The fragrances successful men are wearing this year, from expensive Le Labo colognes to Old Spice deodorant

Paul Hill is the 25-year-old founder of the art-tech company Strada, which operates a New York City gallery and is developing workflow management software for the art industry.

Speaking with Business Insider, he said fragrance is "a seasonal thing" for him. He's been using the $120 Comme des Garçons x Monocle cologne in Scent Four: Yoyogi lately, describing the product as a "fall/winter scent."

"It's very woodsy with a little bit of ocean," Hill said.

The founder also recently discovered Le Labo's Thé Noir 29, which retails between $107 and $1,095 a bottle. With notes of bergamot, fig, bay leaves, and musk, Hill said it's a scent he "loves even more" than his Comme des Garçons option.

"I've probably got about six or seven different fragrances and colognes on rotation, which I use depending on how I feel," Bryce Grandison, a former real-estate analyst who's now studying to get his realtor license in Georgia, told BI.

The 27-year-old, who was previously named a rising star of the real-estate industry, does have two favorites, though. First, there's the $105 Burberry for Men scent, which he describes as a "nice, soft fragrance" that "feels smooth and masculine as well."

Second, he uses the unisex 724 perfume from Maison Francis Kurkdjian, which costs between $175 and $535 a bottle. Grandison said he shares the bottle with his wife.

He also enjoys the designer brand's Aqua scents but doesn't currently have a bottle.

"I got a sample of one and ended up giving it to my uncle; he's been loving it," Grandison said. "And every time I go over, I say, 'Man, I don't know why I gave that to you and didn't keep it for myself.'"

Sasha Bratyshkin, 28, is a former Facebook engineer and the current chief technology officer of Housing.Cloud, a platform he cofounded to partner with schools and help students find housing.

He told BI that Jasmin 17 by Le Labo, which costs between $107 and $1,095 per bottle, is his signature scent. He describes it as "unique but not overbearing."

"It smells like tea, basically," he said with a laugh. "But it's a great smell. Everybody's usually like, 'Oh, weird, but I love this.' I've been using it for the past four years or so."

However, for nights out, he opts for Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier. The cologne retails for between $65 and $155 a bottle.

Reed Switzer, the 24-year-old founder of the fintech company Hopscotch — which helps small businesses pay bills more easily — uses Jean Paul Gaultier's Ultra Male fragrance.

"The name is a little out there, but I don't know. I like the cologne," he told BI. "I think it's a really nice, welcoming scent. It's not too overpowering where people are like, 'Oh my God, who's wearing that strong fragrance?' So I usually stick with that."

He also only wears it for special occasions.

"I try to keep it simple," he said of his fragrance routine, noting that he typically just wears deodorant. "I think there's definitely a time and place."

Faraz Fatemi, 30, was previously named one of BI's rising stars of venture capital. He works on early-stage investments at Lightspeed Venture Partners, specifically across consumer and AI platforms.

And while working, he's usually wearing cologne. Though he previously wore Bleu de Chanel — a $190 spray scented with vanilla and sandalwood — Fatemi told BI that he tries to "switch things up every year."

That's why he now wears Le Labo's Another 13, which combines notes of moss, jasmine, and synthetic animal musk. A bottle costs between $107 and $1,095.

"It's important to me to have a scent that is suitable for everyday wear and not overbearing," he told BI. "So much of my work involves in-person meetings with startup founders, and you don't want your fragrance to make an extreme first impression."

While Le Labo is Fatemi's fragrance brand of choice, he occasionally turns to Yves Saint Laurent.

"For more formal occasions and evening events, the fragrance I use is Yves Saint Laurent's Y Eau de Parfum," he told BI. "It has a bit more of a masculine woody scent."

Bottles retail between $35 and $155 each.

Rob Biederman, 38, is the founder of the venture capital firm Asymmetric Capital Partners and the pharma and biotech company Catalent Technologies, where he still serves as chairman. He's also a former BI rising star in his industry.

Biederman describes himself as "a pretty simple guy" and told BI that he sticks to wearing Old Spice deodorant — no colognes or other fragrances.

"For stability and consistency sake, I actually find that the best thing you can do for yourself is to have a stable routine and exactly the same bag," he said. "I'm with my backpack maybe 350 days a year. I have all my charging cables set up in the exact same way. I have my iPad and my laptop in the exact same slot. My wallet goes in the same spot."

Naturally, so does his Old Spice deodorant. The organizing tactic is all part of Biederman's effort to manage his mental load.

"Every minute of my every single day is booked on the calendar. I have to reduce all of the extra complexity," he said.