APRIL 6, 2025

Some people don’t like ranking fragrances and ‘love them all equally’… I don’t. Taste is subjective. My favorites and especially the order may change every day, but at least once a year, I like to assess my collection thoroughly. To see how my taste has changed or how my feelings towards (especially fragrances that were new to me) have changed after more time with them.

This year, I started completely blank; reducing down to 50 of my favorites, from my full bottle collection and then ranking them over the course of several hours, before comparing and reflecting on it in regards to last year. The deliberations and notable changes are discussed underneath the list for those interested. And you can check out the previous lists here: Top 50 (April 2024) & Top 50 (July 2023).

Top 50

🥇 MARC-ANTOINE BARROIS GANYMEDE EDP 📈
🥈 ROJA PARFUMS TAIF AOUD 🆕
🥉 AMOUAGE EPIC 56 🟰
04. PUREDISTANCE PAPILIO 📈
05. GUERLAIN MITSOUKO PARFUM (VINTAGE)📉
06. FREDERIC MALLE PORTRAIT OF A LADY 📈
07. FREDERIC MALLE ROSE TONNERRE 📈
08. XERJOFF IRISSS 📈
09. FRAGRANCE DU BOIS SAHRAA [#AD] 📉
10. FREDERIC MALLE NOIR EPICES 📉

11. ROJA PARFUMS ENIGMA POUR HOMME [#AD] 📉
12. XERJOFF 40 KNOTS 🟰
13. CHANEL 31 RUE CAMBON 🟰
14. JAZEEL GHALA 📈
15. OSTENS IMPRESSIONS JASMINE ABSOLUTE [#AD] 📈
16. GUERLAIN GOURMAND COQUIN 📈
17. XERJOFF LUNOSA 📉
18. LES ABSTRAITS BELLE AME 📉
19. PRISSANA MANDARAVA 📈
20. ELLA K MELODIE D’ALTAI 📉

21. ANGELOS CREATIONS OLFACTIVES SALON DT 🆕
22. ATELIER DES ORS POMELO RIVIERA 📈
23. LORGA AMBRE PLATINE [#AD] 📉
24. MAISON TAHITE COFFEE BOMB 📈
25. REGALIEN DEM [#AD] 📈
26. PARFUMS DE MARLY HEROD 📈
27. HERMES TERRE D’HERMES PARFUM 📈
28. CREED JASMINE IMPERATRICE EUGENIE 🆕
29. BON PARFUMEUR 502 – IRIS CARTAGENA [#AD] 🆕
30. STRANGERS PARFUMERIE SALTED GREEN MANGO 📈

31. ETAT LIBRE D’ORANGE EXPERIMENTUM CRUCIS 📉
32. GUERLAIN HOMME EDP 📉
33. ESSENTIAL PARFUMS FIG INFUSION 📉
34. AMOUAGE REFLECTION MAN 📉
35. JEAN PATOU JOY PARFUM (VINTAGE) 📉
36. DIOR BOIS D’ARGENT 📉
37. SERGE LUTENS FEMINITE DU BOIS 📉
38. ELLA K POEME DE SAGANO 🆕
39. ONE DAY OOLONG TEA [#AD] 📉
40. SUPERFUMISTA INFRA ROSE 🆕

41. SCENTS OF WOOD NFT1 📈
42. DIOR HOMME PARFUM (2014) 📈
43. THOMAS DE MONACO SOL SALGADO [#AD] 🆕
44. AMOUAGE JUBILATION 40 [#AD] 📉
45. GALLIVANT BUKHARA 🆕
46. ROJA PARFUMS ROSE PARFUM 📉
47. MASQUE MILANO L’ATTESA 📉
48. ONE DAY JEJU [#AD] 🆕
49. ERIS DELTA OF VENUS 📉
50. MAITRE PARFUMEUR ET GANTIER CUIR FETICHE 🆕

🔝 TOP 10 🔝

As always, the two hardest things about making this list are deciding which fragrances to leave off and how to order the top 10. I went with my gut feeling and dethroned Mitsouko Parfum after two years. Frankly, I haven’t worn it much and part of its special feeling stems from it being such an iconic feeling and vintage bottle (late 1960’s). I obviously adore the fragrance and looking back, it may be my favorite fragrance of all time. However, for this moment in time, it didn’t feel earned. The opposite being true for Ganymede. It has been in my top 10 without question since I first made a list 5 years ago. I consider it one of the only ‘groundbreaking’ and trendsetting, abstract, niche fragrances in recent years and I’m still as amused by wearing it, as during my first wear. The big newcomer is Roja’s Taif Aoud, which I acquired after last year’s ranking. To my own surprise, I preferred it over the other ‘aouds’ and it has overtaken Enigma Pour Homme as my favorite Roja. We will see next year, if this optimistic top 3 placement holds true. I still can’t get it over my heart to rank Rose Tonnerre over one of my first loves, Portrait Of A Lady, but Frederic Malle has a strong hold over this top 10.

