Louis Vuitton’s Ombre Nomade, part of the house’s Les Parfums line and composed by perfumer Frank Voelkl in 2018, is one of the most talked-about oud fragrances to come out of the last decade. It built its reputation almost entirely through word of mouth rather than advertising, which is a big part of why it […]
fragrance alternatives
Best Chloé Alternatives in the UK
Chloe’s eponymous Eau de Parfum from 2008 might be the fragrance world’s best-kept “everyone knows it, nobody talks about it” secret: it became the unofficial signature scent of a generation of weddings without ever really trending online the way newer releases do. The rose-peony pairing is soft enough to read as bridal without tipping into […]
Best Chanel Allure Homme Sport Alternatives in the UK
Chanel launched Allure Homme Sport in 2004 as a lighter, sportier reinterpretation of the original Allure Homme, and it has stayed in constant rotation ever since, one of the few “sport” spin-offs that outlasted the fragrance trend it was named after. Part of the appeal is that it does not smell like a gym fragrance […]
Best Chanel Gabrielle Alternatives in the UK
Gabrielle arrived in 2017 as Chanel’s first major new women’s fragrance in over a decade, named after Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel herself and built around a “bouquet of light”, four white flowers layered together rather than the single-note focus most florals rely on. It marked a genuine departure from the house’s older, more powdery classics, brighter […]
Best Lancôme Idôle Alternatives in the UK
Idôle launched in 2019 as Lancôme’s attempt to build a modern successor to La Vie Est Belle, and it largely succeeded, a rose-and-jasmine floral with a cleaner, more transparent feel than its gourmand predecessor, fronted by a marketing campaign built around female empowerment that helped it become one of the brand’s biggest launches in years. […]
Best Bvlgari Man in Black Alternatives in the UK
Man in Black arrived in 2014 as Bvlgari’s answer to the darker, more dramatic end of men’s perfumery, a spiced rum-and-leather fragrance built to feel more like a niche release than a mainstream department store bottle, despite sitting right there on the counter next to everything else. It’s held onto a loyal following ever since […]
Best Giorgio Armani Code Alternatives in the UK
Code has been in the Giorgio Armani lineup since 2004, and more than two decades on it’s still one of the house’s most reliable sellers, the sleek black bottle that reads as a slightly more grown-up, slightly more seductive alternative to the fresher, sportier men’s fragrances that dominate the same shelf. It’s aged well precisely […]
Best Paco Rabanne Olympéa Alternatives in the UK
Olympéa launched in 2015 and reshaped what a mainstream women’s fragrance could smell like, built around a “salted vanilla” accord that nobody else in the department store aisle was really doing at the time. It became one of Paco Rabanne’s biggest sellers almost immediately and stayed there, helped along by packaging that looks as bold […]
Best Paco Rabanne Invictus Alternatives in the UK
Invictus landed in 2013 and quickly became one of the defining mainstream men’s fragrances of the decade, the fresh, marine-woody scent that turns up in gym changing rooms, on nights out, and in more Secret Santa stockings than almost anything else in the category. That ubiquity is part of the appeal: people recognise it instantly, […]
Best Dior Joy Alternatives in the UK
Joy arrived in 2018 as Dior’s attempt to bottle exactly what its name promises, a bright, rose-and-jasmine floral with none of the heaviness that can weigh down more traditional florals. It’s become a genuine modern classic in the Dior lineup, and, like most things with that name on the box, it’s priced accordingly. Here’s the […]
