20 New Men’s Fragrances Worth Trying For Summer 2025
What’s the mood of the season? According to the major perfume houses, it’s gourmand and amber. In uncertain times, it makes sense that we’d choose to cloak ourselves in the comfort of chocolate, vanilla and other sweet, edible things. But not exclusively. There are green shoots of optimism from Acqua Di Parma, metallic summer splashes and less typical florals, like marigold and peachy osmanthus coming to the fore.
There’s also innovation, with novel code-cracking containers and perfumers using neuroscience to create confidence-boosting accords. We like the sound of a cheerleader-in-a-bottle.
So, whether you’re pitching for a raise, lining up a first date or just looking for some daily motivation, here are 20 new season scents to bring out your best self.
Dior Homme Parfum
Master Perfumer Francis Kurkdjian has created a new version of Dior Homme Parfum, constructed around the signature ingredient of iris.
This launch has divided online fans. Some haters prefer the Dior Homme Parfum 2014 edition, while others think this is a worthy replacement for the original powdery musk.
It’s frustrating when a much-loved scent is discontinued, but the industry runs on what sells, and that often slants toward younger tastes. Lately, the most successful scents have been sweeter, less powdery or musky creations.
We like the 2025 vintage. The floral iris accord has undercurrents of coffee and chocolate, while the amber accord brings together vetiver, patchouli, coumarin and dry notes of cut hay. It’s a reassuringly smooth and refined blend that carries vanilla, woods and amber.
Acqua Di Parma Colonia Il Profumo
Colonia lovers will recognise that while its greatness is unchallenged, the limit of any cologne is that it could last a bit longer. Finally, there’s an Eau de Parfum with the answer.
Colonia Il Profumo is a stunningly good scent, offering exceptional projection and higher concentration, through the calibration of citrus, ylang-ylang and rosemary. The core notes also include bergamot, grapefruit, blood orange and petitgrain, which give way to orange leaves absolute in the heart, vetiver oil and patchouli in the dry down.
It’s very elegant and hangs in the room after the wearer has left without being overpowering. Buy it: you’ll have zero regrets.
Givenchy Gentleman Society Eau de Parfum Ambrée
Ambre is a sultry addition to the Gentleman Society story and an ideal choice for the evening.
Inspired by the flamboyance of the house founder, Hubert de Givenchy, with a nod to the golden logo on the bottle, this accord radiates an amber glow.
Retaining the original signature of narcissus absolute and four types of vetiver, this flanker adds Peruvian balsam, opoponax (myrrh), Tasuki vanilla from Madagascar, with a base of leather tobacco and sandalwood from Australia.
Of course, you don’t have to reserve it for the end of the day, because with its impressive staying power on the skin, there will be more than a trace in the morning.
Horace L’Etiquette
Horace’s new scent is a collaboration with French style publication L’Etiquette. It’s a respectful blend of lavender and tobacco that makes manners cool again.
Smooth, smoky and clean, it opens with notes of tobacco, galbanum and juniper. Heart notes of lavender and cypress follow, layered over iris, tonka bean and cashmeran.
It’s a polite, versatile number and guaranteed to never offend, whatever the occasion.
Valentino Born in Roma Uomo Extradose
Valentino’s new men’s scent lives up to its name with an ‘extra dose’ of the signature vetiver note that runs through the Born in Roma series.
This quartet of vetivers is framed by spicy ginger notes, bergamot and mandarin in the top, an expansive lavandin heart with salty notes in the middle, and leathery guaiac wood in the base. It also boasts ‘extra’ projection with the highest concentration of vetiver.
Want a scent that lasts a long time on the skin? This is probably the one.
GANT, GANT 1949 & GANT Ivy
We’re partial to GANT clothing, but it’s been 14 long years since the brand had a presence in the fragrance world. So, it’s a welcome return for the American style sportswear label with three new creations for men: GANT, GANT 1949 and GANT Ivy.
The trio is based around a heart note of ivy accord, we’re going to assume, after the Ivy League schools that inform so much of the brand’s preppy aesthetic.
In the blue bottle, we have GANT, which offers a fresh blast of pink pepper, lemon, bergamot, mandarin and turmeric leaf over a bittersweet heart of ivy accord, wormwood, rosemary and cedarwood. The base is patchouli, sandalwood, amber tonic (a mix of amber and musk) and sinfonide, a woody, powdery musk.
In the brown bottle, GANT 1949 is named after the founding year of the original shirtmaker. This fusion of citrus, leather and woods uses bergamot, lemon and apple, cistus labdanum, cedarwood, cinnamon bark, juniper, geranium and Ivy accord, over leather accord, patchouli, ambery woods and musks.
