Best Men’s Designer Fragrance in the Last 10 Years?

Your pick for the best men’s designer fragrance since 2013? And what are your runners-up?

I’ll come clean at the outset that I’m partial to powerhouse classics from an earlier era. But I’ve got my modern faves as well. Interested what you all think. Cheers!

Lempicka Homme
Prada Luna Rossa Carbon
Prada L'Homme
Chanel Allure Homme Sport Eau Extreme
Prada Amber Pour Homme Intense

StylinLA said:

Prada Amber Pour Homme Intense

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I'd definitely second this, though I think it's slightly outside the time-frame.

Paul Smith Portrait (2013) was a very good designer release that got hardly any attention.

Tough.

Acqua di Gio Profumo would be up there.
So would TF's Beau de Jour, despite being so derivative.

One of the problems with trying to answer this is just how similar fragrances are now. I'm thinking about some potential answers, and they nearly always have 2+ fragrances that are similar that were released just before or after. Which makes it hard to include as a "best" fragrance, if there is osmething so close. E.g. LV's Ombre Nomade is great stuff, but it's pretty close to a few other fragrances, namely Armani's Oud Nuit and a few of the Tuscan Leather clones.

Some standouts since 2013, off the top of my head and so I know I’m likely missing a bunch… In no particular order:
-Encre Noir Sport
-AdG Profumo
-Dior Homme Cologne
-Dior Sauvage
-Dior Sauvage Elixir
-Tom Ford Sahara Noir
-Coromandel by Chanel
-Comme des Garcons Black
-Bleu de Chanel Parfum
-Bleu de Chanel EDP
-Paris-Edimbourg by Chanel
-Allure Homme Edition Blanche
-Mandarino di Amalfi by TF
-Costa Azzurra by TF
-Grey Vetiver
-The One by D&G
-Dunhill Icon
-L’Homme Ideal Cologne by Guerlain
-Mugler Ultra Zest
-Prada L’Homme
-Prada Lina Rossa Carbon
-Mont Blanc Legend Spirit
-Ombré Leather 16 by TF
-Dior Sauvage Parfum
-Noir Anthracite by TF
-Y by YSL
-Ombré Leather by TF
-Fougere D’Argent by Tom Ford




Other, non-designer for fun:
-Thirty Three by Ex Idolo
-Scent of Peace for Him by Bond 9
-Vetiver by Roja
-Elysium by Roja
-Petit Matin by MFK
-Masculin Pluriel by MFK
-Bentley For Men Absolute
-Lemon Line by Mancera
-Copal Azure by AdV
-Cedrat Enivrant by Atelier
-Vodka in the Rocks by Kilian
-Angels’ Share by Kilian
-Shelter Island by Bond 9
-The Night by FM
-Layton by PdM
-Baccarat Rouge 540 by MFK
-Beach Hut Man by Amouage
-Eau de Memo by Memo Paris

Interesting to note that I don’t think any of those were released in the last 2-3 years, except for Edimbourg. I’d have to go back and look everything up. To new members, take that list and get them all and be happy.

TF Beau de Jour Signature
D&G The One EDP
Prada Luna Rossa Carbon
Bleu de Chanel Parfum
Dior Sauvage Elixir

Bleu De Chanel

Diddy said:

Dunhill Icon

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Good call.

Sauvage Elixir.

hednic said:

Bleu De Chanel

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2010?

slpfrsly said:

2010?

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Yes.

Dunhill Icon and Bentley For Men Intense are my favourites, which says more about the absolute state of recent men's designer fragrances than it does about the quality of those two. Don't get me wrong, I own and love both, but they're hardly mind-blowing!

Hermes Equipage Geranium
Hermes Bel Ami Vetiver
Tom Ford Sahara Noir
Dior Homme Parfum

Well,

It's pretty clear that these are very popular by public sales and are hard to ignore as the front runners.
D&G The One
Chanel Bleu de Chanel
Dior Sauvage

I enjoy all 3 of those very much, so I have no problem with them being the best. Sauvage I think is clearly an off-shoot of Bleu de Chanel, just with more aggressiveness and angst. The core of each is a "blue" fragrance base. D&G The One is a bit synthetic but very, very enjoyable and almost 'classic' in its notes. I don't consider it a 'modern' style. It's an older idea made more modern with the synthetics.

