Best smelling natural deodorant for men: the scents Australian shelves lead with

What do the best smelling men's natural deodorants smell like?

Three scent families do most of the work. Read twenty men's natural deodorant labels and you'll keep meeting the same handful of notes.

• Woods. Cedar, cedarwood, sandalwood, vetiver, cypress, oak. Warm and dry, like a timber workshop or a pencil shaving.
• Fresh. Names like "Fresh Falls", "Sea Salt & Cedar" and "Thunderstorm". Clean, cool and a bit green.
• Citrus. Bergamot first, then orange, lime, grapefruit and lemon myrtle. Bright and sharp.

Spice (black pepper, clove, "bourbon") and herbs (sage, rosemary, mint) turn up as supporting notes. Coconut is popular too, but it sits on both sides of the aisle, so it isn't really a men's signature.

Which men's natural deodorant scents lead in Australia?

We looked at men's and unisex aluminium-free deodorants sold in Australia, and at the scents brands and retailers say are their most loved. The table repeats each brand's own description. We haven't smell-tested these side by side, so treat it as a map, not a ranking.

A few signals of what sells. On the Dr Squatch Australian deodorant page, Fresh Falls shows 12,825 reviews, more than any other scent, with Pine Tar next on 7,117. Beard & Blade, an Australian men's grooming retailer, calls Santal & Vetiver the most popular scent in the Salt & Stone range. Native lists Sea Salt & Cedar among its three most-loved scents, and Wild calls Cedar & Sandalwood its "gold standard". Woolworths stocks just three Dr Squatch deodorant scents: Wood Barrel Bourbon, Fresh Falls and Coconut Castaway.

Count the notes in that table and cedar or cedarwood turns up in six of the twelve rows. Bergamot is the citrus named most often.

Why do woody scents dominate men's deodorant?

Partly habit and partly chemistry. Traditional men's colognes and aftershaves lean on woods and moss, so cedar and sandalwood read as "men's" to most noses before you've looked at the pack.

Woody oils also behave well in a deodorant. They're base notes, which means they evaporate slowly and hang around after the brighter top notes have faded. Here's what the common ones smell like on their own:

• Cedarwood (Atlas or Virginian): dry, pencil-shaving wood. The workhorse of the category.
• Sandalwood: soft, creamy and warm. Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) is the local version.
• Vetiver: earthy and smoky, a little like damp soil and roots. A small amount goes a long way.
• Cypress: green and resinous, somewhere between pine and cedar.

If you like the smell of a timber yard or a bushwalk after rain, start here.

What makes a natural deodorant smell "fresh" or "sea salt"?

Usually a fragrance blend, not sea salt. "Sea salt", "aquatic", "cotton" and "thunderstorm" are perfumers' accords. Salt itself has almost no smell, so the ocean effect comes from a mix of fragrance molecules.

That's fine, and plenty of people love it. It just helps to know what you're reading. If the ingredient list says "fragrance" or "parfum", the scent is a blend the brand doesn't have to break down. If it names each oil, you know exactly what's in it.

Brands that use essential oils only build "fresh" from green and cooling oils instead: eucalyptus, peppermint, spearmint, cypress, juniper and the sharper citrus oils. Ethique's eucalyptus and cedarwood and Totem's Blue Gum are good examples of fresh done with named plant oils.

Why is bergamot the go-to citrus?

It's bright without being sweet. Bergamot smells like a cross between lemon and orange with a slight floral, tea-like edge (it's the flavour in Earl Grey). That edge pairs well with woods, which is why you see it beside hinoki, patchouli and cedar so often.

One thing for makers to know: cold-pressed bergamot oil can react with sunlight on skin, so cosmetic makers use a bergapten-free (FCF) grade for leave-on products.

How do you choose a scent you'll actually wear?

Pick by where you'll be, not by what the pack says about you.

• Office and close quarters: softer woods or a gentle citrus. Something people notice only when they're near you.
• Gym, worksite and hot days: fresh, minty or citrus scents feel lighter when it's humid.
• Evenings: warmer woods, sandalwood, vetiver or a touch of spice.
• If you wear cologne: choose a deodorant in the same family, or one with almost no scent, so the two don't argue.

Essential-oil scents are usually softer than a fragrance-heavy aerosol. If you want a scent people notice across the room, a fragrance blend will be louder. If you'd rather keep it close to the skin, named oils suit you.

Which Freshie Folk scents suit men?

Any of our three, depending on the family you like. Our balms are named by scent, not by gender, and every essential oil is named on the jar. Here's how each one is listed on its product page:

• Classic Botanic: lavender, rosemary and cedar wood. The closest to the woody end of the table, with a herbal edge.
• Lemongrass Lift: lemongrass, tea tree, lavender and cedar wood. Citrus up front with cedar wood underneath.
• Wild Awake: peppermint, eucalyptus and tea tree. Our fresh option: cool and minty.

All three are 50 g balms at A$14.95, made with shea butter, arrowroot powder and kaolin clay. They're made without aluminium or synthetic fragrance, with sodium bicarbonate doing the odour work.

Want to smell all three before you settle? The Three Scents set has a full-size jar of each for A$39.95. Naturally Effective. Consciously Crafted.

For the rest of the men's picture, from underarm hair to switching from antiperspirant, see our guide to natural deodorant for men. If you'd like a stick rather than a balm, our natural deodorant stick comparison lays out nine options.

Is Freshie Folk making a men's scent?

Yes. We're working on a men's scent, shaped by the families in the table above. It doesn't have a name or a date yet, and we won't describe it until it's ready. Until then, Classic Botanic is the one to try if woods are your thing.

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