In the green bottle, GANT Ivy, top notes of black pepper, pamplezest and clary sage are mixed with an ivy accord, geranium, hay and cedarwood over patchouli, vetiver and Saffiano leather.
By turns fresh and invigorating, warm and woody, these are three easy scents to wear individually or layer up together.
Cerruti 1881 VIVO
To open VIVO by Cerruti 1881, you’ll need to crack the code, which consists of letters and numbers that must line up to release the lid.
Living up to its name, VIVO is a lively blend of Nigerian ginger SFE, cardamom, apple Firad and pink pepper SFE with heart notes of rhum SFE, sesame absolute and tagete (marigold), and a base of Haitian vetiver, saffron, and ambrox super.
What’s an SFE? Glad you asked. It stands for ‘supercritical fluid extraction’, a technical process which uses CO2 to extract specific compounds from a substance, and the benefit is that this is faster and more selective than traditional extraction methods.
VIVO is a sweet amber scent with an edible quality—the dry down smells deliciously of chocolate and spices.
Coach for Men Eau de Parfum
This is an aromatic, woody creation for men from Coach, the most intense in the current collection, fronted by US basketball star and stylish clothes horse Jayson Tatum.
Opening notes of bergamot oil and cardamom are over a heart of geranium and cedar, with a base of Saffiano, the textured house leather, and vetiver.
Spices, woody notes, and florals come together in a very pleasant balance of freshness and warmth.
BYREDO Blanche Absolu de Parfum
One could never accuse Byredo of having nothing to say, so Blanche must deserve this heavier Absolu de Parfum with its notable charred wood effect lid.
To put it into context, Blanche is often described as ‘fresh laundry soap’ or the ‘steamy shower air’. Blanche Absolu de Parfum is this, too, but with added intensity, like industrial dry cleaning.
The opening is somewhat polarising due to the strength of the powdery aldehydes that seem to hit right at the back of the nose. Thankfully, this aspect subsides fairly quickly, along with the black pepper and neroli, and it settles down into something we find much more appealing: rose absolute, violet and jasmine, over a smooth base of cashmeran, musks, ambroxan and cashmere.
Blanche Absolu de Parfum won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s often where the magic happens in fragrance.
Burberry Hero Parfum Intense
First there was Burberry Hero Eau de Toilette, then Burberry Hero Eau de Parfum, then Burberry Hero Parfum, and now we have the new flanker, Parfum Intense.
The signature of the Hero line is the woody accord, made of a trio of Himalayan, Atlas and Virginian cedarwood oils. The Parfum Intense adds a deep, leathery facet in the heart, and black pepper in the opening notes. It’s sweeter than it sounds, and incredibly strong.
While we really like the branding, art direction and the aesthetic of all the Burberry fragrances, we have to say, could the design team make the Hero scents a little more distinct from one another? Here’s a helpful hint if you’re grabbing one in a hurry: Parfum Intense is the one with the black font on the darker brown bottle.
BOSS Bottled Bold Citrus
On first spritz, we’re hit with a very juicy blast of tangy citrus thanks to top notes of lemon primofiore essence (from the Siracusa lemon grown in Sicily) and fresh pine. This is joined by bergamot over geranium bourbon, honeyed pine from elemi extract, over patchouli and vetiver.
Fizzy and refreshing, it’s like a long summer cocktail with moderate projection (which is good for a citrus scent).
Kenzo Homme Indigo
Like a bolt from the blue, Indigo by Kenzo Homme is a new, floral aquatic fragrance that relies on a marine accord, iris and a leather accord to create a more unique masculine scent.
Salty sea notes mingle with sandalwood and akigalawood, with the leathery note at the forefront instead of lurking in the dry down, along with a fresher, creamy form of orris.
It’s a revitalising tonic for the summer months, with good performance.
Davidoff Cool Elixir
Just say “Cool Water” and we’re already thinking of ripped abs, tumbling surf and aquatic scents. Breaking with tradition, Warfare actor, Charles Melton, appears bejewelled and fully clad – donning an overcoat no less – in the campaign visual.
Cool Elixir is an aromatic oud with top notes of rose oxide, lavandin heart, and an oud accord in the base.
It’s a smooth, sweet and smoky concoction – that’s miles away from the beach.
Acqua Di Parma Buongiorno
Buongiorno by Acqua Di Parma is a scent to set your intention.
