mL (1.7 oz.), £83 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.) — Dolce&Gabbana Official Site (UK)

The Scent

Classified as an aromatic fougère, Versace Pour Home is bright, clean-smelling fragrance. There’s a sharp burst of citrus in the opening and a hint of lemon, adding a bitter freshness. As it dries down, you get floral notes in the mid (mainly from the neroli) and woody-musky notes in the base. It’s an aquatic fragrance — but without the salty marine accord of other fragrances like Acqua Di Giò — and a citrus scent from start to finish.

If you’re looking for a fresh/aquatic/floral fragrance that’s going to be safe, this is it. The higher the heat, the better it works.

Versace Pour Homme (Re-Review), Joy Amin

Performance

Moderate projection. Longevity is below average, but not bad. Perfect for all age groups.

Final Verdict

While Pour Homme is overwhelmingly liked in the fragrance community, sometimes it gets overlooked. It’s often compared to Chanel’s Allure Homme Sport (most prefer Chanel, sans price tag) and is a more linear, synthetic fragrance than others listed. However, Pour Homme is as versatile as it gets. It works equally well at the beach, in the gym, in the office, or out on the town. It’s a great scent that’ll freshen you up, won’t be too overpowering (no matter how many times you spray), and works with any outfit — from sweats to a suit. All of that and well priced. An outstanding summer fragrance!

Price: $73 for 50 mL (1.7 oz.), $92 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.) — Versace Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Eau Fraîche is fresh, citrusy, and fruity. Clean, but not soapy, and a bit of spice, this fragrance blends herbal notes (tarragon, clary sage) and woody notes (rosewood, cedar) very well. There’s also a touch of sweetness from the star fruit (carambola) note, which adds a tropical vibe and is a rare find in perfumery.

Performance

Projection is above average; longevity is moderate. Don’t go too crazy with sprays. Eau Fraîche will knock you out if you spray too much.

NOTE: Versace Man Eau Fraîche is, in fact, an eau de toilette (EDT) concentration and not… an eau fraîche.

Final Verdict

Eau Fraîche is a great pick for a fragrance to wear outdoors during the day. It really responds well to the heat. This fragrance leans more youthful, but is safe for all ages.

Price: $92 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.)– Versace Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Half blue fragrance, half ambroxan bomb, Sauvage opens strong with a cannon blast of citrus: lots of bergamot and spicy pepper. The ambroxan adds powerful woody and ambery tones that denote this fragrance. There’s also lavender and vanilla, which add a touch of powder and sweetness. The Eau de Parfum is smoother; it enhances the sweet vanilla and fresh lavender and uses an array of spices (e.g. cinnamon, nutmeg) to balance everything out. There’s still plenty of ambroxan and citrus, but it’s more tame.

Performance

Sauvage has legendary projection (people WILL smell you) and excellent longevity.

Final Verdict

For our summer pick, we recommend the original (Eau de Toilette). While Sauvage Eau de Parfum may be the better overall fragrance, the original is fresher and has the strongest projection. Sauvage will appeal to a younger crowd. It can be worn out to dinner or to the gym, during the day or at night. A very versatile (and very popular) scent.

Price: $68 for 30 mL (1.0 oz.), $100 for 60 mL (2.0 oz.), $120 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.) — Dior Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Profondo opens citrusy-fresh (bergamot, green mandarin) and very aquatic. It keeps the marine/ocean-like vibe of the original and creates a tropical sea breeze vibe. As it dries down, the citrus notes fade. The aquatic-marine notes then mix with bitter green, aromatic notes like rosemary, cypress and lavender. While patchouli is a listed ingredient, most reviewers do not detect it. (Certainly not like in Profumo.) Instead, the fragrance takes on warm ambery and musky-woody notes in the base.

The opening is gorgeous. You get lovely, sweet mandarin… It’s fresh, invigorating, and starts off quite sweet with a nice, fruity pop. As it transitions, it becomes a little more green, a little more sour… Fits nicely with the slightly-salty marine accords in the opening.

NEW! Acqua Di Gio Profondo | Fragrance Review, FRAG-MENTAL

Performance

In the summer fragrance realm, Profondo has above average performance. Both projection and longevity are good.

