Best Summer Fragrances for Men, Pt. 2

The Scent

The only citrus listed in the notes is bergamot. The bergamot commands the opening along with neroli and green, foresty notes. The sum of the ingredients is heavenly: bright, sparkling citrus, floral notes with sweet accents, and a clean and green, garden-esque undertone. The heart of the scent in spicier, but it’s sweeter spices like pink pepper, nutmeg, and cardamom. The spices mostly stay in the background, with the foreground being citrus, green notes, and florals (neroli, jasmine).

Nio is classified as a woody aromatic, which becomes apparent as the scent dries. There’s so much depth in the base. You get a core of guaiac wood and cedar, both with creamy facets, and vetiver. The vetiver is clean and smooth and supports the scent’s green, aromatic character.

When people say a fragrance has depth, this is what they mean. The woody base underpins the green, spicy, floral, and citrus notes beautifully, allowing each ingredient to have a distinct impact on the overall scent.

Performance

Above average, and certainly better than most summer fragrances. Citrus and neroli are two ingredients that lack staying power, and Nio gets both notes to last a considerable amount. Moderate projection, but summer heat will help push this one even more.

Final Verdict

Perfect for anyone who wants to smell great. It’s fresh enough to be worn to the beach, and posh enough to be worn on a night out.

Price: €235 for 50 mL (1.7 oz.) — Xerjoff Official Site (USA)

The Scent

There’s not much to say here. The mandarin and the orange are the two stars. It’s an explosion of juicy orange smell that never goes away. There’s also bergamot to complete the citrus trifecta and a bit of pop from the ginger. There’s ginger and ambergris in the base, but it’s not an animalic or musky ambergris and the overall scent isn’t very “marine” or salty.

Performance

Not bad for a fresh citrus fragrance. The longevity is about average. It projects well for the first hour or so; after that it retreats to a moderate projection.

Final Verdict

Afternoon Swim is gloriously fresh and vibrantly citrus. While price is always a consideration, some say it’s too basic of a scent for the price. That doesn’t mean it’s not great. It’s a scent DNA everyone loves and done exquisitely — as you’d expect from a brand like Louis Vuitton. Try it out before you commit $300.

Afternoon Swim is better for casual wear. It performs better outside in the sun rather than a controlled indoor environment, so this could be the ultimate bougie beach fragrance. Wear this to the pool at the Four Seasons.

Price: $300 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.), $430 for 200 mL (6.8 oz.) — Louis Vuitton Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Neroli Portofino is an uncomplicated fragrance. There’s bergamot and lemon to add bright citrus notes (and probably lime, as suggested by Tom Ford’s product marketing) and clean white florals, namely neroli and orange blossom. The scent is clean, soapy, and sweet (but floral sweet, not sugary sweet). The citrus and florals last throughout the scent.

The base is anchored by clean white musks, ensuring Neroli Portofino stays immaculately fresh during its lifespan.

Performance

Awful. The scent is divine but the performance is terrible at this price point. The projection is soft and longevity is below average. You can’t be stingy with sprays. This scent won’t offend anyone so spray as much as you’re willing.

NOTE: There’s a fortified version of this fragrance (aptly named Neroli Portofino Forte), but it goes in and out of availability. If you find it, BUY IT!

Final Verdict

It’s a delightful scent: extravagantly clean and a skillful use natural, high-quality ingredients. Performance is a known issue; treat this as a luxury purchase and don’t plan on getting a ton of mileage from it.

Price: $295 for 50 mL (1.7 oz.), $425 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.) — Tom Ford Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Isola Blu opens bright with a cocktail of citrus: lemon, lime, and bergamot. The citrus is paired with fruity notes of apple, coconut, and blackcurrant as well as floral notes of jasmine, orange blossom, and champaca (similar to jasmine). The opening is fresh and sweet. After that, the scent takes a more earthy turn. The green, herbal, and aromatic notes define the heart of this fragrance.

The aromatics start with lavender and thyme. Further into the scent you get juniper and maté (popular in modern fougères). The bedrock of the scent is deep green and earthy notes of oakmoss, patchouli, and a “cut grass” accord (which most reviewers liken to vetiver). There’s also ambergris, which seems appropriate for a coastal-inspired fragrance, and woody notes of birch (but not smoky) and cedar.

In total, Roja Parfums lists 29 notes for Isola Blu. We can’t pretend that we can discern even half of them. What we can say is Isola Blu is a sophisticated and completely non-linear fragrance. It’s a fragrance where you’ll discover something new every time you smell it.

Performance

For this price, you’d expect other-worldly performance. And Isola Blu gives it to you. Even at a parfum concentration, the longevity is extraordinary; it lasts until you shower it off. It also projects heavily for the first few hours and never turns into a skin scent. It’ll create a healthy scent bubble around you.

Final Verdict

This is the official fragrance of yachts in St. Barts. It smells like its price tag (very opulent), but it’s not for everyone. If you’re looking for something light and floral or sweet and citrusy — this isn’t it. But if you’re looking for a summer showstopper, try this one out.

