Alluring new scents from Dior, Louis Vuitton, Elorea, and more
There’s been a cosmic shift in the fragrance world: You don’t need a TikTok account to notice that there are more brands and launches than ever, and thank goodness for that. We’re moving past the era of signature scents, the notion that every man wears one cologne and one cologne alone. Sure, you can stand by that (these rules aren’t actually real), but more people are building fragrance “wardrobes”—a small assortment of scents that allows you to pair a cologne or EDP with a mood or occasion. Perhaps one scent is for date night, another for summer, one for most work days, etc…
With that in mind, have a look at the year’s best launches to date. Even if you need your singular, go-to signature scent, it’s the best year to find something unique—since there are so many to choose from and so many gems.
Chris Collins Lust Oud Delice Extrait
This might very well be the best launch of the year—although, an everyday, every-occasion wear, it is not. Lust punctuates with dark chocolate, oud, hazelnut, and walnut, so it’s best worn in the evening—though it will close down the bar too with its extrait-level endurance. Collins doesn’t mince words, either: he describes Lust as “sexual desire, carnal, aphrodisiac”. It’s your “I feel untouchable” date night option—or is it “I feel supremely touchable tonight”? Regardless, Lust takes the year’s top prize for this Eau de Mojo.
Loewe Solo Vulcan EDP
Not only does Loewe have one of the best fragrance lineups among all fashion labels, but this flanker of its signature Solo scent is a distinctively spicy addition to the family. It takes an opposites-attract approach, with fresh top notes and heady, leathery-resinous base notes. That could polarise some people, but I find it extremely wearable—a nuanced signature scent candidate that could negate the need for an entire olfactive wardrobe.
Dior Sauvage Eau Forte Parfum
This alcohol-free spin on Sauvage could change the industry as we know it. Here is a major house, taking the best-selling scent in men’s perfumery, but putting it inside a water-based milky application? Purists are mad, and they’ll let you know it, but casual collectors are smitten with the new spin: I feel like I have to call out the sharp contrast between Fragrantica’s perfume-obsessed audience (an unheard-of 2.16 out of five—clearly a piling on of people who see a pivot happening, or who expected it to smell exactly like Sauvage, which it does not). Meanwhile, on Sephora, more than 600 buyers have given it a hard-to-achieve 4.6 out of five. They adore it. I’m all for things evolving, and I’d trust nobody more than Dior’s perfumer, Francis Kurkdjian with leading the charge. Eau Forte is musky and resinous, yet profoundly fresh. And if your nose is sensitive to most alcohol-based colognes, it could be that Dior’s endorsement of the alcohol-free movement
Gabar 04 Nolita Rise
Anyone who has spent time in N.Y.C. knows that particular pep that makes its way into your step there: You walk with a bit more purpose, and Gabar’s new scent bottles that up brilliantly. This cocktail of pink pepper, juniper, lavender, cashmere, and cypress is an ode to the sleepless city, and is appropriately named after one of its most vibrant neighborhoods.
Kilian Born to be Unforgettable EDP
How can you forget a fragrance that smells of cola and cinnamon? Kilian’s aptly named scent is fizzy and unserious, while also managing to be warming and comforting. This crossroad of irreverence and confidence makes it as nuanced as its wearer. You’ve got layers, it’s got layers, and it wears seamlessly around the clock, as well as around the calendar.
Arquiste A Grove by the Sea EDP
This is the year that Arquiste put its foot on the pedal; we came to expect a regular cadence of one launch per year from the oft-awarded label, but A Grove by the Sea is one of three from Carlos Huber in 2024. (The second, a powdery love letter to Venice, launched in tandem with A Grove by the Sea, while a third—the aptly named Almond Suede—arrives September 1.) As for A Grove by the Sea: this ode to Croatia’s Lopud island smells richly of sea salt, pine needs, figs, and olive oil. It’s the first dip of the summer, the searing memory of a day spent sailing.
Maison Francis Kurkdjian APOM EDP
Fragrance enthusiasts lovingly remember APOM Homme and APOM Femme, Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s alluringly sensual men’s and women’s fragrances, which have long been retired. This September, the perfumer is bringing the scent—whose name is an acronym for A Part of Me—back as a unisex experience. It blends feminine orange blossom, masculine lavender, and the universally loved amber together in a fairly luminous concoction that’ll brighten the last few long, warm days of summer.
Elorea Git EDP
More men should wear florals, and Git is the perfect opportunity to do just that. This definitively unisex bouquet of rose, iris, musk, and lychee is one of four fantastic launches from Elorea this year—one of its “Timeless Legacy” lineup that celebrates Korea’s traditions and artisans. Git somehow manages to relax the muscles and straighten the spine simultaneously, perhaps like a cup of warming but caffeinated tea.
Noyz Sh**tty Day EDP
Shaun Neff has been called the “Branding Whisperer” for the life he’s breathed into many celebrity labels, like Moon Oral Care (Kendall Jenner and Odell Beckham Jr.), Pattern (Tracee Ellis Ross), and Florence by Mills (Millie Bobby Brown). And now, he’s launched his own venture: The deeply irreverent Noyz, with names like “Sh**tty Day” to breathe optimism into an otherwise mundane morning. This one is a delicious recipe of marine notes, fig, amber, and clary sage, and it has me quite optimistic that Noyz will be around for a while.
