Author: Berry Matijssen
Reading time: 6 min 31 sec
Last update: 5 January 2024
Index
1. Introduction to the search for the best male frangrance
2. Selection of fragrances included in the analysis
3. Which fragrance types are most popular
4. Ranking the fragrances with the use of Pareto
5. The best summer or daytime fragrance
6. The ultimate winter or evening scent
7. A moderate sillage fragrance that offends nobody
8. The best pronounced scent to make a statement
9. Conclusion on the search for the best gentleman scent
1. Introduction to the search for the best male fragrance
Fragrances for men add that little bit of extra to their personalities and are a great joy to wear. They come in many forms and shapes with famous brands such as Versace, Armani, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana and Chanel being names recognized by everyone. Its character can be designed differently with a focus on citrus, woody, aromatic, fruity, spicy and other notes.
They make a great gift and it is always a good idea to think about what to buy for your partner (or yourself). Unfortunately, it is not easy to try them all as there are many of them. In most perfume shops you can test them, but trying too many of them can make you nose-blind and make it difficult to distinguish all of them. Therefore, it is handy to have a guide available that helps you prioritize a few.
Fragrances are very personal. What is liked by one person can be completely disliked by others. This makes it hard to base your opinion on what you read on the internet. Many of the online stores have very positive reviews about fragrances which is expected as those customers have purchased the fragrance.
The ultimate review site for fragrances is fragrantica.com. This website has become the beholder of all knowledge about fragrances. All of them get scored, but there is more information available such as the count of scores, sillage, longevity and many reviews. These reviews usually provide a better description of how someone has experienced a fragrance compared to online stores and provides a much better insight into its better and lesser properties.
There is a drawback to using the fragrantica website that is related to its user base. It is not possible to characterize the people who leave the feedback, but because it is an online resource that specializes in fragrances, it is likely that the user demographics that provide the input represent a certain group more than others. Furthermore, it could be argued that this group has a stronger interest in fragrances and, therefore, does not necessarily represent a wide audience. But given that it is the leading resource and the expertise shown by several of its users, the provided information can be considered valuable.
2. Selection of fragrances included in the analysis
There are many fragrances available for purchase. To include all of them in this comparison is much work and unlikely to influence the outcome. The goal is to find a set of very good fragrances, not to compare them to the ones that have low interest. This means that only fragrances that rank highly on fragrantica were selected and a choice was made to include thirty of them.
Just taking the top 30 creates an unrealistic list for comparison as not all of them are relevant. An additional choice was made to include only the so-called designer fragrances. These often fall in the price category of 60-100 euro’s (or dollars), are of high quality, intended to have mass appeal and are created by famous design houses. The affordable fragrances are ignored as they target a different audience. Clone fragrances are excluded as their driver for sales is an alternative to an expensive parfume. Lastly, niche fragrances were excluded as they are expensive, meaning they are not in reach for many people, making it irrelevant if they are at the top of the list.
There are two features that need to be converted. These are sillage and longevity. Sillage indicates how well a fragrance leaves a trail when you walk past. This is related to projection which describes the distance at which someone can pick up a fragrance. Longevity means how long a fragrance can be smelled after aplied to the skin. A higher longevity is considered a better fragrance as it can be picked up for more hours. Both features (sillage and longevity) are converted into two classes, which are medium and high/long.
3. Which fragrance types are most popular
Fragrances can be subdivided into different types. Based on the available data, an easy subdivide is summer and winter and another possibility is daytime and evening. There is a strong link between summer and daytime and between winter and evening perfumes. For this analysis, both are shown separately and can be compared based on ratings or review.
When comparing summer and winter, the ratings show that the summer fragrances are positioned more in the middle, while the winter ones are more located in the higher and lower range. This view is extended through the review count which shows more summer fragrances in the mid-range while the winter fragrance have many highly and moderately reviewed ones. One could argue that summer fragrances tend to do quite well, but winter fragrances have the ability to become bigger sales hits or perform worse.
The results for daytime or evening scents are comparable to results for season. Daytime fragrances tend to score well, but evening fragrances have the ability to achieve this ultimate fragrance status.
It was noticed that there are more winter/evening fragrances than summer/daytime. The reason could be that it is difficult to market a new competing daytime fragrance or develop a distinguishable one that performs very well. In contrast, the evening fragrance could have more variety in scent and there is more room for high ranked and highly reviewed ones. Another explanation could be that more people buy evening fragrances and only wear them for special occasions. In other words, there could be a larger market for nighttime colognes.
