The One for Men arrived in 2008 and was the work of perfumer Olivier Polge. Where Light Blue is daylight, this is a dimmer room, a tailored jacket and a late table. It is the family I suggest to men who want to smell warm and deliberate without reaching for anything heavy.

The Eau de Toilette with Lavender and Sandalwood is the easiest entry, tidy and calm, good for the office because it does not announce you before you reach the door. The Eau de Parfum with Orange and Tobacco is the classic evening version, rounder and deeper, with the tobacco giving it a leathery warmth. The Parfum with Tobacco goes further in the same direction and is the most concentrated of the four, so one spray is plenty.

Then there is the Eau de Parfum Gold Intense with Citrus and Patchouli, the one that keeps some citrus in the mix alongside patchouli. If you already own a Light Blue and want a second bottle for colder months, this is the one I would move to, because the citrus keeps it familiar.

Pairing is simple. Wear the lighter toilette with a white shirt, the parfum with a wool coat. Apply after you have dressed, so the scent is not absorbed by a towel or rubbed off by a collar, and keep the bottle somewhere cool and dark rather than on a bathroom shelf.

K by Dolce&Gabbana launched in 2019, created by perfumers Daphné Bugey and Nathalie Lorson, with juniper, blood orange and Sicilian lemon on top. It is the newest of the three families and, to my nose, the sharpest. Think of it as the one for a man who already has a signature and wants a second opinion.

The K Eau de Toilette with Lavender is the lightest reading, crisp and clean. The Eau de Parfum with Fig and Cedarwood is a good weekday fragrance. The Parfum with Fig and Sandalwood is the one I would choose for dinner. The Eau de Parfum Intense with Fig and Leather is the darkest of the K bottles, and I would save it for cold weather and a long evening.

The newest arrival here is Devotion For Men Parfum, which debuted in January 2025 from master perfumer Olivier Cresp. It pairs coffee and lavender with a base of tonka bean, vanilla, guaiac wood and oakmoss, which gives it a warm, slightly roasted character unlike anything else in the grid. It is the warmest of the bottles, so I would wear it in the evening and not in an office.

What I would skip: buying the most concentrated bottle only because it sounds stronger. A parfum is not automatically better, and in a warm room or on a summer day it can turn heavy fast. Choose for the weather and for where you will be standing, not for the label.

If you are choosing one bottle, match it to the season. Light Blue for the months when you want to smell clean, The One for colder evenings, K for the days in between, and Devotion when you want something warm and a little unexpected.

Try a scent on skin and leave it for a few hours before you commit, since the opening in the first minute is not what you will smell at dinner. Spray on the chest and the back of the neck, keep to one or two sprays with a parfum, and skip rubbing your wrists together. A fragrance that still feels right at the end of the day is the one worth owning. Keep it in its box or a drawer, and it will last.

I sorted the three families earlier, so this is for the man who has found his and wants to see what sits nearby. The One Pour Homme and K Parfum are the closest follow-ups, and the Velvet line from Dolce & Gabbana, with Desert Oud, Exotic Leather and Honey Santal, is the richer side of the house. Beyond it, the Gucci Guilty Elixir de Parfum and the Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Le Parfum with lavender and vanilla suit the same evening mood. For something brighter, Montblanc Legend Blue and Polo Blue are the two I would try. Hermès Eau d'orange verte is a cologne for a warm afternoon. What I would skip: the Maison Margiela Jazz Club in summer, because tobacco leaf and rum read as a cold-weather idea.