Guy Fox Riviera Founder’s Reserve Extrait
If you encounter anything that the Guy Fox guys are up to, you can’t help but think “Man, they must have a good time.” And their 2024 unrolling of primo “Founder’s Reserve” scents has been fun to witness. The San Diego-based indie label is massively popular with its loyal followers, so much so that just securing a bottle of this stuff upon launch is the hardest task. So, act fast to get this summery scent while it’s still available: It’s equal parts fresh and sweet, thanks to a bergamot opening and fig-filled heart. Together they put a refreshing wind in your sails, until a calming ambrous base anchors the essence for the next few hours.
Louis Vuitton Lovers EDP
The scent of the sun, or the olfactive expression of its rays illuminating the skin: That’s what’s bottled up inside this shimmery vessel, a collaboration between Louis Vuitton’s master perfumer Jacques Cavallier and men’s creative director Pharrell Williams. What registers as a summer staple unfolds as a perennial player, a spicy-woody expression that warms in winter as much as it beams in summer. I liked it from the jump, not as obviously as I have adored Cavallier’s other launches for LV. But it’s been a sleeper hit, something I reach for more frequently than any of those others. It has become a subtle mainstay—a reflective joy, rather than a conversation starter.
Matteo Parfums Lovers’ Dew
This is only the second scent from fragrance indie darling Matthew J. Sánchez, so if you get in the door now, you can say that you were part of his inevitable come-up. This one is on island time—whether you’re a million miles away with your favourite plus one, or blasting Jimmy Buffet poolside with a michelada in hand. It oozes “Out of Office”, with sea salt and wet stone, Oaxacan copal wood and prickly pear cactus, musk and pomelo… and a gorgeous vessel that recalls an Aztecan artifact.
Krigler Lindauer Löwe 08 EDP
Krigler’s citrusy-green scent is like summer camp for the senses; you’re instantly sunning on an inner tube, not a care in the world. And if you want to be more specific, you’re floating off Lindau island just off the Rhine RIver near Zurich and Liechtenstein—perhaps the scent’s cedarwood and sage round out that part of this otherwise citrus-tinged happy spell.
Ormonde Jayne Vanille des Afriques Intensivo Extrait
2024 is also the year of vanilla, as so many houses have conjured gourmand scents that elevate the once-polarising note to delectable heights. The best example of this is Ormonde Jayne, whose rousing powdery-gourmand expression walks the unisex line. It might lean ever so slightly feminine, which is exactly its strong suit when worn by man: Soothing, stirring, and slightly surprising.
New Notes Latte Mimosa Extrait
This sweet-floral gourmand is the latest addition to a dynamic and colourful cast of extraits in the New Notes line. And with castmates like Cocktail Maracuja, Erotika Minimale, and New Leather, it has a lot of competition for that spotlight. And yet, it wows the crowd while erring on the side of subtlety, its musky, powdery, and floral layers reveal a creamy, satisfying dry down.
Parfums de Marly Perseus EDP
If ever there was a scent that could summarize summer—or have you dreaming of it during the sluggish haul of February—it’s undoubtedly Perseus. There’s a throughline of island-mind scents on this roster, but Perseus feels somehow akin to a Midwest summer to me. It’s a fresh lemonade as you stare out over the plains, somehow managing in the 100-degree heat. Its bergamot, grapefruit, and blackcurrant top notes pull the most weight here, but its spicy-woody-resinous base and heart notes keep it grounded in unisex territory.
Eauso Vert Salvia Salvia EDP
This surge of sage is one of my favourites to wear around the house—and out of the house of course, but I find it positively peaceful when I need to hit a deadline or be productive running errands. The brand compares Salvia Salvia to “rain cascading through humid skies,” and I have to agree; there’s a restorative peace in this mineral-musky potion, which is the second scent on this list from master perfumer Rodrigo Flores Roux (Arquiste’s being the other).
Montblanc Black Meisterstück EDP
As a centennial celebration of Montblanc’s iconic Meisterstück pen, the Hamburg-ers have launched a quartet of fragrances that celebrate their heritage, ranging from a nod to leather craftsmanship to the enormity and mystique of Mont Blanc mountain. But we must zero in on this ode to the legendary pen itself, which resembles the label’s own ink vessels. Black Meisterstück EDP is a woody-spicy incense, with notes of ginger, nutmeg, vetiver, patchouli, and resin. Save this one for winter, for ski lodges, or for your promotion to the C-suite.
Nishane Deziro Extrait
Amber waves of geranium—that’s one way to describe Deziro, an ambrous, floral, marine-watery expression. The other way to describe it? Hella horny. Within those currents are sensual hints of earthy cypriol, licorice-tinged star anise, and mood-elevating mint, but it is much more forward with its masculine musky and ambery notes.
