The 7 best colognes for men, from affordable startups to popular luxury scents

There are plenty of high-end designer brands that make amazing colognes for men, but they can be very pricey. Dossier acts as an affordable alternative by creating scents inspired by popular (and expensive) luxury scents.

While branding and packaging are a huge part of the markup on luxury colognes, the scent itself is what's important. All of Dossier's colognes and perfumes are named after the fragrances used in the formula.

If you've ever received an expensive bottle of cologne as a gift and loved it, but couldn't bring yourself to buy another bottle afterward, Dossier is worth a try. You can likely get three or four bottles of Dossier colognes for the price of one bottle of designer cologne.

If you've yet to find a cologne that you truly like, Hawthorne might be the place to find one without smelling everything at the department store counter. The brand uses a short quiz to identify your personality as well as your grooming and skincare needs.

After the quiz, Hawthorne recommends two scents that you'll love to wear — one for work and one for play. All of Hawthorne's colognes are formulated by award-winning professionals who have made scents for brands like Balenciaga, Christian Dior, and Ralph Lauren.

Priced at $100 for custom scents you likely won't find other people wearing, Hawthorne is well worth checking out.

Read my full review on Hawthorne here.

Duke Cannon is a military-inspired men's grooming brand that makes high-quality products with fun packaging. While the "Big Ass Brick of Soap" is one of the most popular items for its novelty, the quality of the colognes is actually pretty impressive.

The best part about Duke Cannon cologne is that it breaks down each one with a profile and key scent components so you won't have to completely guess what they smell like. For example, Prescott, my personal favorite, is "woodsy, rich, with some green notes for balance." If you prefer woodsy over musk or aquatic, you'll know which ones to choose.

Alternatively, you can take the Signature Scent Selector quiz to help you identify your preference.

Before trying Duke Cannon, most of the colognes I owned were considerably more expensive. I now have a better perspective on how much you really need to spend to get a great bottle of cologne. At $25 each for eau de parfum that lasts all day long, Duke Cannon is an incredible deal.

Since its release in 2015, Dior Sauvage has become of the most popular men's fragrances on the market. It has the quality of a high-end brand, coming from Christian Dior, and an earthy scent that's masculine and appealing to many.

The Dior Sauvage line is broken into three different categories — parfum, eau de parfum, and eau de toilette. Generally, the only difference would be the concentration of perfume used, but each of these also has a slightly different scent profile.

Personally, I enjoy the scent of the eau de toilette the best because it's not too overpowering, a possibility when applying woodsy scents, and it also has notes of citrus. Compared to other eau de toilettes that wear off quickly, a few sprays of Dior Sauvage last considerably longer.

The only downside to having such a popular fragrance is that you'll likely run into other people who wear it, too — that is, if you're all about having a unique scent.

When it comes to style, Ralph Lauren is one of the most timeless brands in existence, so it's no surprise they also know how to make fragrances that people have come to love for decades.

While there are several versions to choose from, Polo Sport eau de toilette is my personal favorite from the brand. Originally released in 1994, Polo Sport has a fresh scent with top notes of mint, citrus, and bergamot, and bottom notes of sandalwood and musk.

I've been wearing Polo Sport for over 10 years and haven't grown tired of it. As an eau de toilette, the fragrance is light and not too overpowering but still lingers all day long.

If you prefer aquatic scents over predominantly spicy, earthy, or musk scents Nautica is a great place to find a cologne — after all, the brand carries a nautical theme throughout many of its products.

Some of my favorite scents are Nautica Blue, Nautica Voyage, or the all-new alcohol-free Nautica Oceans.

Each scent is light, fresh, and suitable for casual wear in most any setting.

More is More! by Judith Leiber is one of the coolest and most unique cologne designs I've ever seen. The bottle features three chambers with different scent profiles — spices, marine, and leather. The design allows you to spray any combination of the three together or separate, giving you more options than your average bottle of cologne.

The spices chamber has notes of ginger, lavender, warm vanilla, and amber. Inspired by the ocean, the marine chamber has fresh notes of green apples, cedarwood, patchouli, and black pepper. For rich and earthy notes, the leather chamber features a mix of lemon, dark leather, patchouli, and cashmere wood.

Even if you have a clear preference for scents, it's fun to discover new favorites by mixing them together. Whether you like to switch it up for different occasions or you're gifting it to someone else, the combination of customizable scents makes More is More! an excellent choice.

What is the difference between parfum, eau de parfum, and eau de toilette?

Parfum has the highest concentration of pure perfume, Eau de parfum has the second-highest fragrance concentration, and eau de toilette is the least concentrated.

Typically, the two latter options are the most common for men's fragrances. That means eau de parfum will have a stronger scent and eau de toilette is a bit fainter. If you prefer a more pronounced, longer-lasting scent, eau de parfum is a better choice. Alternatively, if you like an understated level of fragrance, eau de toilette works well.