I think the niche-arena made the most impressive original scents. Aventus and Baccarat Rouge 540 literally stormed the fragrance world in the last decade and people are shelling out big bucks for these and it's undeniable that they are elite fragrances. Fragheads love to punch at these and when I see fragheads talk down about a popular fragrance then I know it's "made it" as a dominant fragrance among the masses.

I just don't like the whole designation of fragrances thing, ie, designer/niche/independent/aftershave/body spray/essential oils. They are all fragrances to me. They aren't all classic "perfumes", but they are fragrances.

The designer brands seem to have run out of ideas and perfuming artistry. They are literally just making flanker after flanker for quick cash-grabs and not really making art or taking any chances. I'm finding more interest in small-time artisans and independent perfumers and some niche lines. The designer market is flat and lifeless now. It's been like 8 years since a groundbreaking fragrance hit perfumery, even among niche lines. IMO, the place to look is the small, independent creators. Yeah, you'll get plenty of 'misses' from them, but eventually you'll find an amazing gem that you love to wear and nobody else wears.

I don't care for any of the designer fragrances I've smelled that have come out in the past 10 years. I do however, very much like Allure Homme Sport Eau Extreme by Chanel from 2012, making it the most recent that I enjoy--and own.

My trips to the department store to try current mainstream fragrances have long ceased, as I find today's designer offerings too generic and or too popular for my taste.

Edit: I love Gucci Guilty Absolute PM, which came out in 2017, which I didn't realize--so this be the only one I like in the last 10 years.

Many great names already-also happened to like certain Ungaro fragrances from this time interval just enough to post, including: Ungaro III Oud Edition, Ungaro Man Silver, Emanuel Ungaro for Him.

My picks for "best", or more accurately "favorite", designer would be a tie between Tom Ford Tuscan Leather Intense and Dior Homme Parfum. However, if by "men's designer" we're only considering marketed as men's rather than marketed as unisex, then I guess DHP wins by default as the Tom Ford is marketed as unisex?

Some runners up for me:
YSL Tuxedo (if including unisex marketed)
Rochas Moustache EDP
Dior Fahrenheit Parfum
Cartier L'Envol EDP
Varvatos Dark Rebel
Ferragamo Uomo Signature
YSL Kouros Elixir Privée

I feel that no two lists will be exactly the same here...

Borrowed from another thread - Aramis Tobacco Reserve

Tom Ford Beau De Jour Signature

hednic said:

Bleu De Chanel

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slpfrsly said:

2010?

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hednic said:

Yes.

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Of the last 10 years would leave that one out of the running, but certainly Bleu de Chanel Eau de Parfum or Parfum could substitute for it if you wanted it to, as they're all within six degrees of each other anyway.

For me:

Acqua di Gio Profumo
Terre d'Hermes Eau Intense Vetiver
Prada Luna Rossa Carbon
Yves Saint Laurent L'Homme Ultime
Gucci Guilty Absolute pour Homme
Montblanc Explorer
Azzaro Wanted
Moschino Toy Boy
Cartier Pasha Parfum
Krizia pour Homme
Dunhill Icon
Calvin Klein Reveal Man



The fact so many of these are discontinued already and so many more of them are but flankers to older ranges (and some with sub-flankers even) is a damning indictment of the warp-speed war of attrition-on-the-senses, bang-em-out-by-Friday-and-let-God-sort-them-out nature of our hyper-consumerist hegemonistic corporate-greed driven nightmare world.

Blink and you'll miss it; but don't worry, it'll have 4 more nearly-identical limited flankers you also missed in that same time frame, and you can always buy the DUA clone for $70 an ounce if you don't want to pay some basement redditor hoarder scalper (using bots and stolen credit cards) $400 for a bottle of a fragrance that launched last week and was discontinued the week before that.