9 Best Colognes That Dad Will Love This Father’s Day

Chances are, your fatherly figure’s fragrance collection could use a new addition.

Like all fragrances, picking out the best colognes is rather subjective. With that being said, though, there are quite a few viral fan favorites and best-sellers (ahem, Dior and Chanel) that have become mainstays in quite a few fragrance collections. You just can’t go wrong with these crowd-pleasing picks, so whether you’re scent shopping for yourself or a loved one, we guarantee that these colognes are sure to exceed expectations.

Sure, colognes may have been tied to the stigmas of gender in the past, but it’s 2023 (and Pride Month, no less), so feel free to proudly spritz whatever scent you please. Many of the fragrances that have a scent profile we may typically associate as more masculine-leaning are actually really fabulous for anyone, so gendered marketing be damned.

What we know for sure is that when we love a fragrance, we’re gonna spray it on regardless. So we asked a few of our fellow fragrance lovers to share their favorite colognes that they love on themselves or someone else. Below, are nine scents you need to try, no matter how you identify them.

Our Top Picks

1. Best Overall: Dior Sauvage Eau de Parfum
2. Best Luxury: Chanel Bleu de Chanel Eau de Parfum
3. Best for Summer: Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio Eau de Toilette
4. For the Cool Guy: Le Labo Santal 33 Eau de Parfum
5. The Spicy Pick: Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club Eau de Toilette

1/9 Creed Aventus Cologne

Those who are in the know when it comes to colognes can’t stop raving about Creed’s luxury blends. The most popular pick from the brand is, without a doubt, the Aventus Cologne. This invigorating scent starts off with a burst of warm ginger, juicy mandarin, and spicy pink pepper that dries down to a mix of musky and woodsy base notes like styrax, birch, musk, and tonka.

2/9 Chanel Bleu de Chanel Eau de Parfum

After you get one whiff of Chanel’s Bleu de Chanel Eau de Parfum, we bet it’ll become your next signature scent. This ever-popular cologne features top notes of zesty grapefruit that combine with woody notes of sandalwood and cedar to create a harmoniously balanced scent that can be worn year-round.

3/9 Le Labo Santal 33 Eau de Parfum

Chances are, you may already have a bottle of Le Labo’s Santal 33 Eau de Parfum — so consider this your sign to restock, stat. This modern classic’s main fragrance note is, of course, warm and earthy santal, but you’ll also catch hints of cardamom, iris, papyrus, and cedarwood in this unisex fragrance.

4/9 Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio Eau de Toilette

Want to go on an Italian getaway to the Amalfi Coast? Maybe your budget doesn’t allow for that, but you can definitely evoke the spirit of a beachside European vacation by spritzing on Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio Eau de Toilette. Each spray of this delightfully aquatic eau de toilette begins with notes of bergamot, neroli, and green tangerine that dry down and combine with an herbaceous mix of rosemary, persimmon, and Indonesian patchouli.

5/9 Paco Rabanne Invictus Platinum Eau de Parfum

Paco Rabanne’s Invictus Platinum has associate features director Dianna Mazzone hooked. “This kinda-citrusy, kinda-earthy scent is made with grapefruit, cypress wood, and — wait for it — lavender,” she says. “In my honest opinion, the floral note is the secret sauce that makes this fragrance so delightfully unexpected. The resulting blend is at once calming and uplifting.”

6/9 Tom Ford Ombré Leather

“Tom Ford describes its universally loved Ombré Leather fragrance as a ‘second skin’ because that’s exactly what it is — at least to me,” says news editor Nicola Dall’Asen. “The spicy leather and muted floral notes melt into my skin until it smells like something akin to coziness itself.” This is the scent that brings her back to earth on days when she’s feeling a little off-balance. “It snaps me right back into place.”

7/9 Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club Eau de Toilette

Maison Margiela’s Jazz Club is loved by folks of all genders and, ironically, it is some of the more masculine-leaning notes like tobacco leaf and rum that make it so broadly popular. This warm scent transports you directly to a speakeasy, one that is below street level, where the owner allows you to smoke inside.

8/9 Dior Sauvage Eau de Parfum

Senior commerce writer Angela Trakoshis says this is her dad’s “ultimate fragrance.” And, given its popularity, we’d say there are tons of folks who agree. “He adores the woods-meets-citrus notes in this scent so much that every time he travels, he makes sure to stock up on bottles at duty-free,” she says.

9/9 Maison Francis Kurkdjian Gentle Fluidity Silver

If you really want to experience the transformative power of scent, Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Gentle Fluidity duo comes in Gold and Silver versions that smell radically different, but are actually composed of the same notes — just in different concentrations.

Juniper berries, nutmeg, coriander, musks, amber wood, and vanilla make up this elixir, and while the Gold version skews more warm and vanilla, Silver is fresh, spicy, and aromatic. It smells like you’re washing with a really expensive soap or an equally pricey aftershave and it’s just the thing to spritz on at the start of a hot summer day or a night out.