Final Verdict

Love them or hate them, blue fragrances are trendy right now, and Profondo is one of the best. This scent appeals to all ages and can be worn dressed up or dressed down. Very easy to wear, very versatile, and very mass appealing.

Price: $86 for 40 mL (1.4 oz.), $126 for 75 mL (2.5 oz.), $160 for 125 mL (4.2 oz.) — Armani Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Édition Blanche opens with bergamot and a brisk, radiant lemon note that lasts throughout the life of the fragrance. The juicy lemon clashes with sweet vanilla notes to create an irresistible dessert-like scent. The sandalwood offers a smooth, creamy base that helps balance the sweet vanilla and sharp citrus. Overall, a great reinterpretation of the original Allure Homme.

Performance

Average. Projection is moderate, but will improve in warmer weather. Longevity is below average, but not bad.

Final Verdict

Édition Blanche is a fresh, citrus, gourmand-like scent that’s great for the spring and summer. Maybe not the best choice for extreme heat or for a day at the beach, but an elegant, sophisticated scent nonetheless. Perfect for summer nights out.

Price: $125 for 50 mL (1.7 oz.), $150 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.), $184 for 150 mL (5.0 oz.) — Chanel Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Le Beau was launched in 2019 as a fresher take on the original Le Male. The mint is gone. There’s bergamot and geranium in the opening, but this isn’t a citrus fragrance. The creamy coconut wood and vanillic sweetness from the tonka bean (a common ingredient in the Le Male series) are the main players. There’s a fresh, shower gel feel to it, but more tropical than classic shower gel scents like Bleu de Chanel. It’s woodier as it dries down. It’s more subdued than Le Male. The bergamot is not too citrusy, and the vanilla is a drier, less sugary-sweet vanilla. It’s still sweet, but not a youthful “bubblegum” type of sweet.

Performance

Longevity is better than projection, but both are above average. Jean Paul Gaultier recently released an Eau de Parfum version of Le Beau, but we recommend the original Eau de Toilette version for summer.

Final Verdict

Le Beau is a nice change of pace from traditional summer fragrances. Rather than rely on citrus and aquatic notes for freshness, Le Beau emphasizes sweeter, creamier notes of coconut and vanilla (tonka bean) while staying light and airy. This is an easy to wear, casual summer scent for a slightly younger crowd.

Price: $95 for 75 mL (2.5 oz.), $120 for 125 mL (4.2 oz.) — JPG Official Site (USA)

The Scent

The floral notes are most prominent, mainly neroli and iris (similar to the original L’Homme), and the ginger adds some zingy, spicy-fresh notes. Prada also lists amber, cedar, and sandalwood as ingredients, but most reviewers don’t get these notes. This is a fresh, floral fragrance from start to finish.

Performance

Some reviewers were disappointed by the performance. The longevity is decent, but it never projects more than an arm’s length.

Final Verdict

L’Eau is a linear fragrance, meaning the way it smells when first sprayed is how it smells when it dissipates. L’Eau appeals to all age groups and can be worn in formal or casual situations. It would be an exceptional summer office scent.

Price: $115 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.) — Prada Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Elysium is (technically) classified as an aromatic fougère, but modern in its composition. It opens fresh and bright with a wonderful burst of fruity citrus (grapefruit, lemon, bergamot, lime) that’s perfectly blended with lavender and thyme. As it dries down, you get a blend of florals (jasmine, lily of the valley) and warm, sweet, and smoky notes. The ingredients list is an embarrassment of riches; there’s ambergris, vetiver, benzoin, blackcurrant, vanilla, juniper, pink pepper, musks, and much more.

Truthfully, even the most trained perfumer nose cannot distinguish all of these individual notes, which is why it’s more important to focus on nuances rather than notes. What’s special about Elysium is that each fragrance reviewer picks up on something different. Many remarked on the smoky vetiver. Others thought juniper was the dominant note. Most enjoyed the fresh, juicy citrus in the opening; others enjoyed the sweetness in the base.

In my opinion, it’s better than Aventus. It’s a rich, woody, fantastic citrus — very punchy, juicy, and sharp — plus a lot of grapefruit, vetiver, and some fruity touches from the blackcurrant. Fantastic longevity and projection for a fresh citrus fragrance.

