The 2026 Men's Health Smell Fresh Awards: Every Winner and What It Means for Your Grooming Routine

I've been going through the Men's Health Smell Fresh Awards for the past few days, and I have opinions. This is one of the few grooming roundups I actually trust, because it's not a couple of editors sniffing bottles for five minutes and calling it a day. Thirty five products get run through months of real showers, real workouts, and real daily wear before anything earns a spot. That process earns some credibility with me. Still, going through it category by category, there's plenty I'd sign off on immediately, a few picks I'm not totally sold on, and a couple of gaps I think are worth calling out. I left off the mouthwash, toothpaste, and pain relief winners since that's not really our lane. Here's my honest read on the parts that actually matter for building a scent forward routine.

Body Wash and Soap

Three winners here, and I think they nailed the soap pick more than the body wash one.

• Best Body Wash, Method Micro Buffing Body Wash. Solid, dependable, clean without smelling like a candle aisle. I just don't think it's a very exciting pick. This is the kind of body wash you buy because it works, not because you're excited to open the bottle.
• Best Bar Soap, Huron Sea Salt + Driftwood Bar Soap. This is my favorite winner in the whole cleansing section. A soap that actually smells like something, sea salt and driftwood, and holds a real lather instead of dissolving into mush by the third use. If you're trying to build a scent layered routine, this is a genuinely good base to start from.
• Best Exfoliating Bar, Soft Services x Vacation Buffing Bar. Fun idea, coconut and sunscreen scent in a soap bar, but I'd file this under novelty more than daily driver. Good for summer, not something I'd reach for in January.

Deodorant and Antiperspirant

This is the category that actually surprised me this year.

• Best Deodorant, Old Spice Cashmere + Vanilla Wood. Warm vanilla and soft wood on a deodorant stick is not something I expected to like this much, but I get why it won. It smells cozy in a way most deodorants just don't.
• Best Natural Deodorant, Dr. Squatch Fresh Falls Invisible Glide. This is the one I'd actually push people toward. Natural, aluminum free deodorants have had a longevity problem for years, and testers said this one held up past two days. If that's accurate, it's a real step forward for the whole category, not just a good scent.
• Best Deodorant Spray, Native Cherry + Vanilla. I'll admit I judged this one by the name before trying to picture it. Cherry and vanilla sounds like it belongs on a candle, but apparently it wears woodier and more masculine than expected. I'll take their word for it.

Cologne: 14 Winners, and Some Honest Opinions

Cologne is where most of the list lives, fourteen winners broken out by note family instead of one overall champion, which I actually think is the right call. There isn't one best cologne, there's a best cologne for you, for the season, for the occasion. Prices swing from $26 all the way to $350, so I'll flag where I think the money is actually worth it and where I think it isn't.

• Woody, Bvlgari Man Wood Essence Parfum ($130). Cedarwood, cashmere, patchouli. Reliable, long wearing, exactly what you'd expect from Bvlgari. I don't think it's exciting, but it's not supposed to be. It's a safe pick and a genuinely good one.
• Aquatic, John Varvatos Artisan Costiero EDP ($145). Citrus and marine notes over Akigalawood. If you like woody scents but want something a little brighter, this is a good bridge fragrance.
• Best value, Papatui P-01 EDP ($40). This is the pick I'd actually tell a friend to buy first. Leather and warm woods that genuinely smell more expensive than forty dollars. If you're building a first real fragrance and don't want to spend a lot to figure out what you like, start here.
• Fougère, Prada Luna Rossa Carbon EDP ($136). A stronger, sweeter take on the original Luna Rossa Carbon. If you already own the toilette version, I don't think you need both.
• Spicy, Henry Rose London 1983 EDP ($120). Peppery fig with soft musk and vetiver. A quieter kind of spicy than most colognes in this category, which I actually appreciate.
• Daytime, Sand + Fog 19th Hole ($26). Citrus, pepper, warm woods, at twenty six dollars. Honestly one of the better priced wins on this whole list, and I'd wear it without hesitation.
• Date night, Better World Fragrance House Cloudar EDP ($152). Mandarin and ginger over sage, jasmine, tonka bean, and cedar. This one is doing the most out of everything on the list, and I mean that as a compliment.
• Earthy, Dos Mundos Saoco Jazz ($120). Dry cedarwood, musk, and vetiver brightened with grapefruit. Not the flashiest pick here, but it's the kind of scent that grows on you over time.
• Musky, Dossier Musky Sandalwood ($29). This might be the best value on the entire list, not just in its own category. Sandalwood and musk done simply, for under thirty dollars. I genuinely think this one is underrated.
• Fresh, Blind Barber Speakeasy ($98). Bergamot settling into sandalwood and musk. A good pick, though I wouldn't call it a category defining one.
• Amber, Maison Margiela Silent Fury Parfum ($350). The most expensive winner on the list, and I'm honestly on the fence about it. Cardamom over smoky tobacco and cedarwood sounds incredible on paper, but at this price I'd want to try a sample before committing.
• Floral, Le Labo Violette 30 EDP ($250). Violet and green florals with white tea and warm woods. I'm glad they included a floral pick, since men still shy away from this category more than they should, and this one is proof it can work.
• Tropical, Guy Fox Kuya ($78). Salty coastal notes with a bit of surf wax and vanilla. Fun summer pick, but I don't see myself reaching for it past September.
• Tobacco, Montauk Man Rough Riders ($350). Tobacco and sandalwood with a hint of pineapple. Same price as the amber winner, and I think this one earns it more. This feels like a proper special occasion scent.

Grooming Extras Worth Knowing About

A few winners outside soap, deodorant, and cologne that I think are worth a mention:

• Best Beard Oil, Viking Revolution Coffee and Whiskey. A coffee forward scent with whiskey warmth underneath. If you have a beard, this is worth trying just for how long it lingers.
• Best Beard Wash, Manscaped Hydrating Beard Wash. Natural exfoliants and avocado oil, with an earthy, herbal scent. Not flashy, but a genuinely solid pick.
• Best Aftershave, STMNT Aftershave Lotion. Citrus, lavender, and tonka bean, built to calm skin without fighting your cologne for attention. This is the kind of product people skip and shouldn't.
• Best Pomade, Blvd & Co Pomade. Medium hold, sandalwood scent. Simple and does what it says.
• Best Sunscreen, Carpe SPF 50 Sunscreen Lotion. Warm and vanilla tinted, closer to a light fragrance than a typical SPF. Honestly a smart way to get guys who hate sunscreen to actually wear it.

What I Think They Missed

A couple of gaps stood out to me going through this list.

• No travel or solid cologne pick. Every winner here is a full size bottle. A lot of guys, myself included, want something they can toss in a gym bag or carry on without worrying about liquid limits, and that whole category just isn't addressed.
• Only one natural deodorant made the cut. More guys are asking about aluminum free options every year, and having just one representative feels thin given how much that category has grown.
• Almost nothing under thirty dollars. Dossier and Sand + Fog are the exceptions, and they happen to be two of my favorite picks on the whole list. I'd have liked to see more proof that a great scent doesn't require a big budget.

My Bottom Line

I trust this list more than most grooming roundups because it's actually tested over months instead of judged on a first impression. That said, trusting the process doesn't mean agreeing with every result. If I had to pick three things off this list to try first, I'd go with the Huron soap, the Dr. Squatch natural deodorant, and the Papatui or Dossier cologne, depending on whether you want leather or sandalwood. Although everything else is worth exploring I feel like these are a great place to start.