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Finding a new favorite fragrance feels great. But if it’s one that wears off a mere hour or two after application, then it can be a bit of a letdown. This usually happens with scents that have a lower perfume oil concentration or poor formulation. Then again, perhaps you wanted a low concentration of perfume oils, in which case, the short lifespan can be a good thing.
How can you predict a scent’s longevity? While it’s hard to know this without visiting fragrance databases like Fragrantica, you can otherwise trust the label to suggest a scent’s “concentration” of perfume oils. The most popular category and broadest range is Eau de Parfums (EDPs) which typically have a perfume-oil concentration in the range of 10 percent to 20 percent, whereas Eau de Toilettes (EDTs) have 5 percent to 10 percent, and Eau de Colognes (EDCs) have three percent to five percent. Eau Fraiches go even lower. (Keep in mind that fragrance nomenclature can get a bit muddled, especially since we spent so many years gendering words like “cologne” for men and “perfume” for women.)
Even within those ranges, you can get some EDPs that wear for hours and cast a wide radius, while others fall on the lower end and dissipate quickly. That’s why many people skip the EDP altogether and jump right on up to the next rung: The parfums and extraits. You might see them listed as extraits de parfum (perfume extracts), pure parfum or perfume oil. These often jump right up into the 30 percent or 40 percent concentration range, but all are above the EDP cutoff of 20 percent. For this reason, a little goes a long way—as in, it lasts a long time, thanks to the higher concentration of perfume oils. So while their price tags may look twice as steep, that’s because, in theory, the bottle will last perhaps twice as long, since you won’t have to reapply the fragrance throughout the day.
But don’t mistake the message here. Powerful doesn’t necessarily mean better. “I love it when someone says I smell good after a day out and about, but, it’s not always or only about longevity,” says Carlos Huber, founder of Arquiste Parfumeur. “I wear fragrance first and foremost for myself. Eau de colognes and eau de toilettes are designed for the beauty of a moment. They have light, vibrant, citrusy, and botanical notes which are by nature’s design refreshing and fleeting. They are naturally effervescent, which means they lift off the skin and are not meant to last for a long time.”
However, if you want something with all-day power and endurance, we’ll give you a roster of our 10 favorite extraits/parfums below. But first, let’s say you’ve already got a scent that you love—an EDT or EDP perhaps—and you simply want to maximize its potential wear. Here are a few tips for fragrance longevity from Huber.
How to Make Your Fragrance Last Longer
1. Moisturize your skin
Dry skin won’t hold or project the perfume as well as well hydrated skin, says Huber. “Lather up and moisturize with an unscented lotion to make sure your fragrance lasts longer.”
2. Apply to your collar
“If your fragrance is clear, and your clothes are not too delicate, you can also spray once or twice over the fabric, but only a little as you don’t want any stains or damage,” Huber says.
3. Store it away from intense heat and light
Direct sunlight and high temperatures will cut a scent’s shelf life significantly. Huber suggests storing them Inside a medicine cabinet or on a bedroom dresser—anyplace where the doesn’t hit them.
4. Get a travel version of your favorite scent
Find a smaller vial of your go-to scent, or a refillable pump that the brand might sell. Use that to tote the scent with you and simply top-up midday when you need a reboot. “If what you want is longevity but your fragrance’s notes are naturally light, then just reapply midday,” Huber says. “What a lovely way to add a little moment of indulgence by and by!”
5. Build out your fragrance portfolio
Nobody said you have to smell the exact same all the time. Maybe you use one scent for the office—so it only has to get you through the late afternoon—and another for after-hours and weekends. You can store that second one in your desk drawer, and a backup at home, so that you can express whatever mood or attitude you need when the collar is unbuttoned. Try out different scents for each season, too; something that wears like a wool sweater in winter will feel out of place in summer; use that as an excuse to get something aquatic or green in the warmer months.
The Longest Lasting Fragrances for Men
Here are those extraits/parfums that will last the entire day with a spritz or two.
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Dior Sauvage Elixir
Image Credit: Dior The most concentrated take on beloved Sauvage, this “Elixir” would be a major commodity in the spice-fueled world of Dune. Licorice meets cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg, resulting in an extremely sexy, spellbinding, and muscled-up potion. Call it Sauvage on steroids, a wonderfully heady spicy-woody expression. While it’s got some seriously universal appeal, Sauvage Elixir might feel too forward at work, so save it for after hours, when it can really work its alluring, libidinous magic.
