Imagine yourself in a place where every scent is blown into heady proportion. Where the aroma of the sea mingles with pine at the place where water meets forest, trees are heavy with fruit and the grass is verdant with fragrance. That, gentlemen, is how perfumers see the world. To them, even the most unusual or seemingly odorless experiences are potential fragrance inspiration to be tapped for your next best aftershave.
But which of these innumerable fragrance notes are the best? And which should you look out for in your next choice of eau de parfum, cologne or aftershave? In typically male scents, there are a number of stalwarts (10 to be exact) that prove extremely effective centerpieces to some of the most popular elixirs in the world. Let us run you through them…
Oud
Though one of the oldest, most precious, and most recognizable fragrance ingredients out there, few people are au fait with what oud actually is. Translating to “wood” from Arabic, oud is the scent harvested from the oil of sap that drips from resinous trees and is variously known as agarwood, the Wood of Gods, or Liquid Gold. As you might expect, it produces a distinctly woody scent that is often also smoky and deep, and its use as a fragrance has been noted as far back as 1400 BC. Find it with an almost aphrodisiac effect in Tom Ford’s hyper-sensual eau de parfums, or as a regal note that acknowledges an ancient past through houses like Creed and Maison Francis Kurkdjian.
Bergamot
Google “bergamot” and you might think that you’ve come across a tasty new citrus to add into your margarita rotation. But beware: this is an incredibly bitter fruit that smells much better than it tastes. Predominantly grown in southern Italy’s Calabria, the word is derived from the Turkish bey armudu or “the Lord’s pear”, and has been used in earnest by perfumers since around the 16th century, presumably because it is, perfumer Roja Dove states, “considered to be the finest of the citrus notes.” Find it making zingy, empowering, and joy-giving waves in combos of petitgrain, neroli, and grapefruit, or smoldering with contradiction alongside contrasting notes such as oud.
Vetiver
If you’ve owned five or more different men’s fragrances in your lifetime, chances are that at least one of them has contained vetiver. Though it comes from a tropical grass found in Asia, vetiver actually delivers a rather smoky scent, one that has been compared to incense and cigar smoke, and has long been considered traditionally masculine. One of our favorite scents, Prada’s peppy Luna Rossa Ocean, uses vetiver in a radical, super-refined way that enhances its cleanliness, while other houses, such as Issey Miyake and Narciso Rodriguez, harness its woodiness. Either way, a vetiver-based fragrance should be at the top of your list if you’re a fan of clean and stereotypically manly aromas.
Leather
Everyone who has aged beyond early childhood knows the smell of leather, and while there is currently no eau de grandma’s handbag (since the scent cannot be harvested like an oud or vetiver), the vibe is still reliably recreated through perfume wizardry. The most famous scent to use the note is Le Labo’s Santal 33, whose unusual medley of smoke and musk make it the choice of biker jacket-wearing adventurers — and those who idolize them. You’ll also find leather as the foil to more lively ingredients, such as plum and peach in Byredo’s Bibliothèque.
Musk
Animalic and aphrodisiac heavy, musk is so named because it was originally harvested from the glands of the unfortunate musk deer. Today, it is largely created through synthetic means but has retained its sensuality as it is thought to smell something like testosterone. As such, many flock to the ingredient, which distinguishes itself in Fleur de Peau (“Skin Flower”) by Diptyque and Molton Brown’s Milk Musk.
Neroli
Ancient man was probably using citrus he found to chase off lingering mammoth stink and bog fumes, and today we still love a big olfactory glug of lemon or orange. Neroli is the product of the latter: orange blossom, giving a a green, refreshing, and sweet aroma that was used in the first-ever eau de cologne (invented in Cologne in the early 18th century). Still wildly popular today, the ingredient is often used for an injection of joy, such as in the Neom “Happiness” candle, but it can also add to a sense of drama, such as in Creed’s Neroli Sauvage (wild neroli) or spikiness, such as in Le Labo’s study of the ingredient, Neroli 36.
Patchouli
Like natural deodorant and tofu, patchouli has gotten some bad PR from the hippie movement, but just as those first two inventions have gotten exponentially better with time, so too has patchouli become a fragrance staple. Comforting, warm, and musky in profile, patchouli (which is a species of herb from the mint family) is actually part of the makeup of Creed Aventus, one of the most well-regarded and coveted men’s fragrances in the world. For something more emphatically “green”, try Diptyque Tempo.
Orris
It might sound like a character from The Simpsons but Orris is the product gleaned from the root of the iris flower. Extremely prized, the refined product costs about three-and-a-half times more than gold, owing to the lengthy maturing process that it requires. Warm and floral, you might be surprised to hear that, despite its expense, small amounts of orris are used in many of the men’s fragrance world’s most popular spritzes, from Prada Luna Rossa Ocean to Byredo Eyes Closed.
Ambergris
If you’re currently eating, it would behoove you to skip the second clause in this line, because ambergris was originally harvested from the vomit of sperm whales. Thankfully, this marine mammal’s regurgitate smells far better than ours, giving off an oceanic and sweet aroma. While now banned from being taken from living whales, the ingredient can sometimes be found washed up on the beach, or is otherwise synthetically mimicked. Find it in wildly popular medleys such as Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Baccarat Rouge 540 and Creed’s Irish Tweed.
Tonka Bean
Take in a deep breath because the tonka bean is taken from the catchily named dipteryx odorata tree, or coumarouna odorata. Perfumers also call it coumarin (presumably to save on time), but a tonka bean by any other name would smell as sweet. And that’s how it does smell: sweet in the manner of almond or vanilla. Loved by everyone from Bleu de Chanel (where the ingredient takes on a refined edge) to Tom Ford Noir Extreme (where it is part of what else but a wider sexual tableau).