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Performance

Very good. It projects well and has excellent longevity.

Final Verdict

While it’s on the high end of niche perfumery, it’s an incredibly versatile and easy-to-wear fragrance. The citrus opening makes this a quintessential summer fragrance, but you could wear this year round. It can be worn in a t-shirt or a tuxedo. Perfect for any occasion. Not a youthful fragrance, but more youthful than other niche fragrances.

Price: $365 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.) — Roja Parfums Official Site (USA)

The Scent

As the name implies, Fico di Amalfi is a fig-based fragrance (some compare the smell of fig to a peach) that blends fruity-sweet fig notes with citrus. There’s classic Italian citrus ingredients like lemon and bergamot and also a prominent grapefruit note. The fig and grapefruit combination allows you to fully experience the essence of each ingredient without it being too sweet or too bitter. Further into the scent you get pink pepper and jasmine along with the fig nectar.

Something unique about Fico di Amalfi is it uses all of the ingredients from the fig tree: the fruit as well as the wood and leaves. The base of the scent is green and woodsy with the fig leaves and cedar, and a faint sweetness from the benzoin. It never loses its citrus or fruity character and stays fresh throughout.

Performance

Like most fragrances in the Blu Mediterraneo collection, performance isn’t great. Longevity is OK, but it’s a soft projector. Ideal for the summer heat (which will help projection) or more intimate encounters.

Final Verdict

The Blu Mediterraneo collection is known for citrus, and Fico di Amalfi is no exception. Obviously you have to like fig, but this more than just a fig fragrance. The citrus makes this a more approachable fig scent; it freshens everything up. The fig sets this apart from a standard summer citrus scent; it adds fruity, sweet, and green accents. It’s an unconventional scent that’s popular for a reason. A vacation in a bottle.

Price: £99 for 75 mL (2.5 oz.), £150 for 150 mL (5.0 oz.) — Acqua Di Parma Official Site (UK)

Alternatives

If you like fig… Philosykos by Diptyque is a classic fig fragrance that’s greener and less sweet than Fico di Amalfi.

If you don’t like fig… Acqua di Parma has a number of great summer options. Arancia di Capri is a wonderfully bright summer citrus scent that shines in the heat. It’s beloved by the community and an asset to any fragrance collection.

The Scent

There are only three notes listed: bergamot, grapefruit blossom, and white musk. Truthfully, there’s not much more to the fragrance than that. The citrus is bright, slightly tart and subtly sweet. It’s been compared to lemon Italian ice, and there are hints of other citrus notes like lemon and lime.

As it dries, there’s a lustrous freshness from the soft, white florals and clean white musks to freshen everything up. It’s bright, fizzy, effervescent, and very refreshing.

A fresh, clean scent… one of the best “clean” fragrances you can wear. Citrus, lots of bergamot, with a musky, clean linen-type of scent.

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Performance

As a light fragrance concentration (eau de cologne), Homme Cologne suffers from poor performance and longevity. Be generous with sprays and don’t worry about applying too much; this isn’t a scent that’ll bother anyone.

Final Verdict

Simple, but elegant. Homme Cologne is luxuriously clean and shines in the high heat. Great for any age and any occasion.

Price: $105 for 75 mL (2.5 oz.), $130 for 125 mL (4.2 oz.) — Dior Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Sedley opens with a bright, fizzy pop of spearmint, lemon, and other citrus notes (bergamot, grapefruit). The opening is fantastic. It draws freshness from the citrus, aquatic notes, and a tingly, green minty note. The citrus is smooth, not sharp and bitter like other citrus scents. It settles into more green, aromatic notes (rosemary being most prominent) and clean lavender, giving it a slight barbershop feel when blended with the minty notes. Further in the drydown you get some woody notes (cedarwood, sandalwood), a slight smokiness from the incense, clean white musk, and ambroxan.

The ambroxan used used in Sedley is a propriety ingredient called AMBROX® SUPER, which the company says is more animalic and natural smelling than ordinary ambroxan. It’s described as powerful and elegant ambery odor with musky and woody tonalities. The ambroxan note in Sedley is softer in the opening but continues to get stronger.

Performance

Sedley was reformulated a year after it launched to improve performance issues. For a fresh fragrance, Sedley has excellent longevity and above average projection. A few extra sprays and some heat will help push this one off the skin even better.