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Yves Saint Laurent Y Le Parfum
Image Credit: Sephora This best-smeller is a punched-up version of the Y eau de toilette (which has been spun into every level of concentration available). Of everything on this list, Y Le Parfum might also be the most uplifting and “signature scent” ready, given its perennial zeal and perfectly balanced blend of tonka, lavender, cedarwood, and sweet apple. But even with signature options, keep a light touch: A little still goes a long way with this cost-effective pick.
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Kilian Angels Share Eau de Parfum
Image Credit: Sephora This masterpiece might be the best gourmand scent in the game; we often joke that fragrances in this class are “so good you want to drink them,” but this one is dangerously tempting. It’s cognac, cinnamon, vanilla, and praline notes are perfectly balanced. While many vanilla-forward scents polarize, this one magnetizes, and although its an EDP, it vibrates well into the wee hours of the night.
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Parfums de Marly Carlisle Eau de Parfum
Image Credit: Saks Fifth Avenue And speaking of terrific vanilla expressions, Carlisle gives us this sunny but smoky spin, which puts other EDPs to shame with its pronounced sillage and endurance. It’s best for the back half of the year, when you want a fragrance to punctuate a dressed-up sweater and wool trousers, or those nights when you want to smell confident and gentlemanly. Carlisle has an air of mystery, but it invites questions—none too shy about its sultry, approachable masculinity.
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Tom Ford Ombré Leather Parfum
Image Credit: Sephora Everyone loves a leather fragrance when the time is right, which explains Tom Ford Ombré Leather’s enduring popularity. This higher-dosed Parfum expression has an ozonic radiance and a powdery push from both violet and orris (it leans masculine, sophisticated and sexy). It’s great to spritz on a tote, a work bag, your winter gloves—while it lingers on your skin for a day or more, it’ll project subtly from these everyday carries in a way that both soothes and excites you around the clock.
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Mind Games Checkmate Extrait de Parfum
Image Credit: Saks Fifth Avenue Rose and tobacco go toe-to-toe in Checkmate, and the winner of this chess match is… you. You can practically hear the Champagne bottle go pop with that first spritz, which continues as it casts an effervescent radius. An undercurrent of bourbon contrasts the prominent rosiness, enough that it pulls everything into unisex territory. It’ll make you smell approachable and open-minded, like an old soul with great taste.
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Frédéric Malle Portrait of a Lady Parfum
Image Credit: Mr Porter The name Portrait of a Lady might suggest that this is a women’s perfume, but it’s a perfectly unisex expression of mind-calming rose, ethereal musk, rousing patchouli, and spicy clove. If you’re a man wearing this, the come-hither effect it’ll have on your +1 will be near instant. If you’re a woman wearing this, the what-are-you-wearings will pour in. And while it is sensual and sophisticated, we like it more for intimate at-home affairs, even if you’re spending a quiet night in with wine and a book. Its endurance will get you through the bottle, and cover to cover.
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Perfumehead Cosmic Cowboy
Image Credit: Perfumehead Perfumehead is perfumery’s much-buzzed-about new kid on the block, having launched last year with seven supercharged extraits. Each one is a love letter to Los Angeles or pop culture, and the nose behind the label—Daniel Patrick Giles—says they’re all olfactive screenplays. If that’s so, then you’ll love the smoky and velvety Cosmic Cowboy, which recalls the Sunset Strip in the 1970s. It has a resinous and spicy first act, which establishes the scene with galbanum, cinnamon bark, and orris butter. Then, an inciting incident (let’s call it whiskey and tobacco leaf) propel the plot forward, until amber, cacao, suede, and musk carry us to the end (which is many many many hours after application).
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Chris Collins Sweet Taboo
Image Credit: Chris Collins A gourmand gem, Sweet Taboo is a tasteful medley of vanilla, tonka bean, cacao, coffee, cardamom, and cinnamon. It has a seductive expression with some serious endurance—a couple of quick pumps of this scent will smell great for hours on end. And you may just enjoy its resinous, musky base notes as much as its delicious-smelling top notes.
