During the summer months, we turn to lighter and more comfortable fabrics and we also will turn to light, fresh and comfortable summer scents. Many traditional fragrances for men, if you’ve watched both of our traditional fragrance videos are quite heavy and intense. These are not ideal for the summer months. So, today, we’re going to look at a series of great summer scents that are light and airy that have some great herbal and floral citrusy scents.

Popular Summer Notes

Bergamot

There are many notes that define a summer scent — the first one being Bergamot. This comes from the Bergamot orange, a citrus fruit that is derived for its essential oil coming from the rind. This scent is described as a lightly floral, sweet orange peel. You might be familiar with this scent as it is often used to flavor earl grey tea.

Bergamot Oranges

Neroli

Neroli is an essential oil gathered from the blossoms of a bitter orange tree. The blossoms are hand-picked and the oil is steamed and distilled. It’s spicy with sweet flowery notes which make it excellent for summer.

Neroli is derived from the bitter orange tree

Herbs

Many of the popular herbs used as notes in great summer scents include rosemary, coriander, patchouli, and mint. These green plants are highly aromatic and fresh and provide lightness. 

Rosemary is among the popular herb used as notes in great summer scents

Citrus & Fruits

This will include lemon, pineapple, mandarin orange, and bitter orange. Citrus tends to be a top note in a fragrance. It’s bright in the beginning but the seam will quickly fade.

Citrus & fruits include lemon, pineapple, mandarin orange, and bitter orange.

Floral

Last but not least, we have florals. The floral scents aren’t usually considered manly. They can be laid with other scents to create the perfect masculine summer scent. Many popular floral notes include lavender, orange blossom, violet, jasmine, geranium, and rose. These sun profiles generally correlate with fragrances that are great for daytime wear. This means that these fragrances can easily transition into being fragrances that can be worn all year round.

Many popular floral notes include lavender, orange blossom, violet, jasmine, geranium, and rose.

Our Top 10 Summer Fragrances

1. Mont Blanc Individuel

This was created in 2003 and is a long time favorite of both Rafael and Teresa. This brand isn’t necessarily known as being a cologne house but this fragrance is great nonetheless. This is an oriental woody fragrance and it’s one of the heavier scents on this list. The wonderful thing is that this can be worn all year round and although it’s usually listed for $75, it can often be found for as low as $35.

Top fragrance notes include pineapple, coriander, rosemary, cinnamon, lavender, juniper berries, mint, bergamot, and cardamom. Middle notes include orange blossom, violet, jasmine, and geranium. Base notes include sandalwood, amber, patchouli, musk, raspberry, vanilla, dark chocolate, oakmoss, and vetiver.

Mont Blanc Individuel

2. Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo

In particular, we’re looking at the Bergamotto di Calabria. This scent was launched in 2008 from this over 100-year-old Italian brand. The Blu Mediterraneo is in a line of five scents; each featuring a destination within the Mediterranean and the bottle itself immediately speaks to cool ocean breezes on the Italian coast. This smells light fresh and incredibly summery. The scent is restrained and also quite elegant. You can often find this being sold for $120 for 74 milliliters. 

Top notes include bergamot and citron Heart notes include red ginger, cedar, and flowers, and base notes include vetiver, benzoin, and musk. 

Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo

3. Creed Aventus

No doubt, you’ve probably already heard of Creed Aventus as it’s one of the most popular fragrances that’s been released in the last decade. This scent was released in 2010 and it’s become one of the brand’s best sellers. It is inspired by Emperor Napoleon’s dramatic life. Some reviewers have even claimed that the Aventus is the best fragrance ever made. 

Interestingly, Aventus is made in batches so each batch is different from the last. That being said, it retails for $435 for 100 milliliters making it the most expensive scent on this list.

Top notes include black currant, bergamot, apple, and pineapple. Heart notes include rose, dry birch, jasmine, and patchouli. Base notes include oakmoss, musk, ambergris, and vanilla.

Creed Aventus

4. Tom Ford Neroli Portofino

If you search online for summery scents, it’s quite likely that you will come across Tom Ford’s Neroli Portofino scent and at $325 for 100 milliliters, we really wanted to see if it lived up to both the hype of the scent and also for the price; and to us, it seems quite unique compared to other scents but in a good way. 

Aventus for example is a bit more mainstream in its fragrance profile. This is a bit different; this thing comes in heavy on citrus but it’s much more well balanced with the herbs and floral scents. The scent is technically unisex even though we do find it still smells quite masculine, even though it doesn’t carry a lot of the more traditionally masculine scents like wood, however, this scent would easily transition well into fall because it is quite warm. Given the price, we highly recommend you start out with a sample first but if you really love the fragrance profile, it will be a worthwhile investment.

