In this article, we will take a look at the 25 best smelling colognes for men that women love. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of the perfume industry, you can go directly to see the 10 Best Smelling Colognes for Men that Women Love.
The Global Perfume Industry
Perfumes are among the self-care and wellness items that people have begun to spend more money on since the pandemic. Forbes reports that global perfume sales increased 6% in 2021 compared to 2019, with prestige fragrance sales in the U.S. increasing by 49% in 2019 over 2018. On the other hand, per China Briefing, sales of perfumes in China generated about $1.76 million in revenue in 2020, representing just 2.5% of the global market.
An industry analysis report by IMARC Group estimates that the global perfume market was valued at $35.5 billion in 2022. The market is anticipated to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.05% from 2023 to 2028, reaching a value of $50.4 billion at the conclusion of the predicted period. The market’s expansion can be attributed to several key factors, like increasing number of retail outlets worldwide, evolving lifestyles of individuals, and the growing demand from multiple countries.
The report highlights that the premium perfume products represented the largest market share, owing in part to the growing demand for personalized products. Additionally, the report states that due to increasing number of working women, female fragrances held the biggest market share.
The US Perfume Industry
According to a report, the size of the US perfume market is predicted to increase by $3.02 billion between 2022 and 2027, growing at a CAGR of 9.12%. The US perfume market is anticipated to expand during the forecast period on account of improving living standards, rising trend of personal grooming, the growing demand for exotic and youthful scents, rise in the middle-income group, and increased perfume consumption among millennials.
A Look at the Notable Names in the Perfume Industry
Among the major companies in the global perfume market are Loreal, Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR), and The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL).
Loreal, headquartered in Clichy, France, manufactures and markets make-up products, perfumes, hair care, sun care, skincare, and coloring products. Established in 1909, it owns brands like Maybelline, Garnier, NYX Professional Makeup, and CeraVe. The company produces cosmetics and fragrances for some of the most well-known luxury brands in the world like Armani, Valentino, and Prada among others. Loreal posted sales of €38.26 billion in 2022.
Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR), based in New York, develops and distributes fragrances and cosmetics for several brands like Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Spade, Coach, Moncler, Montblanc, and Jimmy Choo. The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share on November 8, which was consistent with its previous dividend.
On the other hand, according to Insider Monkey’s third quarter database, 21 hedge funds were bullish on Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR) and disclosed positions worth $188.5 million in the company.
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL), with a diverse portfolio of more than 25 brands, markets personal care products across more than 150 countries and territories.
Here are some comments from The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)’s Q1 2024 Earnings Call:
“We delivered our outlook for organic sales and exceeded the expectation for adjusted diluted EPS. Organic sales decreased 11%. Our global travel retail business drove the decline, as expected, with organic sales lower by 51% given the combination of trade inventory reduction and a structured market containment. The entire rest of our global business rose 4% organically, led by mid- to high single-digit growth in the Americas and the markets of EMEA and double-digit growth in Asia Pacific, excluding Mainland China. The excellent performance in these regions enabled us to deliver our sales outlook despite a slower-than-expected recovery of overall prestige beauty in Mainland China. Adjusted diluted EPS of $0.11 was ahead of the outlook as we achieved a better-than-expected adjusted operating margin.”
After looking at the leading names in the fragrance market, we will take a look at the women’s favorite colognes on men. You can also read our piece on 20 Best Smelling Perfumes for Women that Men Love.
25 Best Smelling Colognes for Men that Women Love
Our Methodology
For this piece, we used a consensus opinion-based rankings approach. The information we gathered came from relevant Reddit threads, where users not only share their experiences but also inquire about various colognes each month. The subreddits we included in our search were r/fragrance, r/Colognes, r/Perfumes, r/AskReddit, r/AskWomenOver30, r/dating_advice, r/AskWomen, and r/malefashionadvice.
After that, each cologne received a score based on the number of mentions. This means that each time it was mentioned in a thread, it received a score of 1. Finally, we sorted the fragrances by their scores and identified the 25 best smelling colognes for men that women love. The fragrances are ranked in ascending order according to their respective scores.
It's crucial to keep in mind that the choice of the best cologne is subjective and highly depends on personal preference, which is why lists like this one miss out on scents that should rank at or near the top of the list.
First up on our list of best smelling colognes for men that women love is Le Male Eau de Toilette. This amber fougere fragrance for men was launched in 1995 by the design house of Jean Paul Gaultier, a luxury brand owned by Puig.
Based on 13.8K reviews on Amazon, it has a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars.
Next up on our list is The Noir 29 Eau de Parfum by Le Labo, a perfume brand based in New York City and owned by The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL). It is a unisex aromatic fragrance that was introduced in 2015.
23. Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Pour Homme Eau De Toilette
Light Blue Pour Homme Eau de Toilette is a citrus aromatic scent for men by Dolce & Gabbana, an Italian luxury fashion house.
Also, this scent is the winner of FiFi Award for Fragrance of the Year, Men's Luxe, 2008. It is priced at $80 for a 75ml bottle, and is one of the colognes women absolutely love on men.
Terre D'Hermès Parfum is warm woody fragrance for men by the French luxury design house Hermès. Created by Jean-Claude Ellena, it features top notes of orange and grapefruit, middle notes of pepper, pelargonium and flint, and base notes of vetiver, cedar, patchouli and benzoin.
Legend Eau de Toilette is a is a fresh fougere fragrance for men by Montblanc, a German luxury goods manufacturing company. A 100ml bottle of the fragrance costs $98.
The fragrances of Montblanc are produced in conjunction with Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR).
Vetiver Eau de Toilette, recommended for daytime, is a fragrance for men. This fragrance by Guerlain, a French perfume, cosmetics and skincare house owned by LVMH, has a dark green earthy aroma, with a grapefruit bitterness and a hint of anise-like sweet spiciness.
According to our methodology, it is among the best-smelling men's colognes that women love.
19. Parfums de Marly Layton Exclusif Eau De Parfum
Layton Exclusif by Parfums de Marly, released in 2017, is a unisex fragrance. Presented in a deep blue armour it has notes of almond, mandarin orange, bergamot, and watery notes at the top, civet, geranium, rose, gardenia, and water lily at the middle, and guaiac wood, Laotian oud, vanilla, coffee, sandalwood, Indonesian patchouli leaf, amber, oakmoss, and pink pepper at the base.
This fragrance from Jo Malone London, a British fragrance and lifestyle brand owned by The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL), was launched in 2016. Recommended for fall or winter wear, it an amber fragrance for women and men.
Launched in 2011, Gucci Guilty Pour Homme is a woody aromatic fragrance for men by the Italian luxury fashion house Gucci. Recommended for casual wear, it is priced at $120 for a 90ml bottle.
Kering SA (EPA:KER), a French-based multinational corporation specializing in luxury goods, is the owner of Gucci.
Santal 33 Eau de Parfum is another scent from Le Labo that we have on our list. This unisex scent has a blend of sandalwood, leather, papyrus, cedar, cardamom, violet, iris, and amber notes.
Fahrenheit Eau de Toilette is a fragrance for men by Dior, a French multinational luxury fashion house. It smells like a blast of warm leather, with notes citrus, and deep violet.
Dylan Blue Pour Homme is a men’s fragrance by the Italian fashion house Versace. Created by Alberto Morillas, it features top notes of Calabrian bergamot, water notes, grapefruit and fig Leaf, heart notes of ambroxan, black pepper, patchouli, violet leaf and papyrus, and base notes of incense, musk, tonka bean and saffron.
It has a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 18.2K reviews on Amazon. Moreover, according to our methodology, it is one of the finest colognes for men that women love.
