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

Hermes Equipage Geranium (One of the few perfumes that has gone from mild like to absolute love)

Tom Ford Fougere D'Argent (The only Tom Ford that I love. Of course, discontinued)

Lalique Encre Noire A L'Extreme (If we're counting Lalique as designer. I go back and forth on whether I prefer this or the original)

I’m sure this list will get me into trouble, but here goes:
- Tom Ford Costa Azzura Parfum
- Tom Ford Noir Extreme Parfum
- Tom Ford Ebene Fume
- Tom Ford Verte Encese
- Tom Ford Fougere Palitine
- Dior Homme 2020
- Dior Sport 2022
- Dior Eau Sauvage 2017 (I admire the 2012 version as well.)
- Dior Homme Parfume
- Givenchy Gentlemen Eau de Parfum

Foamywax said:

Even though it's from 2012 , I'd have to say Spicebomb. It's just really good in every way.

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I agree—I really enjoy it. I also think that Spicebomb Extreme and Spicebomb Infrared are also both very good—and fun.

Zenwannabee said:

I think both of these are very insightful.

Point taken on distance providing clarity. As I mentioned above, part of the reason I just did the last decade (from 2013), is I felt if I went back as far as 2010 that there would be numerous heavy hitters from about 2010-11 that would obviously rise immediately to the tops of many lists. But for whatever reason, I think the last 10 years have seen a drought in the designer fragrance world (signature lines aside) in creativity and a devotion to making a fragrance that will sell and be in production for more than 5 minutes. Additionally, some of the best of the past decade are also modern takes or reformulations of classics (e.g. Hermes). I’m still holding out hope that the future holds promise for something new, original, and better-a springboard for new “classics”. And bottom line for something that could even hold a candle to my $20 bottle of Tabac…

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Oh yeah, I'm not saying the thread is bad or anything like that. Just that there's a lot of recency bias in some/many of the mentioned fragrances. Which is understandable, as novelty plays a massive part (too much, in my view) of what gets talked about positively online. If anything, 2013-2023 is a more interesting timeframe because, as you say, you miss out the big hitters of Aventus and BdC, but you're also considering the last 3 years i.e. the covid and post-covid years. Has anything remarkable been released this decade? Nothing springs to mind, at least not yet. So that's interesting. It very much feels like we're waiting for Chanel's new masculine release to set a marker down and start something new. But maybe they won't, maybe that's not going to happen, in which case we're left with flankers and stragglers from the 2010s. Which would be fine, but novelty and immediacy is the name of the game atm, and the longer there isn't a massive fragrance that disrupts the status quo, the more boring the carousel becomes.

L'Homme Blanc Individuel said:

Bleu De Chanel wasn't an instant hit though. It took some time to catch on.

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Yes, you are correct. It's a mischaracterisation of Bleu de Chanel to pretend it is the last of its kind, or whatever, as well. It's not even a good example to pick for a mass-seller considering the success of Sauvage. D&G's The One and Paco's 1 Million are far better examples of relatively recent overnight successes built on notorious TV ad campaigns. BdC is successful because it is Chanel. It's always going to sell well. Like Dior, whatever they push is going to sell in massive numbers. But Dior (and even Prada) have had better advertising for Sauvage, Dior Homme, and Luna Rossa respectively.

On top of that, the idea that the era of the massive celebrity-fronted marketing campaigns is over doesn't make any sense. Sauvage's success shows where the research money goes. It's all about finding the next smell that defines the market. BdC did it with the branding concept (dark blue) but the woody amber accord was something they had been doing for over a decade at that point (Allure Homme). Sauvage nailed the ambroxan-fresh aroma, spawning a ridiculous number of imitations as a result. Johnny Depp has been the perfect man for marketing Sauvage.

It's fallacious (and by this point, a rookie mistake for enthusiasts to make) to think that the sale price of a fragrance correlates to the quality. I will never understand how someone can convince themselves that Tom Ford, for example, uses notably different quality 'ingredients' between the signature and Private Blend. Or that the boutique/high end fragrances are the real quality of a brand, and the more affordable scent is just what pays the bills. This is a very basic misunderstanding. If anything, for large houses, the boutique line is where the rough drafts and discarded fragrances end up (very obvious with Tom Ford releasing "limited edition" versions of existing scents, for example). The difference in scale between the high end and affordable/main line means it would be foolish to prioritise the high end over the mass seller. The mass seller is more important. The success of the house depends more on that mass seller than it does on any one, or even several, of the high end/boutique fragrances they put to market.

If the 2020's follows the 2010s in any way, then it will be Chanel making the first move for some sort of new or new-ish type of masculine fragrance. Dior will tweak whatever Chanel come up with, and someone else will produce a viral ad campaign that everyone sees and remembers. And Chanel and Dior will still sell lots of their fragrances, because they are Chanel and Dior, regardless of what other companies/houses are doing re: quick discontinuations, clones etc.

milkbaby said:

I agree that we probably need ten or twenty more years to have more perspective.

I'm thinking that there were probably plenty of men in 1990 that thought stuff like Kouros, Drakkar Noir, Giorgio Beverly Hills, Obsession, Fahrenheit, Cool Water, Joop Homme, and Eternity were a bunch of new school crap that would never last.