Price: $485 for 50 mL (1.7 oz.), $95 for 10 mL (0.33 oz.) — Roja Parfums Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Blanc opens with a prominent grapefruit note that’s accented by aromatic notes of rosemary and cardamom. The heart of the fragrance is defined by two white florals (tuberose and ylang-ylang) which aren’t notes you typically see in men’s fragrances, but it works. The base has clean vetiver, cedar, and a musky-leathery “suede” accord. The end result is a super fresh, cooling, tropical/floral-shower gel vibe with a creamy, woody base. Obviously this smells more synthetic than previous fragrances, but it’s very pleasing and an excellent choice for the price.

Performance

Blanc has better performance than other Lacoste fragrances. Yes, it still gets complaints about longevity and projection, but both are above average.

Final Verdict

A great casual summer scent for the high heat. Blanc is a “cheapie” that smells anything but cheap. It’s an unbelievable value in today’s fragrance economy.

Price: $61 for 50 mL (1.7 oz.) — Lacoste Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Wave opens strong with bright aromatic-citrus notes and very aquatic. As it dries down, it takes on more musky-woody notes (even though no woods are listed in the description) and some slight creaminess and subtle sweetness. Wave is a salty marine-aquatic fragrance through and through, and very fresh.

Wave takes aspects of both Chanel Allure Homme Sport and Versace Pour Homme without being a “clone” of either. Allure Homme Sport is sweeter and creamier, with more of an emphasis on woody notes, whereas Versace Pour Homme has brighter citrus notes, with more emphasis on white florals. Simply put, Wave mirrors the opening of Versace Pour Homme and the drydown of Allure Homme Sport.

Performance

For a fresh aquatic fragrance, Wave has great performance. Longevity is very good. Projection is above average.

Final Verdict

Wave is a perfect summer daytime scent and performs well in high heat. Suitable for the office, the beach… really anywhere that’s not overly formal. It’s not a groundbreaking scent, but one that people by and large will find very pleasing.

NOTE: Like Rasasi Hawas (below), Wave’s explosion in popularity caused prices to spike dramatically. I’d wait for the hype to cool down a bit or look for it at discount stores. Most agree it’s not worth full retail price.

Price: $70 for 30 mL (1.0 oz.), $95 for 50 mL (1.7 oz.), $125 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.) — Missoni Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Hawas is strong right out the gate. You get fruity-sweet aquatic notes immediately, namely bergamot, apple and plum. It doesn’t open overly sweet, but gets sweeter as it dries down. The heart of the fragrance features spicy (cardamom, cinnamon) and floral (orange blossom) notes, as well as ambroxan. Hawas remains a citrusy-fruity-sweet aquatic through its lifespan. It’s been called “spicy Invictus” and “aquatic bubblegum” by those in the fragrance community.

The original Invictus gets complaints for having an overly youthful, almost cotton candy-like sweetness. Hawas manages to hedge the sweetness with salty aquatic notes; it balances fresh and sweet very well.

Performance

Outstanding. It’s probably the best performer on this list. (Yes, Hawas was recently reformulated, but the performance is still excellent.) This scent lasts all day and projects strongly.

Final Verdict

Like Invictus, Hawas would be an excellent summer clubbing fragrance, but it’s also appropriate for everyday casual wear and for all age groups. It’s a surprisingly versatile scent.

Price: Due to its explosion in popularity, and limited availability in some markets, Hawas is selling for much more than usual. A 100 mL (3.4 oz.) bottle is selling for $100 on Walmart.com. This fragrance was selling for around $40 not long ago. It might be best to let the hype die down and let prices readjust.

The Scent

Voyage is a basic fresh aquatic fragrance. It’s unexotic and more synthetic than other fragrances on this list. The heart of the fragrance is sea salty and aquatic notes, crisp green apple, lotus, and a cucumber-melon accord. There are some woods and musks in the base, but they’re faint.

Performance

Voyage was released in 2006, but has been reformulated since then. The performance is not as good as it once was, but still above average for a fresh fragrance. (And excellent for the price.) Above average longevity, and it projects nicely for 2-3 hours.

Final Verdict

Voyage is a pleasant, clean, and inoffensive scent that works for any age and is a safe pick for any occasion — formal, professional, or casual.

Price: No price listed on Nautica’s website, but Walmart.com has a 100 mL (3.4 oz.) bottle listed for under $20.

The Scent

The original Mugler Cologne was a fresh, green-soapy fragrance with great performance. (It was compared to a deluxe version of Irish Spring soap.) It was a simple, linear fragrance that emphasized white florals and clean white musk. It was so popular that Creed created its own interpretation of Mugler Cologne (Original Vetiver) that’s still available today.

The original had a persistent neroli note that gave the scent a smooth, floral vibe. “Come Together” lost that. It’s grassier than the original. It’s less smooth. And the performance has taken a major hit.