4. Ranking the fragrances with the use of Pareto
The most obvious way of ranking the fragrances is to subdivide them into categories and rank them according to their amount of reviews or ratings. Ideally, both of them are listed on top making them the best in their respective category. In general, this rarely happens. Another challenge is to distinguish between scores. When a fragrance scores a 4.36 and another one scores a 4.33 then one of them scores the highest. In reality, this difference is neglectable and would be rated as equal. For example, the availability of this fragrance in a certain market or hype created in social media could give it a small boost in score. Although a straightforward scoring can be used, an alternative way of selecting the best ones in the form of Pareto ranking will also be used.
Pareto ranking attempts to use multiple parameters to rank the best fragrances on top. But instead of having an individual ranking, a group is being ranked at the top This makes sense as when comparing multiple features, there is a trade-off meaning that the sum of different properties can balance each other out. The choice of properties was (1) count of reviews to indicate its popularity, (2) the rating to quantify the user experience and (3) the longevity as a parameter that shows the quality of the fragrance. These three should be optimized to deliver the perfect perfume.
The picture below shows the rating plotted against the rating count. Not shown is the longevity, although it is taken into account. The red dots represent the top rank and yellow the second-best rank. This shows the feature diversity while still being equally the best, although in a different way. In the following result, the top-ranked fragrances will be determined.
5. The best summer or daytime fragrance
The first category to be analyzed is the summer or daytime fragrances. The Pareto ranking of this group shows four different ones. As a sidenote, the analysis for summer and daytime were done separately, but the results were identical. Interestingly, the selected ones show a good amount of diversity in their analyzed parameters. JPG Le Beau Le Parfum is rated highest, but does not have the most reviews. The reason is that it has been introduced more recently and requires more time to get the same amount of reviews. However, its popularity now, does not guarantee it will hold up in the future. In contrast, Terre D’Hermes has the most reviews, but is rated the lowest of the four. So it is popular (and has been around for a long time), and the user experience is good, but not exceptional. The other two, Blue de Chanel and Acqua di Gio Profumo fall in between. These fragrances have a different nature with Chanel and Hermes being citrus-based, Profuma having an aquatic scent and Le Beau providing a tropical vibe with coconut.
6. The ultimate winter or evening scent
The winter and evening scents are worn most on evenings out. Out of all the fragrances, there are six listed in the top Pareto rank. In this list JPG Le Male is rated highest and YSL La Nuit de l’Homme is the most reviewed. Remember that the Pareto rank rates all six equally and does not distinguish between them. The one that gets both a high score and high reviews is Dior Homme Intense. This is regarded by the fragrance community as one of the best fragrances of all time. An honorable mention should go to Dior Fahrenheit which gets rated moderately, but with many reviews. This has a very attractive scent profile and has been around for a long time, but is not appealing to everyone. The selected fragrances are a mix of sweet, woody, spicy, citrus and leather. This clearly shows the value of the Pareto rank as each individual can pick their own preferred scent while being equal to each other.
7. A moderate sillage fragrance that offends nobody
Another option is to select a moderate sillage fragrance. These are more intimate and better suited for an environment like the office. There are six that rank highest and are similar to the summer or daytime fragrances. However, there are two perfumes that are different. The first one is D&G The One Parfum and the other one is YSL La Nuit de l’Homme. Both are not the highest rated or the most reviewed. The fragrance that is rated highest is JPG Le Male Le Parfum and the most reviewed is Terre d’Hermes.
8. The best pronounced scent to make a statement
When sillage is high, this feature can be used to select the most pronounced fragrances. The selected high sillage fragrances produce a similar list to winter or evening scents, but two fall out. The result is a selection that is considered better for clubbing than for dinner. The highest rated is Spicebomb Extreme which has a name matching its quality. The most reviewed is Fahrenheit. The other two Dior Homme intense and Sauvage Elixer fall in between. Again, the types are different with spicy, powdery, citrus and leather creating different tones. As these are very pronounced fragrances, it is recommended to try them out first and not make a blind purchase to make sure that they fit your personality and the environment in which you intend to use them.
9. Conclusion on the search for the best gentleman scent
As mentioned earlier, fragrances are personal and it is difficult to select the best one. However, it is well possible to create a category of fragrance (e.g., summer, high sillage) and select a small group that are the best based on a small set of criteria (rating count, score, longevity). This results in a few different-smelling fragrances being listed at the top. This makes a nice start to search for your perfect cologne or perfume as these are the ones that should be tested. The small set allows you to order a few samples or focus your testing in-store.
A different finding was that many fragrance types are related to each other. In general, a summer fragrance is similar to what is preferred to wear in daytime and has a moderate sillage. In contrast, the winter scents that use more suitable for the evening and have a tendency for a higher sillage. This is a generalization and exceptions certainly exist.
Disclaimer
The author of this article is a big fan of a nice fragrance. He did make a few different purchases before completing this work which are Guerlain l’Homme Ideal, Dolce & Gabbana the One and Chanel Allure Homme. His next step will be to get a few samples of the fragrances listed in this analysis which likely will lead to another purchase (or two).