I'm pretty sure lack of originality and rampant copying has been around since stone age folks scratched stick figures into cave walls too, not to mention the jumping on of trends like when everyone decided to copy chypres and fougeres more than a hundred years ago...

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There have been several significant changes in the last 10-20 years that mean cloning is an issue in the way it wasn't previously. It hasn't always been like this.

These are a few that made me stop and look

Dior Homme Cologne (2013)
BdC EdP (2014)
Sauvage Elixir (2021)
Zaharoff Signature PH (2018)(Independent Designer with Niche distribution)
CH Men Prive (2015)
Dior Homme Parfum (2014)
Guilty Absolute PH (2017) (not my taste but I appreciate it’s a good fragrance)
Ombre Leather (2018)
Prada L’Homme (2017)
This Is Him! (2016)
Noir Anthracite (2017)
Beau de Jour (2019)

slpfrsly said:

Oh yeah, I'm not saying the thread is bad or anything like that. Just that there's a lot of recency bias in some/many of the mentioned fragrances. Which is understandable, as novelty plays a massive part (too much, in my view) of what gets talked about positively online. If anything, 2013-2023 is a more interesting timeframe because, as you say, you miss out the big hitters of Aventus and BdC, but you're also considering the last 3 years i.e. the covid and post-covid years. Has anything remarkable been released this decade? Nothing springs to mind, at least not yet. So that's interesting. It very much feels like we're waiting for Chanel's new masculine release to set a marker down and start something new. But maybe they won't, maybe that's not going to happen, in which case we're left with flankers and stragglers from the 2010s. Which would be fine, but novelty and immediacy is the name of the game atm, and the longer there isn't a massive fragrance that disrupts the status quo, the more boring the carousel becomes.

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I referred to this elsewhere - seeing as Chanel have recently signed a deal with Timothée Chalamet to be the new face of Bleu, I would be surprised if they suddenly drop a new flagship Men’s fragrance within the next 2 years. I think they’ll drive it ‘til the wheels fall off. I am curious to see if/how they respond to Dior’s Sauvage Elixir though. Perhaps a Parfum Extrême...

Prada L'homme came to mind first. Crazy to think only 2016! Perhaps not a wide appeal with the floral/powder thing, but it wears superb! No brainer but Certainly not casual. Trim, tidy, clean chap smell!

Ombre Leather edp

Dior Homme 2020
Fucking Fabulous
The One edp
Aventus

Ones I have found worth looking into over the last decade:

2013:
Versace Oud Noir

2014:
Bentley for Men Absolute
Bvlgari Man In Black
Dior Homme Eau for Men
Guerlain Ideal
John Varvatos Oud
L’Occitane Cade
Valentino Uomo

2015:
Acqua di Gio Profumo
By the Fireplace
Dunhill Icon
Guerlain Ideal Cologne
L’Occitane Cedrat
Narciso Rodriguez for Him Bleu Noir
Sauvage
T F Noir Extreme

2016:
Bvlgari Man Black Orient
Prada L’Homme

2017:
Gucci Guilty Absolute
John Varvatos Artisan Pure

2018:
Ombré Leather

2019:
Beau de Jour
Montblanc Explorer

The Colognnoisseur said:

Versace Oud Noir

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One of my favorites as well. And often overlooked.

sjg3839 said:

I would have to give it to Beau De Jour. My runner up would be Ombre Leather (latest version).

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I noticed Ombre Leather 18 now comes in a 5oz size considering picking this one up I wanted it for awhile now. I wonder if I will enjoy it as much as Beau De Jour Signature my gut says I will!

Kenzo Homme Eau de Parfum 2022

Bavard said:

Maybe not designer or marketed to men, but some I've liked:

1. Patou Pour Homme re-release (2013)
2. Elie Saab Vetiver (2016)
3. Chypre-Siam (2018)
4. Celine Black Tie (2019)
5. Gris Charnel (2019)
6. Coromandel Parfum (2019) (top pick)

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Two of my all-time favourites! I will also add LV Imagination.

Some of my favourites

Lolita Lempicka Homme and Green Lover
Paco Rabanne 1 Million Prive - discontinued noooooo
JPG Le Male Le Parfum

somnambulist07 said:

Lolita Lempicka Homme and Green Lover
Paco Rabanne 1 Million Prive - discontinued noooooo
JPG Le Male Le Parfum

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I didn’t realize 1 Million Prive had been discontinued. I feel for you!

Gucci Guilty Absolute (2017)
Oud Minerale (2017)
Oud Wood Intense (2017)
Tobacco Oud Intense (2017)
Acqua di Gio "Profumo" (2015)
Journey Man (2014)
Roger Bird Fetish (okay, a 2012 release)
House of Matriarch Destrier (2017)
La Curie Faunus (2017)
Svensk Parfym Sadel (2017)
Chanel Paris-Paris (2022) Unisex? "Feminine"? The best rose scent I've found.

I'd say Hermes H24. I'm not the hugest fan, but it is the only designer mass release I've bought in a long while. I think it's really unique among designer big releases and also presaged the greenaissance we are currently having. I find it fairly weird and daring for a mass release while also being fairly restrained as a scent in that Hermes way.

(I'm not including designer exclusives or top tier ranges like Celine as these don't feel like they are in same ball park)