Final Verdict

There are some in the fragrance community who swear it’s the exact same juice as the original, and in all fairness, it still have mostly positive feedback. That said, we can’t in good conscience put this in rankings. You’ll have to be your own judge.

Available only on Mugler’s international site.

The Scent

AQVA Marine opens fresh and aromatic with grapefruit, rosemary, and pine. It doesn’t take long for the scent to settle into its trademark marine and seaweed accord, but its lighter than the original. You still get briny, salty-aquatic and green, seagrass-like notes in the heart. There’s still cedar in the base, but it’s white cedar (greener, earthier) instead of Virginia cedar (woodier). Where the original smelled like the deep sea, AQVA Marine smells like you’re sitting seaside. It’s more ozonic. There’s neroli to add a floral touch. It’s an overall cleaner scent.

Performance

The performance is good for an aquatic fragrance. Moderate projection and above average longevity.

Final Verdict

AQVA Marine is more high heat-resistant and broader appealing than the original. It’s best worn casually during the summer.

Price: $187 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.) — Bvlgari Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Y Eau Fraîche opens beautifully. There’s bright, sparkling citrus that’s perfectly balanced by spicy ginger and a potent lemon note. Lemon is a difficult note to pull off. When done poorly, it make the fragrance smell cheap or, even worse, like a cleaning solution. Y Eau Fraîche puts the lemon note front and center, and does so in a way that’s elegant and refreshing. It elevates the entire scent. Beyond the lemon and ginger, you get a minty fresh note, possibly from the geranium, and juniper to help mellow everything out. The scent eventually peters out and becomes a basic woody scent (cedar is the only listed woody note).

Performance

Underwhelming. Longevity and projection are both average for a summer scent, but you’ll need to heat to help it project.

Final Verdict

Y Eau Fraîche is stands up well to high heat and is best suited for casual daytime wear. Perfect for all ages.

Price: It’s sold out on YSL’s official site and on most retailer sites, but previous retail price was $100 for a 100 mL (3.4 oz.) bottle.

The Scent

Legend Spirit is heavy on aquatic notes, citrus and musk. The grapefruit in the opening is smooth, not bitter or tart like in other fragrances. It smells more synthetic than other fragrances (then again, so did Invictus Aqua), but it’s not off-putting. Montblanc classifies Legend Spirit as a woody-aromatic and lists cardamom and lavender as heart notes, but they’re subtle. Legend Spirit is more of a fresh aquatic than anything else.

Legend Spirit is surprisingly versatile. This would be an appropriate summer office or gym fragrance, but also a good clubbing fragrance. It’s just a very simple, pleasant scent.

Performance

Final Verdict

Overall, Legend Spirit lacks the sweetness and the performance of Rasasi Hawas, another Invictus-inspired fragrance that made it higher on our list. If you want something more refined and less sweet, give Legend Spirit a try.

Price: $99 for 100mL (3.4-oz.) — Montblanc Official Site (USA)

The Scent

The orange bottle gives it away. On first spray, you’re hit with a burst of sweet, juicy citrus. While the only listed note is kumquat, most reviewers get notes of orange, mandarin, and grapefruit. (No one is quite sure what kumquat smells like.) It’s a sweet citrus, not bitter.

The drydown is pretty uneventful. Calvin Klein lists a “mint iced tea” accord as the heart note and musk and vetiver in the base, but the scent is citrus-dominant from start to finish.

Performance

Lackluster. While initial projection is very good (a few sprays can fill a room), the scent doesn’t last very long. Only a couple of hours. You’ll need to reapply often to get good mileage from it.

Final Verdict

Summer Daze is a quality, pleasant-smelling citrus scent with performance issues. If the price is right, it’s unquestionably a good purchase. This is a casual, daytime summer fragrance — perfect for a day at the beach.

Price: $65 for 100 mL (3.4 oz.) — Calvin Klein Official Site (USA)

The Scent

Cool Water Wave is a fresher take on the original. The spirit of the original is there, but Wave is more aquatic. (Cool Water is more of a green-aquatic.) Wave opens with grapefruit and a peppermint note that’s familiar to the original Cool Water. Unfortunately, the opening doesn’t last long. It quickly becomes a standard woody-aquatic scent with some juniper notes. Overall, Wave is a clean-smelling fragrance that won’t offend anyone.

Some reviewers thought Wave shared vague similarities with Paco Rabanne’s Invictus. Wave is fruity-sweet, but not nearly as sweet as Invictus.

Performance

Moderate to below average. You’ll want to reapply this one throughout the day to make it last, and it doesn’t project much. For a fresh summer cheapie, it’s hard to complain.

Final Verdict

Not everyone prefers Wave to the original Cool Water. Wave strips away most of the earthy, herbal notes that made the original Cool Water popular. Wave is more of a “summer” scent and resistant to high heat, but Cool Water also works in the summer. Wave is more suited for a younger crowd and for casual wear. Cool Water is more mature (but not “old”) and better in professional environments.

Price: No prices on Davidoff’s website, but a 125mL (4.2-oz.) bottle is selling for under $30 on Walmart.com.