10 of the best spring fragrances, which balance woody and fresh notes
Mornings are still fresh, but the days are getting warmer. These spring fragrance will help springboard you into the new season
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MORNINGS ARE STILL cold, but by midday, you’re taking off your jacket to revel in the warmer vibes. A fragrance for a transitionary season like spring calls for a fragrance that transitions with the temp. And the best spring fragrances contrast unlikely ingredients, a subtle way of switching up your rotation, to still enjoy woody scents but dappled with fresher, lighter notes.
But don’t mistake lighter notes for fragrances that are strictly for the day, or to be worn for one season. We’ve found that herbs and spices balance out the lightness of cliched florals, creating aromatic and warm profiles. At Esquire, we’ve rounded up some of the best fragrances that showcase this contrasting olfactory experience for springtime, as well as considered all the popular spring notes paired with unlikely ingredients.
The best men’s spring fragrances in 2024
Dior Sauvage Eau Forte
Type: Eau Forte
Created from the nose of famed French perfumer Francis Kurkdijan, the new Eau Forte formulation of Dior’s Sauvage is as potent as the perfume – only this time made of water instead of alcohol. A spicy twist to an otherwise woody fragrance, it’s the lavender that softens it into a transitionary scent into spring.
Top notes: Elemi resin, spices
Middle notes: Lavender
Base notes: Musk and woody notes.
Montblanc Legend Blue
Type: Eau de Parfum
If woodier notes are your comfort zone, finding scents that are mixed with lighter, crisper notes are good way of branching out when looking for something for spring. Legend Blue has those profiles in lavender and mint in the top notes, while backed with sandalwood and moss that grounds it.
Top notes: Lavender, mint
Middle notes: Sandalwood, cedar
Base notes: Ambroxan, moss
YSL Myslf
Type: Eau de Parfum
A take on modern masculinity in a bottle, Myslf from the French house scores sensual textures from its woody and floral notes. The vibrant profile is the first impression, the Tunisian orange blossom making it a sure day scent. But it’s all about that contrasts that YSL believes makes the modern man, seen here in the bergamot and patchouli.
Top notes: Calabrian bergamot
Middle notes: Tunisian orange blossom
Base notes: Ambrofix, patchouli
Hermès H24 Herbes Vives
Type: Eau de Parfum
The smell of a city after rain is a specific, ephemeral scent profile to put into a bottle. The third instalment to their H24 perfume line, Hermès’s Herbes Vives is an understanding of this terrain: botanical and herbaceous, it’s an olfactory departure from woodier spring scents.
Top notes: Herbs
Middle notes: Pear
Base notes: Physcool
Boss Bottled
Type: Eau de Toilette
Boss Bottled has that musk for a spring day to night scent, brought on by notes of vanilla and bergamot to balance it out. Top notes of apple and lemon give it the initial citrus and fruity impression, but once it’s settled in, warm spices and wood from cinnamon and mahogany gives it that masculine edge.
Top notes: Apple plum, lemon, bergamot, oakmoss, geranium
Middle notes: Cinnamon, mahogany, carnation
Base notes: Vanilla, sandalwood, cedar, vetiver, olive tree
Tom Ford Beau de Jour
Type: Eau de Parfum
Florals are the obvious go when switching up the rotation for spring, but it’s all about what’s mixed that makes certain scents stand out from the rest. Lavender is the prominent floral detail in Tom Ford’s Beau de Jour, but rosemary, basil and patchouli in the mid and base notes gives it that aromatic, fresh spice.
Top notes: Lavender
Middle notes: Rosemary, oakmoss, mint, basil, geranium
Base notes: Patchouli, amber
Dyptique Philosykos
Type: Eau de Parfum
To take a page out of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, spring fragrances are your fig tree. Though it may take away from the nuances of Plath’s metaphor, spring is, after all, the season to try new things. The fruit takes centre stage in Dyptique’s Philosykos (‘the friend of the fig tree’ in Greek) that imagines the scent of a fig tree warmed by the sun. That imagery is evoked with cedar, fig, blackcurrent and coconut.
Top notes: Fig, coriander, blackcurrent
Middle notes: Coconut
Base notes: Fig tree, cedar, benzoin
Le Labo Santal 33
Type: Eau de Parfum
Warmth from Santal 33’s base notes of sandalwood and cedar are what makes it Le Labo’s most popular scent, and a seasonal all-rounder. But it’s the cardamom and iris in the top and mid-notes that gives it a notably spring profile.
Top notes: Cardamom, violet
Middle notes: Iris, ambrox
Base notes: Cedarwood, leather, sandalwood
Aesop Karst
Type: Eau de Parfum
As most of us anticipate warm enough weather to go to the beach, Karst from Aesop evokes said feeling. Herbaceous and spicy notes of rosemary, juniper and pink pepper balance out the thalassic profile for the season’s freshness; a garden along the shoreline.
Top notes: Juniper, bergamot, pink pepper
Middle notes: Rosemary, sage, cumin
Base notes: Vetiver, sandalwood, cedar
Dries Van Noten Cannabis Patchouli
Type: Eau de Parfum
The world of Belgian designer Dries Van Noten is one of contrasts. And spring is perhaps Van Noten’s season – who’s body of work is known for florals – making his latest venture into fragrances all the more apt for wearers seeking out masculine and feminine scents. Cannabis Patchouli makes a light and dark olfactive profile: sage diffuses an aromatic mid-note, contrasted with headier notes of cedar, vetiver and musk.
Top notes: Bergamot, cedar leaves
Middle notes: Sage incense, patchouli
Base notes: Vetiver, musk
What scent is best for spring?
Floral and herbaceous notes such as patchouli, lavender, juniper, orange blossom, fig and iris make for the best options for a spring fragrance. Particularly if you don’t want something overly floral, finding ones that are mixed with woody and spicy notes give the freshness some warmth. Again, thinking of contrasts is key.