Top notes include bergamot, mandarin, orange lemon, lavender, myrtle, rosemary, and bitter orange. Middle notes include African orange flower, jasmine, neroli, and pittosporum and base notes include amberm, ambrette, and angelica.

Tom Ford Neroli Portofino

5. Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue Pour Homme

This scent is one of the lightest that we’ve tested in this lineup of fragrances. This scent is great for men who are big fans of aquatic fragrances. This scent was launched in 2007 and is well known for its marketing campaigns. The scent is sold for $75 for 75 milliliters.

Its top notes include Sicilian mandarin, juniper, grapefruit, and bergamot. Middle notes include rosemary, Brazilian rosewood, and pepper. Base notes include musk, oakmoss, and incense. 

Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue Pour Homme

6. Floris London Bergamotto Di Positano

This is described as a classic citrus marine fragrance from this long-standing British perfume house. Like many summer fragrances, this was inspired by the Italian coastline and sea breezes, all of which are ideal for summer. Bergamot oranges are grown in Calabria, so this scent combination does make sense. This fragrance was actually introduced in 2015. It is sold for $180 for 100 milliliters.

Top notes include bergamot, marine, and mandarin. Heart notes include green tea, orange blossom, ginger, and vanilla. Base notes include amber spice, ambrette, woods, and vanilla. 

Floris London Bergamotto Di Positano

7. Atelier Cologne Clementine California

This fragrance was launched in 2016 and is considered unisex. Top notes include mandarin orange, clementine, and juniper berry. Middle notes include basil, pepper, and star anise. Base notes include sandalwood, cypress, and Haitian vetiver.

Atelier Cologne Clementine California

8. Nishane Cologne

Now, let’s take a look at Nishane Cologne. Nishane is a niche perfumery out of Turkey that was launched in 2013. This has sold for $150 for 100 milliliters but keep in mind it has an 18 concentration of essence. This is based on the tradition of offering a lemon cologne to guests. This is a lemon-based fragrance that is still complex and unique.

Top notes include bergamot, lemon, green tea, and jasmine. Middle notes include grapefruit and muguet. Base notes include vetiver, neroli, and musk.

Nishane Colognise Extrait de Cologne

9. Versace Man Eau Fraiche

You might be surprised to hear us mention the flashy Italian brand Versace here, but this fragrance matches the scent profile for a summer fragrance perfectly. The scent is described as fresh and aquatic; top notes include lemon, bergamot, rosewood, and rose. Middle notes include cedar, tarragon, sage, and pepper. Base notes include amber, musk, saffron, and woods.

Versace Man Eau Fraiche

10. Bvlgari Aqua Pour Homme

This fragrance was launched in 2005 and already has quite the loyal following. This scent was a first in a line of similar scents from Bvlgari, so if this one isn’t quite your speed, feel free to take a look at some of their other offerings as well.

The scent is fresh and aquatic but still quite masculine due to the amber and woody notes. It is great for summer during the day because it is also very light, however, it does lack some of the deeper, more rich notes that would make it ideal to be worn in the evening. This scent is distinctly salty and beachy which is going to be great for some people. Others might find this to be a little bit too intense; this scent is actually known to be quite polarizing. It’s also got a great rounded bottle that’s going to look great on your counter.

Top notes include mandarin orange and petitgrain. Middle notes include Santolina lavender, cotton, and Posidonia seaweed. Base notes include mineral amber, woody notes, and clary sage. These have been some great summer scents that we’ve recommended.

Bvlgari Aqua Pour Homme

Personal Favorites from This List

1. Nishane Cologne

It’s a smooth and powerful scent that’s not too overpowering. It’s quite mature as well. The scent is very unique and is able to be worn in the day or night.

2. Atelier Cologne Clementine California

The strong clementine fragrance is phenomenal for summer and I love how it commands attention. Try wearing the scent out with friends or with colleagues.

Nishane is among Kyle’s favorite summer fragrances from this list

Bonus: Penhaligon’s Juniper Sling

In addition to these great summer scents, I recently have been enjoying Penhaligon’s Juniper Sling. It has truly become one of my personal newfound favorites. The Juniper Sling is a light and spicy scent that was released in 2011. It is a part of Penhaligon’s signature collection. This scent retails for about $200 for 100 milliliters.

Top notes include angelica, cinnamon, orange, and juniper berries. Middle notes include cardamom, orris root, leather, and pepper. Base notes include vetiver, cherry, sugar, and amber. Any of these choices is fantastic for summer and incorporating any of them into your morning routine will clearly serve you well.

Penhaligon Juniper Sling

What are your favorite summer scents and what do you love about them? Share them in the comments!