Final Verdict

Sedley is Parfums de Marly’s freshest offering and most suited for the high heat of summer. Very versatile — can be worn professionally or casually.

Price: $240 for 75 mL (2.5 oz.), $330 for 125 mL (4.2 oz.) — Parfums de Marly Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Artisan Pure opens with a barrage of competing fruity-citrus and green-spicy notes that are sweet (clementine, mandarin, bergamot), tart (lemon), and herbaceous (ginger, thyme, marjoram). One reviewer likened the opening to a “lemony orange peel.” Artisan Pure keeps much of the citrus and herbal notes throughout the life of the fragrance. The citrus notes meld into green petitgrain notes and a woody base with ambery notes and clean white musks, creating a simple, pleasant end to the scent.

Performance

Artisan Pure is one of the best performing fragrances in the John Varvatos Artisan series. Its longevity is above average for a citrus scent, and it projects well for the first two or three hours. (It will project better in the heat.)

Final Verdict

Artisan Pure is a great casual, summer daytime fragrance that will work for any age.

Price: $82 for 75 mL (2.5 oz.), $102 for 125 mL (4.2 oz.) — John Varvatos Official Site (USA)

The Scent

The listed citrus ingredient is citron, which is similar to lemon but has the bitterness of a lime. When combined with the Timut pepper, the citron creates a lively and pungent grapefruit note that’s sharp and photorealistic. It’s such a vibrant and vivid grapefruit-like note (since grapefruit isn’t a listed ingredient) that you’d swear there was one in front of you. The juniper adds green, leafy accents to the grapefruit and gives the scent an aromatic freshness.

The opening is spectacular; the drydown is less eventful. The sharp citrus begins to dull. It’s still fresh, but it starts to more closely resemble the classic Terre d’Hermès DNA (citrus and earthy vetiver).

Performance

Not the best. It projects well initially but settles down considerably after an hour or so. Since this is an eau de parfum, it should pop off the skin nicely with some heat. Longevity is decent.

Final Verdict

The original Terre d’Hermès was a novel, innovative citrus scent. Eau Givrée is not. Eau Givrée loses the aquatic notes of its predecessor (Eau Très Fraîche) and lacks the “dirty orange” character of the original Terre d’Hermès. It’s expertly crafted but follows a more conventional formula for summer fragrances.

Eau Givrée can be worn casually, but it’s chic enough to be worn formally or at the office.

Price: $115 for 50 mL (1.7 oz.), $152 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.) — Hermès Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Virgin Island Water opens with a wave of zesty citrus: mandarin, bergamot, and a healthy dose of lime. There’s also aquatic notes and a robust coconut note that gets stronger as the fragrance dries down. The heart of the fragrance introduces faint white floral notes (jasmine, hibiscus, ylang-ylang), and the base gives sweet, boozy rum notes and clean musks. An overall refreshing — and slightly exotic smelling — casual summer scent.

Performance

Most find Virgin Island Water has slightly-below-average projection and slightly-above-average longevity. Creed fragrances in general receive complaints regarding performance, especially in recent years. Of course there are some who say projection is abysmal, but that’s not the norm. Just don’t go into this one with high expectations for performance.

Final Verdict

Virgin Island Water has been a summertime favorite for fragrance aficionados (and those who enjoy fragrances less enthusiastically) for years. Enough for people to overlook for the performance shortcomings.

If you want to spoil yourself (or someone else) on a magnificent summer scent, this is a great choice.

Price: $345 for 50 mL (1.7 oz.), $470 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.) — Creed Official Site (USA)

Don’t like coconut? You have options!

Creed specializes in fresh and clean scents and has plenty of great summertime fragrances.

Aventus Cologne is a warm weather gem and Erolfa is a beautiful maritime-inspired scent. (Millésime Impérial is also great but misses the cut entirely due to its unforgivably poor performance.) Reviewers are split on Royal Water; some love it and some think it’s bland. And of course you can’t go wrong with soapy-fresh scents like Silver Mountain Water and Himalaya.

If you’re a bit shocked by the price (I don’t blame you), the house Laboratory Perfumes has a fragrance called Gorse which smells similar to Virgin Island Water.