Buy Now on Chris Collins: $225
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Creed Royal Oud
Image Credit: Neiman Marcus While Creed’s fan-favorite Aventus would be an obvious pick here, we have to award Royal Oud the coveted spot on our roster. It is woody most of all: oud, cedar, and sandalwood give this one its regal structure, while musk, resin, pink berries, and lemon give it heart and levity. Royal Oud is a mature scent, one that suggests wisdom and perspective in the wearer. It’s a heavy crown to wear, in the best (and longest-lasting) way possible.
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Byredo Night Veils Reine de Nuit
Image Credit: Nordstrom Byredo’s Night Veils Reine de Nuit does what so many male-targeted extraits refuse to do: It focuses on levity and sweetness. Most focus on virility and power, and rightfully, given that the wearer wants strength and longevity. But there’s often a lightness missing, too, which highlights many women’s extraits. Byredeo’s summons musk, amber and incense, but it also centers on refreshing midnight rose, and imagines how that delicate scent unfolds after dark. In any other formulation, it might smell too sweet, but in Byredo’s care, a rose is an olfactive weapon.
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Strangelove Dead of Night
Speaking of sultry after-hours roses, Dead of Night combines Damask rose with oud, balsam, amber, vanilla, and musk. This perfume house is as niche-luxury as it gets, with renowned nose Christophe Laudamiel in the lab, legendary supermodel Helena Christensen consulting and globetrotting expert sourcer Elizabeth Gaynes as founder and CEO. This one feels handcrafted by Eros and Aphrodite—alas, the Strangelove team is merely (super)human.
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Maison Francis Kurkdjian Paris Baccarat Rouge 540
Image Credit: Nordstrom The fine folks at Maison Francis Kurkdjian Paris have done us a favor by offering a selection of their best EDPs in a richer, higher-grade extrait formula. Our favorite (and the internet’s) is Baccarat Rouge 540 in parfum form. Here is a warming blanket of a scent, made of Egyptian jasmine, musk, ambergris, saffron and Moroccan bitter almond. It deserves consideration as your new signature scent—for day or night wear, though in the summer it may feel slightly too warm. But consider too that you might recall the scent on a jacket collar many months after it was first applied.
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Krigler Lieber Gustav 14
Image Credit: Krigler Imagined as a love letter from a woman to her soulmate Gustav in 1910s Berlin, Lieber Gustav 14 is perfect for the hard-working man in a suit. It softens his edges a bit, with fresh lavender and black tea—but not so soft that those leather and sandalwood notes don’t pronounce themselves, too. Lieber Gustav 14 works as hard as its wearer, as anyone close to Krigler’s highly concentrated assortment knows all too well. Many people love to collect the brand’s storied scents, which are also easy to accumulate at the finest hotel boutiques as you traverse the U.S., Germany, Austria, and France.
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Roja Dove Enigma Pour Homme
Image Credit: Roja Parfums If you want your cologne to arouse curiosity in those who encounter you, then meet Enigma Pour Homme. It cloaks you in mystery with its spicy and sultry notes—cognac, pepper, ginger, vanilla and tobacco. This one lasts all day (or all night, when it is best worn), and it warms up winter evenings. Roja’s reputation for ingredient sourcing is unmatched in the perfume world, and it shows in Enigma best of all.
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Amouage Interlude 53
Image Credit: Amouage Never was “a little goes a long way” any more true. Here is Amouage’s extrait expression of its beloved Interlude EDP. That “53” in Interlude’s name stands for the jaw-dropping 53 percent perfume concentration. Its notes tell an alluring story: leather, smoke, resin, amber, oud, patchouli, frankincense… and it won’t fade from anyone’s memory after they encounter you, much like it won’t soon fade from your own skin.
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Nishane Hacivat
Image Credit: Lucky Scent Nishane’s best extrait announces you as approachable and enduring—rather than trying to cast a love spell like so many other pure parfums. A refreshing roster of notes also makes it a daytime standout amongst any night-crawling extrait roster. Pineapple, grapefruit, bergamot and moss give it sweet, crisp and earthy green notes, while cedar and patchouli round out its woody cyphre-ness. It’s a perfect match for the startup executive who wants to make an uplifting (albeit strong) impression.
