Winter Fragrances

LIKE YOUR WARDROBE, your fragrance rotation should change with the seasons. Even if Australian winters are relatively mild and you’ve already settled on a signature fragrance, your olfactory senses deserve to be treated to more seasonally suitable scents. In summer, fresh and citrusy fragrances should be your go-to, but when winter rolls around, your aromatic palette requires some diversity.

What constitutes the ideal winter fragrance depends on your preferences. Although, you should stick to warm scents with woody or spicy notes. A tobacco-based fragrance is also a fairly safe bet. The goal here is to create a warm and musky smell that is naturally heavier and will last longer on skin or clothes, providing the necessary heat to warm up the winter.

To help you decide on a signature winter scent, we’ve rounded up our favourites, with a variety of options for aromatic aficionados of all tastes. These winter fragrances will allow you to embrace winter, rather than endure it.


Rabanne Invictus Victory Elixir

Type: Eau de Parfum

Base notes: Amber and wood

Rabanne’s Invictus Victory Elixir has the ideal baselayer for a winter fragrance, with notes of amber and wood. The scent is really a global effort, with lavender sourced from the French region of Provence, accompanied by black pepper, green cardamom, Indonesian patchouli, hand-harvested Somalian incense, Madagascan vanilla, and the coup de grâce, the concentrated nectar of a tonka bean.

Montblanc Explorer Platinum

Type: Eau de Parfum

Base notes: Rich wood

Montblanc’s signature Explorer collection evokes the spirit of adventure. The fragrance’s new platinum edition takes that philosophy one step further. This time, with a resonant, earthy aroma built on woody notes from cypress and cedarwood. Traces of grapefruit, violet leaves and sage lend the scent an air of refinement. While you can’t feel a scent, the Explorer Platinum’s woodiness can only be described as textural. To prove that we’re not going crazy from inhaling too many rich fragrances, you’ll need to smell this one for yourself.

Dior Homme

Type: Eau de Toilette

Base notes: Intense wood

Few men could serve as a better fragrance ambassador than Robert Pattinson – and even fewer products have the actors stamp of approval, Dior Homme being one of the lucky few. This fragrance is both powerful and fresh, delivering an intense woody aroma with atlas cedar and cashmere wood laced with patchouli and vetiver. You can do a lot worse than smelling like Robert Pattinson.

Givenchy Gentleman Reserve Privee

Type: Eau de Parfum

Base notes: Smoky wood

Reserve Privee is the most recent addition to Givenchy’s ‘Gentleman’ stable. The fragrance focuses on a whiskey note which originates in the Scottish highlands and is later refined in Grasse, France – which any self-respecting connoisseur of upscale colognes will know is the fragrance capital of the world. Gentlemen Reserve Privee is a smoky concoction with touches of bergamot, coriander and even chestnut.

Hermès H24

Type: Eau de Toilette

Base notes: Fruity wood

Yes, we did say that the ideal winter fragrance will be heavier, so as to remain on your person for longer. But sometimes an Eau de Toilette comes by that simply cannot be ignored. H24 from Hermès certainly fits that bill, with a rosewood base joined by enveloping notes of sage, narcissus and sclarene. Just be ready to reapply.

Moncler Pour Homme

Type: Eau de Parfum

Base notes: Alpine wood

At this stage of the list, it feels like we’ve touched on nearly every type of woody aroma. Yet, there’s still more to come. This time we’re taking an olfactory journey through the Italian Alps, as that is what smelling Moncler Pour Homme is supposed to feel like. The fragrance uses a variety of alpine mountain woods mixed with vetiver and sage for an energising and distinctly earthy scent.

Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille

Type: Eau de Parfum

Base notes: Tobacco and spice

Winter is when tobacco-based fragrances shine, and they don’t come more renowned than Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille. The fragrance of the moment combines a classic tobacco aroma with notes of creamy tonka bean, vanilla, cocoa, fruit and wood sap. Tobacco Vanille is popular for a reason, and there’s no better time to wear it than when its spicy warmth is needed most.

Hugo Boss Bottled Parfum

Type: Eau de Parfum

Base notes: Amber and wood

If you’re the kind of person who likes to attract attention and doesn’t mind being told that you smell amazing, Hugo Boss’ signature Eau de Parfum could be for you. The scent draws on a base of amber and wood, merging it with notes of orris concrete and fig tree root for a refined yet powerful fragrance.

Yves Saint Laurent Y

Type: Eau de Parfum

Base notes: Fresh and wood

Look, we know that we said fresh smelling fragrances are best left to summer and spring, but there are some exceptions. Y, by Yves Saint Lauren, is one of the few fragrances that can stay in your rotation year-round. That’s because it blends fresh and woody notes. Sage and geranium provide that revitalising freshness, while subtle hints of wood ground it in understated elegance.

Parfums de Marly Herod

Type: Eau de Parfum

Base notes: Tobacco and wood

Like we said earlier, tobacco fragrances come out of the woodwork in winter. Herod by Parfums de Marly might not have the following of Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille, but its quality rivals the genre’s best. Herod mixes tobacco and vanilla, with traces of tonka bean and a hint of cinnamon.