📈ON THE RISE & NEWCOMERS 📈

I would’ve followed last year’s tactic of being less cautious with adding newcomers to the list again. The simple fact is, I’ve barely bought any new fragrances and PR all but dried up, since I stopped my Instagram photography work. The aforementioned Taif Aoud being the highest ranking one. Creed Jasmine Imperatrice Eugenie & Bon Parfumeur 502 – Iris Cartagena were my favorite discovery & favorite new release respectively in my 2024 Awards, so both rank high. Thomas De Monaco Sol Salgado made a nice jump into the top 50 and the newest fragrance for me on the list is One Day Jeju. One of the biggest jumps up in rank goes to Prissana Mandarava, which was brand-new to me last year, so I placed it more conservatively then. Regalien Dem has been one of my most worn and favorite fragrances this past year, so deserves a raise. Maitre Parfumeur Cuir Fetiche is a hidden gem that I always forget to include; it probably should’ve been on last year’s list & I already think it should be higher up as I write this.

📉 TRENDING DOWN 📉

Looking at the previous year, some of the heavier fragrances have taken a hit again, in particular Amouage Jubilation 40. The other high newcomer from last year, Etat Libre D’Orange Experimentum Crucis has dropped significantly as well, but that’s mainly because I realized how long I hadn’t thought of it or worn it when I compiled this list. Xerjoff Lunosa leaves the top 10, becoming more and more of a special occasions only type-of-fragrance due to it’s heaviness. A bit of a conflicting drop for me is Eris Delta Of Venus, which I ranked very high prior. I’ve actually worn it a lot, but perhaps because of it, I find it too mundane to rank as high as some others and for a bright scent, I can’t put it over Fig Infusion, Poeme de Sagano or Pomelo Riviera at this moment.

✂️ OMISSIONS ✂️

The biggest omission this year comes in the form of Ensar Oud Tonkin Musk, which I’ve sold for financial reasons. A fragrance that I haven’t enjoyed nearly as much, that didn’t make the cut to my own surprise is Prada Prada / Amber. Mainstay Akro Awake was one of the hardest to leave out for me this year, as well as Perris Absolue D’Osmanthe, which once lived in the top 10; I still want to love it, but don’t reach for it. Other serious considerations went to Frederic Malle Carnal Flower & Areej Le Dore Gul Hina.

✨ WISHLIST ✨

This year, I want to separately list some fragrances that would highly likely make the list, if I had them in my collection as full-size bottles: Boadicea The Victorious Blue Sapphire, Christian Provenzano Santal Indien, Krigler Manhattan Rose 44, Henry Jacques Snow Rose, Xerjoff XXY, Eris Parfums Ma Bete, and I’ll give a shout-out here to my biggest surprise of the year so far, Maison Crivelli Safran Secret.

🌊 TRENDS 🌊

It’s another year where I wear heavy and dark fragrances less and I appreciate sweet fragrances less, in favor of more versatile or brighter scent profiles. I think the massive amount of straight-forward gourmands that I sample for the website, make it so that I don’t crave wearing them much for myself. Florals (iris, rose, jasmine) still play a huge role in my most loved fragrances, whereas historically speaking, strongly traditionally masculine-leaning fragrances don’t take up much space in my top 50.

I think the biggest change (or non-change) has been the lower influx of new fragrances in my collection, so revisiting the list has become a bit less relevant or at least, less dynamic. I’m less inclined to buy new fragrances these days, now that I get in a lot less PR (to sell or swap to make up for the difference), so less fragrances have gotten a chance to grow into loves or replace similar fragrances that I already own. I may consider including fragrances that I’ve only extensively sampled in next year’s list due to this.

A similar amount of PR bottles remain in my top 50 (after receiving a couple hundred over the years), which I view as a testament to how strictly curated my collection is (and how much of my own taste and opinion I’ve retained, especially since several of those PR bottles were chosen by me after trying and loving the fragrances prior).

Some of my first favorite niche experiences are still going strong (Frederic Malle Portrait Of A Lady, Parfums de Marly Herod & Amouage Reflection Man). I still own and enjoy multiple of the ‘community favorites’ that made my older top lists; MFK Grand Soir, Kilian Black Phantom, Mancera Cedrat Boise, Nishane Ani, Casamorati Lira to name a few, but I don’t hold those in as high of a regard as I once did.