Inspired by the beauty of an Italian summer, this aromatic citrus is laced with fresh, herbaceous notes of lemon, spearmint, basil and rosemary, with middle notes of lavandin and juicy mandarin leaves, over a smooth base of cedarwood, amber and musk. It’s positively delightful.
Reassuringly well-crafted and long-lasting on the skin, repeat it like a daily mantra and the compliments will surely follow, even if you don’t manifest a great day.
Lacoste L.12.12 Silver Grey
This cooler, steely version of L.12.12 (so called after the brand’s iconic style of polo shirt) is inspired by René Lacoste’s invention of the first tubular steel tennis racquet, which he patented in 1963.
The result? An aromatic fougère laced with tangerine, frankincense, lavender, geranium, ambroxan and vetiver.
Like a slice of steel smashing an ace over the net, it has a metallic zing that cuts through on a hot day.
BDK Parfums Impadia
BDK Parfums is making waves in the niche fragrance sector. Founded by David Benedek, whose grandparents had a luxury fragrance boutique in Paris in the 1960s, BDK is now a collection of 22 scents, candles, laundry care and hair mists.
Impadia takes inspiration from the glow of Parisian skies just before dusk, with an ombre bottle slowly turning from orange to pink in the tone of a sunset. Impadia takes two forms of the best rose in perfumery, Bulgarian rose oil and Turkish rose absolute, chosen for their distinct qualities, and creates a seamless heart note.
The Bulgarian is fresher and greener, and the Turkish, warm and honeyed. Together with mandarin, bergamot and pear, in the top notes, Moroccan orange flower in the middle and base notes of vanilla absolute, akigalawood and sandalwood, it’s like the last rays of the day sinking into night.
INITIO Parfums Prives Power Self
Creator of functional fragrances, INITIO Parfums Prives has always been pushing the boundaries of scent technology, and never more so with its latest creation, which uses advanced molecules that can trigger or amplify feelings of self-confidence.
During extensive testing of the new scent, Power Self, brain activity, heart rate and reactions at skin levels were recorded, along with the wearer’s positive behavioural responses.
So, what does confidence smell like? In the top notes, there’s pink pepper, over a heart of white flowers (peachy osmanthus, white rose and magnolia), with base notes of ambrox super, musk and cedarwood.
It’s a fascinating concept, and this spicy, clean floral might be your personal pick-me-up.
GUESS ICONIC Homme
GUESS called on Italian tenor Matteo Bocelli to front its new signature scent for the contemporary man, Iconic.
It features spicy top notes of Sichuan pepper, black pepper and zesty mandarin and a heart of clary sage and geranium, underscored by vetiver, labdanum and suede accord.
It’s warm, aromatic and fresh.
Burberry Signatures Extreme Botanicals Golden Haze
Burberry’s exclusive Signatures series adds a new Extreme Botanicals scent in the form of Golden Haze.
This collection is inspired by nature’s strength and beauty and the botanicals that thrive in challenging places. Golden Haze aims to capture the morning mist rising over the yellow marsh marigold that springs from the edge of the water.
It’s like a bloom of osmanthus absolute, over a smoky tea accord and earthy vetiver oil. It’s delicately balanced, with milky, woody and leather facets.
Gucci The Alchemist’s Garden Vanilla Firenze & Osmanthus Nectar
Inspired by the perfume containers from antique apothecaries, the fragrances in Gucci’s The Alchemist’s Garden collection come boxed rather like gilded old books. We wish we had a card to borrow from the library because it’s too hard to narrow the selection down to one.
New this season, Vanilla Firenze and Osmanthus Nectar both prove that sweet doesn’t have to be sickly. In the case of Vanilla Firenze, it can also be masculine, dry and smoky. This is a floral amber, with main notes of orris pallida extract, myrrh retinoid and vanilla, that gives off the burnt embers of a smouldering hearth and the remnants of a dinner party.
The notes read like an exotic feast with a sweet finish. With black pepper pure jungle essence, cardamom essential oil and carrot seed essential oil in the spicy, smoked opening notes, with heart notes of Italian iris butter, Namibian myrrh resinoid and Siam benzoin resinoid, plus three distinct vanillas: bourbon vanilla infusion, bourbon vanilla absolute, and bourbon vanilla pure jungle essence.
Meanwhile, Osmanthus Nectar is a floral fruity scent with top-line notes of apricot, osmanthus and sandalwood. The tangy opening of apricot, bergamot Italy essence, cardamom Guatemala essence, over osmanthus infusion, osmanthus nature print and tea accord with a base of sandalwood amyris essence and cedarwood virginia essence.
It’s luscious and velvety soft like peach skin, but the tea and osmanthus keep it beautifully balanced.
