5 Masculine-Leaning and Unisex Scents I Would 100% Add to Cart
Sadaf Razi is Adore Beauty's Senior Beauty Editor.
She's a former fashion editor (who worked at various glossy mags) and stylist-turned digital beauty and lifestyle writer. She has been in the lifestyle/media industry for over 10 years and her work has also been featured on international covers like Elle France and Vanity Fair Mexico.
Some of her fave Adore Beauty products include Cicaplast B5, CeraVe Cleansing Oil and Lancôme Renergie Triple Serum.
My brother has a top-tier fragrance collection.
A huge scent enthusiast, he even has zip lock bags with mini perfume vials separated by their sillage and top notes. Yep.
When I ventured into his room one night to ask him about my insurance (older sibling tings) I found a book about fragrances on his nightstand.
His overzealous love for fragrance led me to spray pretty much every perfume in his scent wardrobe and after leaving what looked like a makeshift fragrance store set up in his bathroom, he sent me on my way with some free samples.
Through his very kind customer service, I actually discovered so many good unisex and masculine-leaning scents I would totally purchase.
In fact, he was the reason I was first introduced to my first unique Goldfield & Banks scent.
Though I identify as female, scent is so personal and it doesn’t have a gender.
I gravitate a lot towards typically-masculine notes like leather, pepper etc. and that’s why I would add these sexy masculine scents to cart, because their notes speak to me, bring me joy and I think they smell cool on my clothes.
Inspired by my brother’s elite taste in cool unisex fragrances I started to keep a mental note of the ones I’ve been loving over the last year.
I’m sure this list will grow over time, but read on for my current top picks.
1. BDK Tabac Rose.
What: BDK Tabac Rose 100ml
I covered this stunning scent in my '5 Unique and Niche Scents So Good, I Have Them All on My Wishlist' story where I described it as: opulent, mysterious, rich and has depth but isn’t heavy.
If you like scents like Baccarat Rouge or NOMAD, you will love this.
I also find this full-bodied scent to be really long-lasting!
Notes:
- Head: Madagascan pink pepper, plum accord, Italian lemon.
- Heart: Turkish rose, Madagascan cinnamon, chocolate accord.
- Base: Balkan tobacco absolute, Indonesian patchouli oil, Spanish labdanum resin.
2. Juliette Has A Gun Ego Stratis.
This is also one I discovered in that article by way of my brother’s perfume shopping sprees.
The first spritz does initally come across very masculine (not in a bad way, just, strong) but settles into its citrus accords which makes it the perfect daywear scent, especially in summer!
Notes:
- Head: Bergamot, mandarin, lemon.
- Heart: Neroli, calone, blueberry.
- Base: Cedar, ambroxan, musks.
3. Goldfield & Banks PURPLE SUEDE Perfume.
When I first smelt this one, I liked it but thought “It's a little much, I don't know if I’d actually wear or buy it.” then after about fifteen minutes, its heady mix of woody, leather, amber, lavender and pink pepper notes smells really luxe and lovely.
I know this is also a pricey one, so I asked my brother what he thinks justified its luxe price tag, his answer - “It has high quality lavender oils” (side note: Goldfield & Banks are known for using high grade botanicals) “and generally, it’s going to be a higher concentration of oil than edt.”
His text was actually longer than this and came with some sort of diagram, but that's the main gist.
Notes:
- Head: Lavender. Leather. Pink Pepper.
- Heart: Leatherwood. Hyssop.
- Base: Civet. Patchouli. Oakmoss. Oud. Amber.
Speaking of the best unisex fragrances, I could list another three Goldfield & Banks picks, including Bohemian Lime, which is Adore Beauty's Content Manager Megan's top pick who says:
"From the second I smelt this fragrance I was OBSESSED. It's a fresh, citrus, sexy scent that definitely lends itself to being a unisex fragrance. I bought this for my husband as a gift but lowkey it was a present to myself because I wear it all the time and always get asked what scent I'm wearing."
4. Commodity Moss+ Bold.
If your sensory palette favours something more earthy, this is for you.
When I spritzed this in the Adore Beauty CX room there was a lot of positive first impression reviews: "Oh that’s sexy!”, “I love that”, "I would totally wear that!".
Our wonderful CX team are not only beauty-obsessed, they're also super on-trend girlies, so of they like it too - you know it’s a win.
Notes:
- Head: Bergamot.
- Heart: Petitgrain, Juniper Berry.
- Base: Oakmoss, Amber, Patchouli.
5. Lumira Parfum Cuban Tobacco EDP.
We’re sure you're already quite familiar with this sexy, smoky scent thanks to Joanna Fleming (personally, she's even influenced me to buy the candle).
It truly has such an intoxicating scent, I'd say one of the sexiest out of the bunch.
Super wearable,cool and chic.
Notes:
- Head: Tangerine. Cardamom. Clove Bud.
- Heart: Clean Floral.
- Base: Mahogany. Patchouli. Musk. Vanilla. Tobacco.
Want more fragrance inspo? Check out these BIQs:
